Larsen Poultry Ranch - homesteading journey

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

The Celadons did ok hatching, I started with 36 eggs, and removed 6 at first candle as non fertile/early quit. Then I removed 5 quitters at lockdown. Of the 25, 21 hatched and the last 4 were DIS. All 21 seem to be doing well.

I sold the tom turkey this morning, so the turkey pen was empty. I planned to upgrade the chickens in the orchard pens there but had to move the quail (in their cages) instead. The shipping container was getting way too hot despite fans - it was well over 100 degrees. We will be adding a roof and better fans, possibly a swamp cooler to get the temperature under control so the quail can move back.

Still searching for a property, we thought we found a great one but unless we get some good answers from the county tomorrow it will be off the table as a possibility as it would make building a house too expensive and over budget.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Sad and frustrated right now. We've been looking at a property for about 2 weeks now, and I finally got some information yesterday that basically means it's not going to work out. There's a "seasonal wetlands" across the property. From east to west, touching both sides of the parcel. The road is on the south parcel line. The well and perc'd zone are on the north side of the property. So, there's no way to get from the road to the building site unless you cross the wetlands area. Very frustrated that they are calling this a buildable piece of land when it's not.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Good thing ya found that out before signing "past the point of no return"....it is hard to accept sometimes, but there is a Better place for ya and you'll come across it....just have to keep searching....think of it as an "adventure".....

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Yeah, just feeling discouraged, because most everything is out of our price range and the stuff that's in our price range is either not useable or gone in 5 seconds. We are still looking but it's hard to put in hours researching a property and dreaming up the layout just to have the whole thing crumble.

I really want to stay in CA because my family is here, but fiance has been pushing to move out of state. We'd probably end up in Idaho, Texas or Georgia if we did leave. We've got family in Texas and Georgia and he has business contacts in Idaho. I just don't know if we'd (me mostly) be able to handle the different weather and if I'd be able to bring my animals.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Checked on the momma hen this morning and was able to count all 9 babies. Yay!

We have a possibility of a house on 5 acres, but I'm worried they are going to ask too much. Supposedly the house and property is in rough shape so hopefully they ask for a fixer price instead of a move in ready price. We drove up to the front of it as they weren't showing it yet, it looked ok but the fence was falling down and the AG building looked like it was as well. Hoping to see it with the realtor on Sunday or early next week.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Hope it works out for you!

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Critters are doing well. We butchered 6/9 of the middle group of bunnies, the last three were girls and I wanted to give them a little more time before I pick which one I'm keeping. The last group of bunnies (8 of unknown gender) will probably be butchered this weekend, they are getting big. I hate how much hay they waste, I need to figure out a better hay rack system. I swear half the hay goes on the ground.

I went to an iris sale this last weekend, and I didn't know they had so many colors! Or color combinations! I picked out so many different blue ones, I'm hoping I can keep them all organized and labeled with the names. I did get some non-blue ones too.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

We did go and see the property; it's in a good area and has potential. It's a definite fixer and the contractor we had walk it gave us an estimate of around $37k to make the repairs. So, we kept that in mind when we made our offer. They countered our offer by increasing the price by $25k amongst other things. They have said the value is in the land, not the house, but they are pricing it way over the values of recent land that has sold. It's a tad frustrating especially since we had included a rent back where they can stay untill the end of September so it's easier for them to move out of state.

We are thinking about how we want to respond to their counter or if we should just keep looking. I highly doubt the seller is going to get anywhere near what they want if they try to sell on the market. Maybe we just need to look at properties already listed instead of this pre-listing nonsense.

Honestly I feel like every time I try to do a real estate transaction I get screwed - is that just normal for buying and selling or is that just me?

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Oh! Almost forgot to add, I found a neat website and ordered some seeds for the wedding favors, they are sunflowers. I also bought some flax seeds and a deer forage mix. Hopefully fiance can plant the deer forage mix where he might be hunting deer, or we might put it where the goats could browse on it. I'm excited for the flax because I would like to learn how to spin it.

I also bought a White treadle sewing machine this week, I'm hoping to dismount the machine and mount a flyer to turn it into a spinning wheel. The machine needs a band, but it looks like it might actually be in ok shape, the parts I know to move seem to move smoothly when I turn it by hand. I looked up the serial number and I think it was made in 1917-1918, so it's actually an antique! I'd like to see if I can fix up the stain/finish on it. I've read I can just use boiled linseed oil and some steel wool, then polish with a lint free cloth.

 

[Bruce]

I swear half the hay goes on the ground.

Sounds like my alpacas. They are super picky, if it isn't thin grass they just drop it. Seems, with regard to their tastes, I bought a lot of bales that were 3/4 bedding, 1/4 food.

I'm hoping I can keep them all organized and labeled with the names.

And clear enough space to plant them all! Of course if you are going to move that would have to wait.

We are thinking about how we want to respond to their counter or if we should just keep looking.

Both. If they went up from their original "non listed" price they are getting greedy. I'd go up maybe a little from your original offer but certainly not to their new price. But keep looking because while they are trying to wring money out of you something better might come around.