KDailey's Journal

[KDailey]

I used to hatch / raise 20+ different breeds. Our 'specialty' were blue Orpingtons...I once sold 6 eggs for $120 on eggbid.

I love the bantam cochins (and standards) and the d'Uccles and my DH was wild about his seramas. I had Japanese, Longtails, silkies, just a huge variety of all the things *I* thought were pretty / would sell well. We also had several varieties of pheasants, guins, peacocks in different colors, turkeys in about all types....

Then A) Bird Flu and B) Farm Stores opened up by us and C) Ethanol all three happened and I lost my local customers to the farm stores, the USPS started charging double to ship b/c of Bird Flu (and required special boxes for while that cost $$$), and local feed prices went up 66% due to everyone selling their corn to ethanol plants instead of the feed mills.

Soooo...now I have just a few silkies for pleasure, one pair of cochins for yard art, 15 or so guineas, and a bunch of boring old layers because that's what most of my remaining customers want. Oh, and my royal palm turkeys...I just got another trio of those. I keep selling them b/c they're not 'practical' but I do adore them.

Seriously, at one time we probably had 300 adult breeding birds....t'was awesome.

*sigh*

It sounds like you've got the life! I would love to just raise what I personally like the best but with us being such as small farm and really not having the connections to sell specialized breeds, if I want to try and start a small business I've got to go with what sells. I actually do like buff orpingtons and rhode island reds but I've just got other breeds that I prefer.

I would give absolutely ANYTHING to be able to have all different kinds of chickens and turkeys and peacocks as well as cattle, sheep, goats, etc but I really have to keep everything on a small scale for the time being. Hopefully I can get some good customers for my birds and they'll spread the word and we can go from there.

Ryan's dad has a small portable sawmill that Ryan saws pine logs on and his dad just recently asked Ryan if he wanted to buy the sawmill from him. In a form of payment, he would saw 1000 feet of board for 15 weeks and then the sawmill will be his. On a good day Ryan can saw just about 1000 feet a day so it would be very easy to saw for his dad as well as himself. Ryan already has a few good customers that bring cedar logs for him to saw and they are very happy with his work so we're hoping that they'll spread the word and maybe Ryan can make a business of custom sawing logs and selling pine lumber. Then when possible, hopefully I could make a business out of my farm.

 

[jodief100]

I just love little baby chicks. There is something about opening that box and seeing all the babies in there. I always pick mine up since Mt Healthy hatchery is 45 minutes away. I am thinking of ordering some different breeds this year.

Good luck on your new business venture. You have a plan, that is a good start.

 

[KDailey]

Well we use Ideal Poultry becuase it's the closest to us and it's the simplest to use so far. They're only 3 hours from us so we get the chicks really quickly through the mail. It's just a little too far to warrant a drive when Ideal doesn't actually charge for the shipping. They just do these 1/4 box charges and small order charges.

I only had $4.00 worth of small box charges for this order and the postage on the shipping box showed that it cost over $9.00 to ship so I got a good deal on shipping this go round. Other hatcheries, like Cackle for instance, is way too complicated when it comes to figuring out the shipping. I ordered a catalog from them to see if they were cheaper than Ideal. The prices were cheaper but when I looked at their shipping chart it was wayyy too complicated and when I did figure it out it was gonna be crazy and it would definately be cheaper to go with Ideal as long as I didn't get a bunch of different varieties in quantities under 25 chicks. Plus they're only 3 hours away so the chicks have very little mail time and are generally healthier.

 

[77Herford]

 

[KDailey]

Well my journal is turning out to be quite boring. Lol. We don't have much exciting goin on around here

We went to the chicken sale Friday night and slot a bunch of roosters that a neighbor gave us as well as a pair of call ducks, two pair of Japanese bantams, a silkie rooster and a buff brahma pullet.

The call ducks sold for $42 and the rest sold for a few dollars each. I couldn't believe how high some stuff was selling for. Little old English game bantams that were at $2 each a few months ago were going for over $10. I only bought a three-hole nest box for $20, two carry cages for chickens/rabbits for $7 each, one young mini Rex buck for $6, 50+ quail eggs for $2, and four quail for $8.

The quail are laying which is great. There are two pharaoh and two Texas A&M. I plan on putting all the quail eggs I bought into the incubator tonight and hopefully we'll have a bunch of quail in 17 days. I've never raised quail before so I'm hoping I don't do anything wrong. Lol. They're actually very pretty.

Ryan's grandma told him the other day that they have another calf that's not sucking good and asked if we wanted it. Ryan said no! When he told me later I said yes we do too want it and that he needs to go right back over there and get it. Lolwe'll probably go see if they still have it sometime this week. Hopefully today or tomorrow so we can get the poor thing eating.

I've got a weird work schedule this week. I'm working today then I'm off Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Then work Friday and three hours Saturday. I'm getting my 20 hours so I'm not complaining about three days off in a row. It's just strange.

Oh, Ryan did sorta re-vamp the rabbit hutch. Really all he did was take it off of the sawhorses and make it a stand next to the calf's little stall but it's a lot better because water doesn't sit in front of it and it doesn't turn into a muddy mess.

I'm thinkin about selling all my old English game bantams except for two favorites that I couldn't part with. I'll probably never sell my bantam Cochins but I'm startin to think I'm not THAT fond of the old English, at least not as much as I was. I figure I can always buy more later since its not like they're anything special. They're really common colors and there are always plenty of them at the chicken sale.

I'm afraid it might be getting closer to that time when we'll have to finally put my old horse to sleep. I grew up with the old guy and he helped me learn everything I know about horses. he's only 16 but he's had a hard life and has really really bad arthritis in his knees and be an barely get around. He's been a team roper, team sorting horse, barrel racer, all around playday horse, trail riding, jumping, and just about anything else you can imagine and it's definately strained him. As much as I hate to think about it, I think the best thing for him is going to be sending over the rainbow bridge...

 

[SmallFarmGirl]

Well my journal is turning out to be quite boring. Lol. We don't have much exciting goin on around here

Don't worry about boring!! I said the same thing .... Something to read is NEVER boring!!! I love reading journals!!

 

[KDailey]

Lol. I like reading the journals too. I just wish I was doing the farming thing full time instead of working all the time. Ther might actually be more action.

 

[autumnprairie]

I to love reading journals

 

[KDailey]

Well..... here we go

A couple days ago I went out to feed everybody and while I'm feeding Tootsie (calf) I look over at the rabbit hutch and see one of the rabbits laying very un-naturally while the others are running around trying to get my attention (they're very very friendly). When Tootsie is done with her bottle I walk around to the front of the hutch and there's my new mini rex buck torn to shreds... I thought maybe the other rabbits had done it but they had been getting along fine from the get go and he'd been in there several days. Plus these rabbits have never had a problem adding another bunny to the group. Then I look down and what do I see? Raccoon tracks.... I look back up at the hutch and notice that the square piece of hardware cloth that covers the hole where a feeder would normally go has been pulled halfway down. So it looks like a raccoon is the culprit.

Then my mind flashes to the ducks who are kept on the pond. We lost one the day before and have no idea what happened to it. There weren't any tracks, no body, no feathers, absolutely no sign as to what happened to it. Which is exactly what happened to the last three ducks I lost, no sign. So I look over to where the ducks usually are in the mornings and no ducks. There should be three and there are zero. So I go look on both ponds and still no ducks. They're no where to be found. So I'm thinkin, "Great. What could possibly happen to three ducks all at once?" I understand one going missing here and there but all three and no sign of what happened?

So I go about my feeding while Ryan sets a trap for the raccoon using the dead rabbit. I'm feeding the horses and all of a sudden, here come the ducks. I have no idea where they came from or where they were hiding but I'm sure glad they're ok. Hopefully we'll catch the raccoon and whatever else is lurking around and not have this problem anymore.

On a happier note, my buff orpington and rhode island red chicks are doing really well. I'm please with how well the setup is working. We really didn't have a brooder big enough for over 100 chicks so we used the 8' x 4' coop with heat lamps and sawdust. I usually use pine shavings for my chicks but we didn't have any on hand and as you know if you've been keeping up with my journal the chicks arrived a day early and we weren't prepared. So pine sawdust from the sawmill Ryan runs is what we used, and I'll tell you what, I'll probably never use shavings again. The chicks can scratch in the sawdust just like it was dirt and it doesn't fling everywhere and get in the feeders and waterers like the shavings do. I can turn the sawdust and mix the droppings and have a new layer of clean sawdust instead of the droppings just falling all through the shavings and all of it being soiled. Also, if the waterer spills or they knock it over I can just remove the wet sawdust like you would kitty litter instead of the water spreading through all the shavings and having to dump all of it. And there is always the added plus of the sawdust is free since its produced when Ryan saws pine logs. lol.

We've only had a few chicks die out of 110 and they're going on two weeks old I believe. I went ahead and put my precious cochins chicks in with all these guys and they are absolutely thriving! I haven't lost a single one which makes me soooo happy as I really really wanted these guys to make it. And on top of that I think out of the 7, I may only have 1 rooster, maybe two which is fine with me! lol

An even happier note? We got more hay! Woohoo! We were down to our last 3 square bales and they aren't that great of quality either. We had to feed more than we should have and it really wasn't doing much for the horses other than just keeping them alive. They've all dropped a lot of weight so I'm sooo excited that we found this guy. It's great quality hay, huge bales (I can barely get them off the ground), and at $9 a bale it's the best deal we've found. We gave a whole bale to every two horses and it took them almost 2 days to finish it. And it's not becuase they just didn't want to eat it. They would chow down for a while and then just go lay down or stand in the sun and then they'd go back and do the same thing all over again. They should get nice and fat and happy now.

We went to get the hay with the man that keeps a bunch of tennessee walking horses on our back pasture. He hauled it all on his trailer and then we moved ours to our truck at his house. They have a bunch of horses, dogs, chickens, guineas, etc. They had a mama dog (dachshund) show up at their house a few weeks ago and she had 4 little bitty puppies with her. Well they've gotten bigger now and two of them are off to their new homes. Don't get me wrong, these people are really nice and would never let an animal go hungry, but these puppies have extremely short hair and it's been really cold out. I picked up one of the little guys and his feet and ears were like ice! But they won't bring them in the house. I just couldn't let him freeze like that. The other puppy seemed to be ok but this one was having a hard time, he was smaller than the others, so I brought him home. I really didnt need another dog, we have three, but he was so sweet and freezing cold, I just had to do it. I'm very impulsive sometimes. I named him Buster but this morning Ryan called him Mr. Weenie (Open Season the movie) and it just stuck. So he's now Mr. Weenie. I'll try to get a picture when I can but no promises.

Last night I started working at a restaurant here in town as a waitress because I need a little more cash on hand between paychecks. O...M....G..... I have never worked in a restaurant that was soo un-organized and just outright rediculous! I was supposed to be training? There was no training to it. On top of that they fired the two waitresses that were supposed to be working there last night and just had me and another new girl. Neither one of us knew a single thing about how they do things. I've waitressed a lot in the last 5 years and I know what I'm doing and I'm good at it. But they were so un-organized that I didn't know which way was up! There's too much to go into detail but I highly doubt I'll continue working there unless things change. I'll give it a few days but I can't work somewhere like that. I'm planning on talking to the man that owns the other restaurant in town and see if he'll hire me. His place was actually my first choice but this other restaurant was already hiring and i'm not sure if this man is or not. I'm crossing my fingers.

I'm supposed to be getting my income tax refund this coming week and I've got sooo much that I need to do with it. Gotta get the oil leak on my truck fixed, pay for the hay, and then maybe build some more chicken pens or something with the rest. Who knows. I can't decide. lol

So we actually had a little excitement this week.

 

[KDailey]

So I'm pretty much runnin on empty. Income tax refund was supposed to be here today and it's not and I have $0.22 to my name. :/ I've got to go get the rest of the hay for the horses ASAP before we run out, plus I need gas to get back and forth to work, and we still need to do our grocery shopping. I bought all the animal feed first thing when I got my paycheck so they wouldn't starve, so that means us people are going hungry until my refund comes in. Grrrr....the government is frustrating...

Well you remember I got the new puppy from a man we know? His name is Mr. Weenie and after a few days we decided to go back and get his brother for Ryan. His name is now Bubba and they are quite the team. They'll keep you entertained for hours on end.

Bubba is the one on the backside and Mr. Weenie is the one in front.

I started crocheting a lap blanket for myself. Just a plain jane blue/brown striped blanket. Those are my favorite colors together. I only started it yesterday and I'm not quite half way through with it. I worked on it probably 7-8 hours yesterday throughout the day. I gotta say, for bein my first blanket that I'm actually finishing, I think it's coming out really nice and boy is it soft! I've started little lap blankets before and always quit before I got 1/4 of the way through it.

Ryan and his dad cleared off an old fence that was so grown up with bushes and weeds and vines and little trees that you couldn't even see the fence anymore. Now that I've got my horses in it and they're eating part of the brush and the rest is dying since it's winter, we're finding holes in the fence. Pretty much the fence wouldn't've been standing if the brush hadn't been holding it up. I thought Ryan was just pulling the t-posts out of it to save them for the new fence but I hear a bunch of racket from an engine and go look outside and him and his dad have completely bulldozed the entire fence line, trees/brush/fence and all. I'll get a picture when I get off work and try to post it tomorrow. It's gonna be nice.

I just thought I'd throw this pic in of Ryan and our colt, Slick. He'll be a year old in May.

More pics and videos coming in a moment as soon as they finish uploading to photobucket.