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.

A couple of questions...how much are laying pellets there...they are running about 11.50 here for pellets or crumbles...a 4 way scratch is around 12.00
...we are in GA.... What do you feed your turkeys?

Laying Pellets are $12.00 at the local co-op. I have never used scratch so I can't tell you the local price for that. Since the birds are on grass I am not sure it will be necessary. For the turkeys I am feeding game bird feed which is aroud $10 I think.