SA Farm's journal

[SA Farm]

@RockyMountainFarms
I am really looking forward to pheasant chicks! I really hope they hatch well!

@Pioneer Chicken
I do get down, more often than I'd like, but I try not to complain, that's all
Unfortunately my budgie babies didn't make it. Two hatched, but they both perished within the first week, so we'll probably try again this fall or winter when I'm not so busy with my farm!
I have a mixed group of heritage. The Tom is a Bourbon Red/Bronze cross or Red Bronze, and my hens are Bronze, Narraganset, and Beltsville. We're going to be picking up some more Beltsville so we can have purebreds next year.
We bought our incubators. We have a Hovabator and a Farm Innovator and have it set up so the eggs are in the turner in the Hovabator until lockdown in the Innovator. That way we only have one incubator to clean and we found the Innovator was better for hatches as the Hovabator tended to shrink wrap the chicks when the humidity was around 70% for lockdown, so with the forced air, it just wasn't keeping humidity well enough.
The system we're using works fantastic, since I can set eggs every week and have had high hatch rates
DH is talking about expanding and buying a cabinet incubator next year!

 

[Pioneer Chicken]

@Pioneer Chicken
I do get down, more often than I'd like, but I try not to complain, that's all
Unfortunately my budgie babies didn't make it. Two hatched, but they both perished within the first week, so we'll probably try again this fall or winter when I'm not so busy with my farm!
I have a mixed group of heritage. The Tom is a Bourbon Red/Bronze cross or Red Bronze, and my hens are Bronze, Narraganset, and Beltsville. We're going to be picking up some more Beltsville so we can have purebreds next year.
We bought our incubators. We have a Hovabator and a Farm Innovator and have it set up so the eggs are in the turner in the Hovabator until lockdown in the Innovator. That way we only have one incubator to clean and we found the Innovator was better for hatches as the Hovabator tended to shrink wrap the chicks when the humidity was around 70% for lockdown, so with the forced air, it just wasn't keeping humidity well enough.
The system we're using works fantastic, since I can set eggs every week and have had high hatch rates
DH is talking about expanding and buying a cabinet incubator next year! [/QUOTE]

Aww...sorry they didn't make it. Hopefully it'll be better next time!

If I ever move, I'd like to get myself a trio of Narragansett turkeys; turkeys seem like a whole nother fun adventure. : )

That's good to know. I've been trying to decide whether to purchase my own incubator or try my hand again at building one (the one I made a few years back had a hatch rate of 5 chicks out of 4 dozen eggs. Yeah, not too swell). That's great you're getting high hatch rates! I've got friends who have a cabinet incubator ( a GQF Sportsman) which they found on Craigslist for a pretty good price. It's worked very well for them and I think they've already got their money back hatching and selling chicks.

Looking forward to more of your posts.

~PC : )

 

[SA Farm]

5 out of 5 Silver Pheasant chicks hatched and have made it to the brooder!
So excited about them! Our first pheasant pair and a fantastic hatch rate! Doesn't get much better than 100%! Go Travis and Tiffany! (The pheasant parents )
Yes, I've been super busy with spring hatches! Yesterday we picked up our own order of birds, so my space just went down and my work-load went up drastically! I had to move some of my older chicks outside even though I normally would have waited another few weeks. Fortunately the weather is nice and hot for them and I gave them plenty of straw to snuggle in, so they're doing fine.
Our barred rock chicks have been growing beautifully and are doing fantastic. I'm excited to be able to offer chicks and whatnot from them next year. It took a bit of doing to find different high quality lines, but I'm really passionate about out-crossing my animals. I understand line-breeding and would do it if I absolutely had to, but as long as I can find good and diverse stock, my hubby is usually willing to help me with the drive. (Yesterday we drove 6 hours for some birds!)
Right now I also have 5 broody birds! 3 turkeys, a duck, and a chicken. My bantam hen wanted to go broody, but she gave up after a few days. She'll probably do better next year.
Some broody pics: Speck, Mercury, and Ya. (The 3 Pekins are Ya, Ya, Ya and the two Rouens are Tyco and Taco. Blame my niece and Rio )


Anyhow, the only other major information is that the mosquitoes are out and they are evil and I hate them! I think I have about 200 bites just from doing my chores and gardening. Evil Mosquitoes! If only I could eradicate them from the earth! We need more swallows and bats around here, I tell ya! 4 varieties of birds kept, not one breed takes out the mosquitoes! It's just not right!
Sorry for the mini-rant lol

 

[happy acres]

Have you tried hanging purple Martin gourds? And put up some bat houses as well. If you have a pond, add koi to it. Guinea hens are really good about eating bugs too!

 

[Pioneer Chicken]

I hear you on the 'squitos. They are just awful round these parts especially since they love me more than the rest of my folks. We totally need more bats, dragonflies, and whatever else eats those vicious critters round here. I usually only see one bat all by his lonesome when I'm out for evening milking. Ugh...

It's very true guineas eat all types of insects (especially flies and ticks), but mine don't seem to be taking care of the skeeters. Really just need more bats and the like, you know?

Awesome hatch rate, by the way.

Love the duck names; too cute!

Keep us posted on the broodies; I love it when I have broody birds!

 

[SA Farm]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have a bat box out there, but I haven't seen any bats around - ever. I have seen some swallows around at least. We have a pond that needs to be dug out before we could add fish to it, as it's too shallow right now and tends to dry off in the summer. Yes, it is perfect mosquito breeding ground, but since our area is rather marshy anyway, it's not like it's their only option
Can't do guineas. Too noisy and I think they're rather ugly. I'm pretty much at my limit for noise since we do have neighbors. Between the goats, turkeys, chickens, and everything else making noise all day, not to mention the occasional dog barking extravaganza, I really don't need to bother them more than I already am

Today I traded Franny for a bunch of heritage turkey poults. I think it was a fair deal and from the looks of things, she's going to be spoiled rotten, so that's great. I'm happy for her and for me
Which, of course, means that we'll be adding to our turkey flock and will be going from a simple quad of turkeys, to who knows how many
DH is talking about finding and raising a few purebred heritage breeds such as the Bourbon Red, Royal Palm, or Narragansett as well, so I'm bracing for more fence building and whatnot.
Yes, we are insane and addicted to finding and raising these fantastic farm animals. No, we are not planning to quit - not even slow down apparently
I think we're going to have to hire someone to help me next year.
Since we're expanding to 3 breeds of purebred chickens: Barred Plymouth Rock, Speckled Sussex, and Ameraucana. Also hoping to be able to find some Golden or Blue Laced Red Wyandottes eventually as well.
We have a quad of Nigerian Dwarf goats.
We are expanding our ducks into purebred Pekin and Rouen.
We are planning to expand our turkeys into 3 breeds: Mixed, Bourbon Red, and something else depending on what we can find. Probably either the Narragansett or Royal Palm, like I said. I'd prefer the Royal Palm
We're planning to add to our Silver Pheasant flock. We're hoping that we have a good number of females in our group of 5 chicks, and we'll try to trade off our male for an unrelated one next year potentially.
We bought a Pilgrim gander gosling and we're considering finding and adding some females for him either this year or next.
Add all that to the rabbitry and other random animals and I really don't think I will be able to do all the upkeep by myself. DH works 6 days a week, so I'm it for daily care and maintenance of everything.

It's beyond crazy and I love it

 

[SA Farm]

I don't know how it happens...I really don't!

Last night we picked up half a dozen white Embden goslings. Because we need more Of course they're adorable and I took one outside to take pictures and the little bug wouldn't stay in the grass but insisted on climbing up into my lap

While we're at it, we get the purebred Ameraucana chicks I've been looking for. Saw the parents, knew the bloodline, saw the eggs and some of the hatch from the year before. I'm happy with the quality, so I'm happy to be able to add them to my breeding stock!
We also got some Speckled Sussex today to replace our roosters. Yes, there is an 's' at the end. We did not have good luck with roosters last year. We did well with our hens and still have some, but we went through 4 roosters! Predator, fluke, frostbite, and sold the last guy because he clearly wasn't pure Hopefully these little tinies have better luck. I'm planning to keep a few of the cockerels, just to have a backup in case something happens to my first choice!
So, what else did we get you ask with concern for our mental health? lol
We picked up half a dozen Bourbon Red poults and 10 Bourbon Red/Blue Slates as well as 1 Royal Palm jake. So with the hens and tom we already have, we should have a couple nice groups of unrelated turkeys next year.
Our plans are coming together

Now some cute broody hen pics, because they're adorable

 

[happy acres]

Is that .....ducklings? With a Turkey hen?

 

[SA Farm]

Lol. Yep. They had stopped laying to go broody, so I gave her a bunch of duck eggs to set on. She takes care of them like they're her own

 

[jodief100]

That is so adorable! But who is going to teach them to swim?