Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal

[Baymule]

Sounds like a great time. How much fun to meet and spend time, even a short time together. @Pastor Dave don't worry about the rabbits and chickens, I've had both-you just leave plenty of feed and water and you can get away for 2 days and 1 night pretty easy. Just feed and water when you get home.

 

[Latestarter]

What Bay said... chickens are probably the easiest to leave for a few days cause you use a self loading, bulk type feeder and nipple type waterer and they are good to go for several days to a week. The eggs will still be there to collect when you get back and the only problem with them will be if there's a rooster and they are fertile... In that case, the oldest may have time to start developing if a hen goes broody while you're gone (unless you have an egg eater amongst the hens) When you collect up the eggs after your trip, you just scramble them all up and cook them then feed them back to the chickens or use as food for the dogs/cats. Or boil them and give them to your pigs. Give them to neighbors you really don't like (Probably not an option being a pastor and all that...). Or just discard them in the compost or trash.

 

[Rammy]

Thats what I do when I go out of town. I fill up a couple waterers, fill up thier 3g hanging feeder and a wall mounted trough I made, and they are good to go. I usually get a neighbor to come get the eggs, but lately just get them when I come back. Mom used to do it but since her shoulder surgery and having cow poop everywhere, shes afraid she will slip and fall.
Thankfully, no broodies or egg eaters. If you have or can get rollout nest boxes, that will eliminate the chance of a hen eating the eggs, or getting damaged because they got stepped on, cracked when they fell ontop of another egg, or somebody got curious. If you get one or more hens, tho, that become egg eaters, find out who they are and get rid of them. Thats a very hard habit to break and can entice more to do it. I had that happen and had to get rid of alot of hens. Its too bad you cant find someone you trust to care for your animals while your away. Good help is hard to find.

 

[Latestarter]

Well, another thought Dave... You do have a "following" or "flock" of your own to tend to... I would imagine you know of folks who could use a little free food (eggs) to supplement. Maybe one of those families would be willing/able to tend to your animals while you were away in return for the eggs they collect?

 

[misfitmorgan]

Very glad to hear your visit went well and everyone made it home safe!

Our rams have only just started making advances on the ewes

 

[Mike CHS]

The senior ewes are visibly with lamb so Ringo is getting frustrated because his noise isn't pointing him to any new work. We had to bring the 13 ewe lambs into the shelter so we could move the netting and get ready to move them in with Ringo. We pulled fecals from two that don't look quite as thrifty as the rest so we want to check parasite load before moving them. One of them is the black lamb that we have had to treat twice this year already. If she has a heavy load this time she is on her way to Columbia.

I sprayed one of the main fields today with liquid fertilizer. I sprayed that same field with a bleach & water mix a few days ago. Our Extension Agent sent us a study that came out of Purdue that indicated mowing down to around 6" followed by spraying with a bleach solution, followed by spraying with nitrogen fertilizer can really reduce Barber Pole larvae in the fields. I had the items on hand so I figured it couldn't hurt.

Teresa's son has been helping around the farm and came in today and said "I don't know how you guys do this and stay caught up".

 

[Mike CHS]

Tom and the boys headed out after they had dinner and they should arrive in Charleston around 3 in the morning. The boys seemed to have had a great time. They stopped at the top of the driveway to grab a picture of Gram and the boys.

 

[CntryBoy777]

It was sure nice to meet them and wish them safe travel too....

 

[Mike CHS]

They also enjoyed meeting everyone Fred. They really had a good time with a bit of farm life.

 

[farmerjan]

I have never heard of the bleach spraying. Very interesting. What is the dilution factor? Would it be more beneficial to do it at a certain time of year? What kind of liquid fertilizer did you use after that? Was it just for fertilizing or would it counter act the effects of the bleach solution on the grass? Any info on that would be most welcome Mike. Thanks.