With turkey day quickly approaching I thought I would give you a final update before the weekend chores and work on the homestead.  The next 10 days are sure to be busy and an entry when I return promises to have pictures and stories.

 

Last weekend I got a lot of work done in preparation for our poultry.  After the turkeys get slaughtered (more on that in a bit) I plan to move the new chickens outside where the turkeys are living out their final few days.  It really is a pretty good set up being that it is a dog run with a tarped top and wind screen all around the sides.  I would not call it warm by any reasonable definition but at least the harshest of our weather is kept out.  The chicks are still in their brooder box in the garage under a 40 watt light bulb.  They are completely feathered out now with the exception of a couple that are missing all feathers on their back.  I am sure it is some sort of pecking problem but there is no visible sign of other trauma.  The brooder box is a long shipping container made out of wood that I acquired on Freecycle.  In order to insolate the box better I glued large pieces of Styrofoam on the outside of the top and sides.  Next I covered the entire box in the vinyl billboard tarp I picked up a few months ago.  Not only can the chickens not eat the Styrofoam but the box is now protected from the rain.  I call it my first upholstery job and am quite proud of how it turned out.  All that is left now is to tack the bottom up, cut a door in the side, install the ladder/steps and move it to the pen.  I think the birds will be comfortable in their winter home.  By spring time we will know how many roosters and hens we have.  This will determine where they get housed when the weather warms up since the roosters will be mostly culled and the hens kept for eggs. 

 

The homestead is being prepped for slaughtering our two turkeys on Saturday.  One is heading to Amarillo with us for Thanksgiving and the other will be frozen for a later date.  I was not able to find a shrink bag large enough for the turkeys (24 & 15 lbs live weight) so the plan is to kill, eviscerate and rest/age on Saturday morning.  On Sunday morning we will wrap the birds in freezer paper and take them to our local grocer friend who said he could wrap it real tight in plastic meat freezer wrap.  I will then return the birds to the refrigerator to age for another day or two. Since the small bird destined for the freezer won’t be there very long I don’t think drying out will be a huge problem.  I sure hope these turkeys taste good because I am sure they have cost me $40-$50 each.

 

Despite my high costs I have learned a lot about these animals and plan to hatch quite a few in the spring and sell next fall.  My feed bill will be much lower as I will have them on pasture in a pen that will be moved to fresh grass daily.  The quality of the bird should improve also since I am going to use a heritage breed instead of the Broad Breasted Whites I currently have.  I originally thought I would get Naraganset turkeys but finding eggs for them has proven difficult and poults are very expensive at almost $10.50 each after shipping costs.  I have located a source for Royal Palm turkey eggs for about $2.50 each plus shipping costs.  Even if I get a 50% hatch rate, which I think I can do much better, I will be way ahead of the game financially. 

 

The pig enterprise has taken a bit of a set back lately as Susie is now digging her heals in again and saying she does not want them.  I think I can still use my daughter’s enthusiasm and convince her it is a good idea.  My milo field is now plowed and should be a good place to raise the pigs as there is a lot of rooting to be done and grain to be found out there.  I have the fencing already acquired and a good idea for building a shelter out of wood palettes. 

 

Since I will be out of town for Thanksgiving and next week is sure to be busy I do not plan to add an entry until I get back from Amarillo, TX.  I just want to wish everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving.  Please keep in mind the true spirit of Thanksgiving and thank God for all of the good we really have.  Even with all of the negativity we hear on TV, the financial strains we may be experiencing, family issues and health problems we are truly a blessed people and nation.  Spread the good word next week to all that think negative thoughts and lift their spirits.  A smile is contagious and appreciated by the sad.  Eat, drink and be merry but if the holiday cheer gets the best of you be sure to have a designated driver or call a cab.  To use a cliché, the life you save could be your own!

I had a good weekend for getting work done around the homestead.  The weather has really cooled off and is what I would call “brisk” in the mornings.  I had every intention of getting up early and getting going but that extra cup of coffee was just too inviting to pass up.  Finally around 9:00 I was out the door getting the chores done.

 

I may have mentioned before that my tractor had to get some work done to it but it is back and running okay.  The guy who fixed the PTO clutch said it was running low on power and probably just needed a tune-up.  I decided to take Sarah with me into town to buy some spark plugs, some building supplies at Home Depot and feed at the Co-Op.  I knew I wanted to be back before 1:00 since our football team was playing a tournament game at home and it was likely the last game of the season for me.  After stopping at the co-op for turkey and chick feed I decided to just buy everything in our home town.  The guy that fixed my tractor also sell spark plugs and the local hardware store had everything I needed to insulate the brooder box.  I was able to save an hour in travel time and helped support the local economy.  I am sure the local merchants appreciate it since the times are getting tough in our neck of the woods.

 

By the time we got home, put stuff away and ate lunch it was close to 1:00 so I took Sarah to the football game.  She really likes to go to the game but finds herself torn between sitting with me and running around with her friends.  I let her choose for herself and she ends up going back and forth.  Well the Owls put a shellacking on the Hutchinson Trinity team and ended up winning 56-14.  They still have to win 3 more games to retain their title as state champions.  It will be interesting to see if they can do it but they will have to work hard since the competition is definitely better this year.

 

When I got home I decided to keep Sarah outside and away from the TV.  I just want to see if keeping her from the TV helps her out.  She is not having any problems in particular but she needs to be stimulated with things other than Hannah Montana and Jake & Josh.  If we have to tighten our belts financially the first thing to go will be the satellite dish. 

 

Together we moved the chicken pen to the back patio.  I decided to move it there to shield it from the harsh winter weather and to make it easier to tend to the chickens.  The chickens are now safely up for the winter and have plenty of hay to keep them warm on the concrete slab.  We will see how traumatic the mood was and if it affects egg production.  I accidentally injured one of the hens by running over her leg.  It does not appear to be broken but she is still hobbling around.  I also installed a light in the coop since we are now so close to the house.  In an effort to save money and to keep things as green as possible I am using a compact florescent bulb in my shop light.  I think the wattage is about 15 but puts out the light of a 60 watt incandescent bulb.  It puts out very little heat but hopefully it will help keep up the egg production now that the days are getting so much shorter.  The lamp is connected to a timer in the garage and it comes on at 3:30 am and off at 7:00.  It is only 3 ½ hours but keeps the total light at around 15 hours.  I will adjust it as necessary to maintain that amount of light while minimizing the total amount of electricity being used.

 

I also began construction of my $6 chicken plucker.  I got this plan off of a post on HomesteadingToday.com.  It really is ingenious and will be used when we butcher the turkeys in 2 weeks.  Basically the plucker is made from a pvc end cap and pieces of rubber bungees.  The plucker spins by connecting it to my electric drill and running the scalded bird over the spinning fingers.  The discussion and pictures can be seen at the following link by clicking here.  I got most of the project done but came up short on my bungees.  I am going to stop by Home Depot during my lunch break to pick one more up.  The video shows it working pretty well and as far as I am concerned plucking is the worst part of poultry.  If it works as good as advertised then the $6 is worth every penny.  I will report back my findings.

 

By the time that project was done it was getting too cold to work outside as the sun was starting to set.  To the chagrin of Spencer I really did not want to bundle him up so he could run around outside.  I promised him he could help me cut the grass and ride the tractor on Sunday after Church.  He accepted it and kept reminding me of my commitment to him.

 

Dinner on Saturday night was some store bought steaks that really left us yearning for some of our tastier freezer steaks from a local beef rancher.  The taste is just so much better and about the same price, if not cheaper.  We just don’t have enough room in our freezer right now for a side of beef.  I am hoping in the spring we can order a cow.

 

Sunday morning we had pancakes and sausage.  The kids really love that and it was pretty good to me also.  We headed off to Church and Sunday School where we had a good discussion about traveling down the narrow path as opposed to the wide road that most of us tend to do.  It really invoked a lot of thought on my part and gave me something to ponder and pray about.  After Church we celebrated Pastor Appreciation Day with a small reception to thank Pastors John, Christopher, and Jim.  They really do work hard to make Goddard UMC a nice place to attend.

 

After Church I fulfilled my promise to Spencer to help out with the yard work.  He climbed on the tractor with me and helped me steer around the yard to get that final cutting in for the year.  He really had fun and stuck with me for about 2/3’s of the work.  He was getting cold and wanted to go inside.  Sarah helped by moving a pile of tree trimmings to our brush pile.  She got done with that at about the same time that Spencer wanted to go inside.  She jumped back on the tractor and helped me finish the job.  The yard now looks nice and won’t drive me nuts by looking at grass stalks sticking up through the snow all winter.  I also put all of the hoses up for the winter, put the swimming pool in the basement and generally cleaned out the garage so the cars could be parked in there now. 

 

During the late afternoon I watched the end of the NASCAR race and saw Jimmy Johnson put on a show by outclassing the rest of the field.  As much as I like Tony Stewart and wished he was going to be the champion I have to tip my hat to the Rick Hendrick team.  They just have it going on again this year.

 

This week I head to Colorado Springs Co for another state ag aviation convention.  I will be gone for 3 days so I pray for Susie’s sanity while she holds down the fort by herself in my absence.

Let me begin by saying that I had the most wonderful weekend.  I got to spend time with my daughter and son that were meaningful to both of them.  It is not often that kids respond to you in a way that shows admiration and love, but I think I got it this weekend.

 

Friday was an evening of Halloween trick or treating.  Since we live out in the country we drove into the local town.  One of Sarah’s best friends joined us since her mother was out of town and father is on dialysis and could not take her.  Taegen is such a nice girl and always respectful.  I may have mentioned it before but Sarah dressed up as a Spanish Princess and Spencer was Elmo.  All three kids had the program down pat and Spencer even figured out how to say “trick or treat” but mostly understood that every house brought him “MORE CANDY MOMMA”!  The amount of candy collected was limited but they also did not have the expectations of pillow cases full like when I was a middle schooler.  They were more than satisfied and actually really tired by the time we got home.  We got Taegen home by 9:00 and all of the kinds in bed by 9:30.

 

Saturday morning was a work day at the church so I took both kids with me to allow Susie to get some homework done.  Sarah watched Spencer and played with him while I helped install a new stainless steel sink in the kitchen.  Others were cleaning out the junk piles that seem to accumulate in the area behind the stage.  These workdays are just a part of keeping things in order but tiring at the same time.  I had to leave by 11:00 because I had to get to the co-op before they closed for some turkey feed.  We finally got home around 12:00 and got the kids fed and Spencer down for a nap.

 

The weather was fantastic and I really did not want Sarah to sit around and watch TV so I enlisted her help moving the chicks from the basement to the transitional brooder in the garage.  She helped me spread the wood chips, fill the feeders, and fill the waterer.  Next we put all of the chicks in a plastic container and moved them to their new home.  All of the chicks seem to be adjusting well.  Next we tended to our normal chores of feeding and watering the turkeys and layers followed by collecting eggs.

 

Once the chores were completed Sarah asked if we could just “hang out” together.  She really did not have anything to say but just wanted a little more daddy time.  She even said she would get me a beer for while we talked.  How could a dad say no to that?  I think we sat on our lawn chairs in the garage for over an hour just talking about life and the things that she was looking forward to.  It was just too precious and one of the best uses of time I have had in a long time.  We agreed we would do that more often in the future.

 

We were invited to our friend’s house for chili, hotdogs and beer Saturday night.  It was a great time for the adults and children alike.  After a few beers it was time to play silly games that resembled charades in an electronic form.  We had a whole lot of laughs and great fellowship.  Sarah was invited to spend the night at the Geiman’s which was nice for her but she never sleeps well on the floor.  We got home around 10:30 and I was in no mood to sleep so I watched some dribble on TV until I could not keep my eyes open anymore.  My thinking was that I would get another hour of sleep because daylight savings time started that night.  I woke up before 5:00 am anyhow on Sunday.

 

Susie decided not to go to church on Sunday so she could get a couple extra hours of uninterrupted studying in.  I took the kids to Sunday school and church and celebrated communion.  It was a very nice and relaxing time.  After church I told Sarah that we would be going on an adventure when Spencer took his nap.  Sarah always likes the adventures since I don’t tell her what we are going to do and she looks forward to a big surprise.  I had secured an above ground swimming pool from Freecycle.  It was 16 feet across and 4 feet deep.  It was pretty well drained but still had an inch or two of water in the bottom which was my responsibility to get rid of.  When we pulled up to the house I could see the pool in the back yard but Sarah did not nee it yet.  When we got out of the car she was still trying to figure out why we were in front of a stranger’s house.  I pointed to the back yard and asked if she saw anything she wishes she could have.  She immediately saw the pool and jumped up into my arms knowing it was for her.  The look on her face was priceless.  We spent the next 2 ½ hours draining and folding the pool so it would fit in the back of my truck.  At around 4:00 I got a call from Susie reminding me that she had a reception at the church she was hosting.  I told her to take Spencer to the nursery as we had a lot of work to get done when we got home.  The pool was a muddy mess and was in need of a cleaning before we could put it away for the winter.  Sarah and I set the pool back up next to the house and hosed off the inside getting all of the dirt and leaves out.  We also talked about the rules for using the pool like no swimming by yourself, no diving, etc.  She is so excited and can’t wait until spring when we will refill it and have some fun.  By sundown we had everything cleaned up and drying out.  Tonight I will try to disassemble the pool and store it for the winter.

 

When I put Sarah to bed last night she gave me a big hug and said she had so much fun.  That just made it all worth it.

 

Since it is the end of the month, I have my October chicken raising data ready.  This is the first full month when all of the hens were laying consistently.  I was able to get a 97% efficiency rate which I am real happy with.  Below are my data tables and graphs.  I am also still looking for study participants.  I got a response from one person this morning that I will be corresponding with to see how interested he is.  Get your names in soon so we can get the best data to share with everyone.

 

 

 

I had a nice weekend after a really busy week.  I kept busy but not ragged.  After I got home from my convention in Hutchinson I took Sarah to the football game where the Owls won 21-7.  While the Owls are the defending state champions I don’t see them repeating again this year.  Their undefeated record just does not show the weaknesses that they have.  Too many dropped passes, penalties and poor deep defense to consider them a great football team.  I hope for the best but am not expecting a whole lot.  Sarah also got to be a cheerleader again and was just so excited to be on the side line acting all grown up.  We got home really late and went straight to bed.

 

I woke early on Saturday and got my chores done in short order.  There was not much to do since Susie did a good job of feeding and keeping the chickens and turkeys watered.  Feed consumption and laying efficiency is holding steady and providing us with plenty of eggs.  I am able to give away about ½ dozen each week to my co-workers.  They are appreciative but little do they know that I am simply planting a seed for when I start selling them in the spring.

 

Around 10:30 I ran into town to get my tractor out of the service center.  The mower clutch assembly seems to be working fine now but I do need to do some more maintenance such as a new oil filter, spark plugs and fuel filter.  The tractor seems to me really low on power and should get better once these are accomplished.  After getting the tractor home I went back into town and picked up 125 feet of fencing from a guy that advertised on Freecycle.  The plan is to use this fencing for the pigs in the spring.

 

Speaking of pigs I think I have Susie convinced that the pigs would be a good addition to the homestead.  I used the example of the chickens, which she was originally reluctant to have, to show that my ideas do work out well.  I also have Sarah pushing the idea too.  She really wants to enter a pig in the county fair next year.

 

The weather turned cold on Saturday night and has gotten colder as I write this entry.  Fall is definitely upon us as last night was our first hard freeze.

 

The chicks are all doing well and feathering out nicely.  Still not sure how many hens and roos I have as they are not showing any individual characteristics yet.  Probably be about 3-4 more weeks before it becomes evident.  I cleaned out the wooden brooder box in preparation for their transfer to the garage next weekend.  I am also planning to insolate the box as it will probably be the hen house for the winter.  I have a bunch of styrofoam pieces that I will glue to the outside and cover with a vinyl tarp.  It should keep the box warmer and drier. 

 

Last night I found a guy trying to get rid of a 6x6x6 hen house with a metal roof.  I am heading over there on my lunch break to see how I can get it home.  Freecycle is just the greatest service to find the crap others don’t need but can still be used by others.

 

I am still looking for participants for my chicken study.  If you are remotely interested in helping to gather statistics related to efficient free ranging please let me know.  No operation is too small to participate.

A lot has happened on, and off, the homestead since I last entered a blog post.  The weather has turned unpredictable as we should expect in the fall season.  Temperatures are generally cooler but spikes into the upper 70’s still happen.  Heavy rains followed by sunny skies appear in the forecast regularly.  Wichita has officially recorded the wettest year in recorded history, and it is only mid October.  My prayers go out to those that have suffered with our fall floods.  Homeowners have seen their basements fill with water and farmers are unable to plant their winter wheat crops.  Milo fields also go unharvested as they wait for the ground to dry out enough to support the weight of tractors.  Fortunately, our homestead has weathered everything very well.  The ground is soft but no flooding has occurred and all of the poultry has survived.  One thing I can be happy about is that the water well is full and there is no danger of a drought this year!

 

Work has me traveling a lot this time of year.  I found myself flying around western Kansas and eastern Colorado visiting prospective customers in late September.  Early October found me in Orlando Florida for the annual National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention.  While it is a long week of booth duty and late nights with customers and vendors it is time well spent as the aviation community converges for this convention and many new customers can be found along with spending time with our current customer base.  Tomorrow I leave for Hutchinson Kansas for the annual Kansas Ag Aviation Association (KAAA) convention.  This year’s event is looking good and hopefully it will yield a few new customers.  I expect to travel at some point in November and also attend the National Ag Aviation Association (NAAA) in December.

 

I was able to take my family to Orlando with me to visit my parents, who live in a retirement community 90 minutes north of the city.  We took the kids to Disney World where they got to see Mickey, Mini, and Cinderella.  Sarah was too excited to eat dinner with Cinderella and Prince Charming at the Grand Floridian Hotel.  After that long day I returned to my hotel and the rest of the family moved into my parent’s home.  They got to spend 4 days playing and eating with Grandma and Grandpa.  They also got a surprise visit with their cousins John and Jake, who live in Georgia.  I am so glad that they got to experience and meet them as my relationship with my brother has been very strained for the last 10 years.  It is not the kid’s fault and they deserve to know their blood relatives.  I just wish I could somehow regain a relationship with my brother before it is too late.  I think we both want to get past this but the pain and time apart makes things very difficult.

 

About 3 weeks before I left for Florida I was able to obtain 26 fertile eggs from a local guy that raises Rhode Island Reds and Black Austrolops.  I put them in the incubator hoping to get a few replacement chickens for the spring.  Right before leaving for Florida I candled the eggs but could not really see anything.  I figured that the eggs were duds or I had done something to kill them before they developed.  Upon returning from the trip, I found that 19 of the chicks had hatched and were doing wonderfully.  I moved them to the brooder box and tried to help another 4 chicks finish hatching.  Unfortunately, none of the remaining eggs were able to hatch healthy chicks.  However, I feel that 19 out of 26 was pretty good for a first try at hatching.  The chicks are now growing and making a lot of noise in the basement.  They are growing feathers quickly and should be ready for the outside brooder in a week or two.  With a little luck, we should have 8-10 layers ready by the first part of February.  At that point I should have enough chicks to begin selling eggs to help pay for my feed costs.

 

My 3 laying hens are doing a great job.  Their efficiency is almost 97% for the month of October.  The eggs are large and shaped very well.  This weekend we got an egg that I would call XXXXX large (bigger than jumbo) size.  I jokingly called it an ostrich egg due to the fact it would not even fit in an egg carton.  Sarah ate that egg on Sunday morning for breakfast and it contained a double yoke and filled the entire frying pan.  It was exciting for us but that poor hen must have walked funny for a while after passing something so big.

 

Fee consumption is down to .29 pounds per hen a day.  I am expecting that number to rise as winter brings cooler temperatures.  I will report my findings further as they come in.  In the meantime, I am moving the chicken tractor towards the back yard.  I plan to park it on my back porch for the winter months to protect the hens from the brutal cold winds that we experience in the months of December to March.  It will also make it easier to collect eggs and feed/water them during that time.  I will also put straw on the ground to protect them from the cold concrete on the patio.

 

My turkeys are growing well.  The tom is suffering from a bad leg but is still gaining weight.  I weighed both of the turkeys this weekend and found the hen to be 18 pounds and the tom 15 pounds.  If I can get them to live for the next 4 ½ weeks I think they will easily dress out to 25-30 pounds each.  They are eating a lot of food and producing a large amount of poop.  This weekend I was able to collect a large wheel barrow load to spread on the compost pile.  Hopefully, that will aid in the break down of the grass and garden waste for use on the spring garden next year.

 

My lawn tractor is currently in the shop.  The mower deck clutch fell off and could not be repaired at home.  I dropped it off at the local repair shop and hope to have it back this weekend.  I really want to get my final grass cutting in so I can begin winterizing the house.

 

I am planning for next year’s homestead projects already.  I think I will get 2-3 feeder pigs in the spring to raise to butchering weight.  I have the area plotted out already next to the lagoon.  It will be far enough away from the house to avoid odor but close enough to keep an eye on it from the kitchen.  Our garden was more successful this year but I still do not consider it a success.  I will spend the winter figuring out how to keep the weeds down and improve the yields.  I am starting to take orders for Thanksgiving 2009 turkeys.  I am going to raise heritage breeds but want to make sure I have buyers lined up before April when the poults need to be ordered.  The prices for the day old poults appear to be about $8 each plus shipping.  After feed costs and my time I am expecting the price to be about $60-$70 each for a 20-30 pound turkey.  It is not a lot of profit but may help with Christmas expenses next year.  I am sure we will also raise 25-50 Cornish X Cross chickens again for the freezer at some point.  We have already enjoyed several meals from our batch from this summer.  Very yummy and worth the work involved.

 

Sarah is dong well in school as is Susie.  Susie is struggling with math but everything else is producing A’s.  Last night we were evaluating her schedule and it looks like we may be able to avoid going on campus for another year.  This online program is very nice and allows Susie to spend quality time with Spencer and Sarah.  We are truly blessed.

I am looking to start a study of costs and conditions that affect egg production.  What I will look at is the effects of protein percentages in feed, temperature and feed consumption on the cost of egg production.  Long story short, the study should take about a year but could reveal whether you are actually making a profit on your egg sales and how to adjust your practices to maximize profits.  I don’t want to be overwhelmed with data input so I plan to solicit up to 25 free range poultry producers that have less than 100 birds.  The producers will be required to keep very accurate records of feed use, eggs produced and poultry mortality.  If you are interested in participating in this study please get in contact with me via email .

I really feel like I have been slacking a bit with my blog.  It is not that I have lost interest but it is fall time and I am a bit busier these days.  Also work has picked up and finding time to write has been a challenge.

 

Weather has been the buzzword for the last week or so.  Temperatures have been much cooler but rain has been the real newsmaker.  Thursday afternoon the National Weather Service began issuing flood warnings all around our area.  Thursday night it began raining and by Friday morning there was standing water everywhere and rivers were already beginning to swell.  By 11:00 am Friday it was evident that we were heading for major problems in the Wichita area.  By 2:00 pm we were sending everyone home for the day to take care of protecting our property.  One person in our office, Randy, was already taking water on in his basement.  It turns out it was sewage backup from the city.  The system just could not handle all the water.  On my way home a normally slow creek had overflowed its banks and flooded an entire neighborhood with about 3 feet of water.  I decided to stop by the church and make sure it was okay.  We have had major work done to parts of the roof recently and I know this was a major test.  The new roof was holding fine but some of the older flat sections were pouring water into the building.  We also had a drainage issue in one section that was allowing water to seep in under the walls.  The damage is minimal but needs to be addressed to avoid future issues.

 

My house is situated quite high so we did not experience any damage.  The yard was flooded but the house stayed dry inside.  The vinyl roof on the turkey pen collapsed under the weight of the water but I was able to rectify that on Saturday morning.  The layers faired very well and once I moved the pen on Saturday they were happily foraging on the damp grass.

 

My layers have been eating more but the laying efficiency has been getting better.  For the last 5 days I am getting over 87% efficiency.  Not too bad in my opinion.  For the entire month of September it has been 58%.  Feed consumption has been right at .3 lbs per hen per day for the last 5 days.  For the month of September it has been .31.  In August it was .22.  I am figuring that the increase is due to the cooler weather and will only get worse as winter arrives.

 

As I mentioned in a previous entry my dog destroyed the nest box on the chicken tractor in an effort to collect some eggs for himself.  I have not sealed off the opening and encouraged the hens to begin laying in the buckets system I had set up a couple months ago.  I filled the buckets with hay and placed 3 fake eggs in them.  My hope was that in a few days they would learn to use the buckets to make collecting eggs easier.  I was pleased to learn that within 10 minutes one of the birds took the clue and laid right away.  The other 2 hens followed suit within hours.  I am going to leave the fake eggs in there for a couple more days until I am confident that the chickens know what they are doing.

 

I made contact with a guy that lives in the next town over through the Homesteading Today website (link is on the side).  Clint is really nice and has a great setup for chickens, ducks and turkeys.  He is also developing a game bird operation to raise quail and pheasants for local farm sales.  He was nice enough to give me 14 fertile eggs so I can start to hatch out some replacements.  I am stopping by tomorrow night to get some more.  I am hoping to have a total of 24 eggs in the incubator.  Anticipating an 80% hatch rate should yield around 9-10 hens.  I know, never count your chickens before they hatch but I am shooting for 8-10 replacements in the brooder next month. The timing is not the best since I will be out of town on a business trip in Florida when they are due to hatch.  Hopefully I can get the Geiman’s to take care of the last couple days for me.  When I get back I should be back in the brooding business.

 

The yard needs cut at some point this week if things dry out enough.  Sarah is loving school.  Our local high school football game got canceled on Friday but was played Saturday afternoon in Hutchinson.  Sarah got to be a cheerleader for about 20 minutes.  She was so excited and happy about that opportunity.  The weather is supposed to improve this week and should be sunny and in the mid 80’s this week.  As long as it does not rain we should be fine.

This morning I found total carnage around the chicken coop.  I know who the culprit was and while I am mad at her I can’t say that she is completely at fault.  My trusty yellow lab, Pico, finally figured things out.  You see, Sarah has been in charge of collecting eggs every afternoon and Pico knows that he can stick his head in the nest box and gobble one up while Sarah tries to keep him away.  Pico has acquired a taste for eggs and decided to open the nest box on his own last night.  Unfortunately with the box shred apart it gave opportunity for the birds to get out.  The chase ensued and now half of my birds are now dead.  Most were just ripped apart and feathers were everywhere.  I spent a good 20 minutes collecting as many carcass parts as possible.  I temporarily sealed the pen up and will get it more secured when I get home tonight.  It really was a shame because I had a descent rooster that was not overly annoying and I was looking forward to hatching eggs this winter.  I am now down to 3 hens and 2 turkeys.  I am going to try and find another rooster around here so I can get back on that breeding plan.  I am going to seal up the external nest box and have the hens use the buckets in the coop for now.

 

I have not had a chance to purchase a light for the coop yet and may modify my plan and use a CF light instead.  It will require moving the coop on my back porch for the winter but that may not be a totally bad thing since it will be more protected from the fierce Kansas winds and the house may actually keep it warmer too.

I am sorry it has been so long since I last posted but things have been quite busy around our house.  The weather has changed dramatically and seems like late fall right now.  I have noticed a serious increase in feed consumption and a drop in egg production.  The table below is my actual number from the last couple weeks. 

 

I think that my main problem may actually be light since the days have shortened significantly in the last couple of weeks.  I am heading to Harbor Freight at lunch today to buy a solar powered landscaping light.  I want to cut a hole in the roof of the coop and count it so the solar collector is exposed and the light will be inside.  I am not 100% sure how well this will work but it is only $5 and is worth a shot I guess.  My objective with my homestead project has been to keep things as “green” as possible.  Using excess electricity will not help in achieving this goal.  The light is LED so it should be plenty bright for this application.  Also contributing could be a sudden cold snap we experienced.  On Wednesday the high temperature was in the mid 60’s.  I will let you know how this goes and what the egg production trend does after I get light in the coop.

 

To catch everybody up a little on the happenings on the homestead, last weekend was quite busy.  Since it was a long holiday weekend I was very ambitious in what I wanted to accomplish.  I was able to acquire a used swing set off of freecycle.org for the kids so I went to Home Depot to buy some replacement bolts and concrete.  While lifting the concrete I twisted my back wrong and knew I was going to have problems with it.  More on that later.  The swing set is old but in pretty good shape.  I know it would never pass current child safety standards but I guess I survived worse when I was a kid.  I am just going to keep an eye on it and hopefully no serious injuries will occur.  On Saturday I cleaned the turkey pen, got all of the trimming done around the house and mowed part of the lagoon.  After church on Sunday I was able to dig the holes for the swing set and set it in concrete.  I also cut more of the grass in the lagoon.  I have to tell you that maintaining the lagoon is the worst chore that I have.  I put it off for too long and the grass gets so high that mowing takes forever.  I am seriously considering buying a goat for the sole purpose of taking care of that for me.  Does this give me more “green” points since I won’t be using the gas powered push mower?  I just have to be careful that the goat does not tear up the soil and structure of the lagoon.  I am even considering a side business that would rent the goat out to people for the same purpose.  No input costs since the grass and water will always be bountiful.  We were invited to the Geiman’s house for dinner on Sunday night.  We had some great fellowship and grilled lamb chops.  Sarah also had her best friend Taegan Patti spend the night.  Taegan is such a nice girl and I understand why they are such good friends.  Both are very low key and thoughtful unlike many kids their age.  Monday morning got started with the daily chores and cutting the grass.  I put it off until Monday so that I could stretch the next cutting to the following weekend.  Cutting during the week is getting harder since the days are getting shorter.  If the temperatures stay cooler then it won’t be a big deal. 

 

I found a source for Hatch Chiles last week.  Just by chance I was driving past a local garden store and they had a sign announcing Chiles.  I have to explain that I have been to Hatch New Mexico many times since it is fairly close to where Susie’s parents live.  When living in Arizona we would go to the annual festival and go home with a large sack of hot chiles.  Living in Kansas I was pleasantly surprised that we could get them fresh roasted locally.  I think we got about 40-50 pounds of the chiles in the freezer now.  That should last us for the next 12 months or so.

 

Sarah has shown an interest in join the Girl Scouts.  We went to the signup and I am not sure if there is going to be enough community interest to get a troop together.  In a way, I hope she decides not to because I would prefer to see her in 4-H.  I would be able to participate more and the commitment would be lower since the meetings are only once a month, I think.

 

I don’t want to discuss politics too much but I have been watching the Republican National Convention closely.  I was very impressed by John McCain’s choice for Vice-President.  I think Sarah Pallin is going to be a great addition to the ticket and should give Obama a run for his celebrity money in November.  John’s speech was a little less than inspiring but the venue is not within his comfort zone.  I think he will excel in the debates and will do a good job of contrasting himself against Obama’s inexperience.  I have to admit that John is not my ideal candidate and being from Arizona I was able to experience a lot of his short-comings.  But for me the alternative is much scarier.

 

Tonight is the first high school football game.  Last year we won the state championship and they are looking to be good again this year.  I think we are going with the Geimans and possibly hook up with Ken Pauly from my office.  He graduated from Garden Plain High School 40 plus years ago.  In fact, he still holds a school record for some track/field event. 

 

Tomorrow morning I am heading to Pratt Kansas with a group from the church.  We are going to pitch in and help a local congregation complete a Fellowship Hall construction project.  Shortly after starting the project 15 years ago there was a big rift in the congregation.  Sunday attendance is now around 30 and 3 elderly men have been slowly working on it.  We figure that we can get most of the work done in 2 or 3 days with our manpower.  I will let everybody know how that goes.

 

Other than the Pratt project I don’t have much planned.  I am sure I will find something to tinker with.

 

I am making a short entry today to see what people think about this blog and what they would like to see more of.  So far I have just bloged random happenings at our homestead.  My family is not doing anything extraordinary.  We are trying to be more self sufficient, friendlier on the environment and teaching our children good values.  These are the things that my parents attempted to varying degrees of success when I was a child.  Now it is my turn and I want to do what my parents did only better. 

 

The number of readers on this blog has steadily increased.  Thanks to all of you who have subscribed for automatic notification.  If you have not done so already I encourage you to enter your email address in the space on the right.  This does not mean you will be spammed as I have been told that it is only used to send the short notifications.  Once you have subscribed you must remember to respond to the email that will verify your desire to subscribe.  This eliminates your friends from subscribing you to things that may not be of interest to you.  Unsubscribing at a later date is also simple.

 

I would love to get some feedback from my readers.  Are there subjects that need to be further explored?  Am I missing an opportunity to talk about a subject?  Should I stay out of the political topics and their effects on my family?  Would commentary on world events be of any interest to you?

 

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