Fall is Here!

Two nights of frost, then 3 days of beautiful trees then 2 days of rain and high wind equals next years compost!

Most of the leaves on the trees on our property (at least close to the house) are now on the ground ready to be raked up and hauled. Last year, it took 30 wheelbarrows full to get rid of them. This year with the quad trailer, thanks to my son, I figure on 5 loads. Much easier on the old back!

One more day of raking and hauling and it will be done!

After a morning of that, I decided to trim another horse. I did Tucker yesterday and she was pretty good about it. Boom is the best! He just stood there while I cut and nipped and rasped. No problem. Unfortunately, the vet figures on only 2 to 3 years left in the old boy. We figure that he is pretty close to 30 years of age.

Tomorrow, I will do Biz. She can be good, or not so good, depending on the day. I figure on giving her a good breakfast and catching her while she is mellowed out.
The chickens and turkeys are demanding about 2 hours a day to keep them in feed and water. Since the weather warmed up, the turkeys (9 of them) are going through about 7 gallons of water a day, plus 4 pails of feed. The chickens are doing a little less, but not much. We keep looking for eggs from the Gold Laced Wyandottes, but nothing yet at 24 weeks. Meanwhile they are bulking and are eating machines.

One of these days, I will get caught up and be able to slip away for a little hunting! There is a nice whitetail buck that is hanging around, but anything on the acreage is considered a pet. I prefer to get out of town where the concept of "fair chase" is in effect.

8 More Weeks to Go!

This is one of our 8 Gold laced Wyandottes that we hope will start laying within 8 weeks, unless it's a male. It's still too soon to tell which sex they are. I think that this one may be a male due to the development of more colour on its neck.
The Leghorns and Red Sussex Cross are growing like weeds. The males here are starting to crow, sort of. They sound like a bunch of those annoying vuvuzelas from Africa. If they follow the pattern, these guys should be laying in another 4 weeks.

Elaine was counting eggs produced from the 10 Rhode Island Reds over the last year, and the count is now over 1900 eggs.
The turkeys are showing the most growth and are getting really big! Their snoods are just starting to elongate, and the necks are getting a permanent red in cclour.

These critters are going through about 6 pails of food a day, so there have been quite a few trips to the feed dealer, plus quite a few dollars spent. UFA staff seem to smile when I walk into the store.

We did pick up a new (on sale) very large upright freezer to put the garden produce in and offload the 22 ft3 chest freezer.

Fall must be coming as the potatoes are starting to die back, the peas are coming to the end. There should be about another 20 meals for 2 to go into the freezer.

So far there are also 30 pounds of raspberries frozen. Now if I could find out what to do with leaf lettuce, life would be good. I guess it will end up as chicken/turkey food. A guy can only eat so much salad!

It looks like by adding a lot of bone meal to the garden, we will be getting a good crop of carrots, beets, and khol rabi.

So far, it has been a very good garden year on the Acreage!

Catching Up!

This little guy was one of the 4 that I found in the nest by our hot tub. I have been checking lately and there were only 2 left, and as I was taking a picture, they flew. This fellow landed in the middle of the driveway, so I put him back in the nest. He flew off again with mother keeping a very close eye on him. We think that he is a white capped sparrow.

These are the start of the chicken move to heritage birds. These three are one week old Colombian Wyandottes, a dual purpose bird that is very striking in colour. Hopefully, one of them will be a rooster.
The supplier, a young entrepreneur from Westlock also had these Golden Laced Wyandottes at three months old. I picked up eight. I will likely try to get some silver laced birds from him whenever they become available, hopefully, next June. Again, I hope that at least one will be a male.

I said after the first year that I would never get the Cornish Giants again, or any bird that was raised solely for meat. By 15 weeks, they turn out so heavy that they cannot stand, and cannot move to get food. Their body cavities fill up with fluid, and basically they suffocate, or have heart attacks. I will leave such cruelty to the Colonel Saunders of the world. I will also not support those establishments that promote a cage 12x12x12, where the bird never gets any freedom or sunlight. Those dimensions are in inches by the way.

That is my rant for the day!

So, our flock will likely look like 4 Rhode Island Reds, 3 Colombian Wyandottes, 8 Golden Laced Wyandottes, 5 White Leghorns and 8 Red Sussex Cross. The rest will likely go into the freezer. Oh, yeah, and 9 turkeys until October. that is 3 times what we over wintered for last year. I may have to rethink this, although, any surplus roosters will also go into the freezer.

Second Day Out

Now at 5 weeks, the chicks and turks are getting some fresh air. Surprisingly, eight of the 11 turkeys came out and had a great time running and flop-flying ( no, you cannot fly through wire mesh). The chickens were much more reserved with only about 10 out of the 49 coming out.

There was a lot of posturing and chest to chest "battles" between male birds. Elaine and i actually grabbed a couple of lawn chairs and sat in the new hay shelter for about an hour watching the antics.

It was miserably hot today, with the temp at 28C and high humidity. Fortunately, I got the orchard grass cut before it got too bad. Elaine and I got the weeding done in the veggie gardens.

It was hot, but Elaine got her first hour ride on Biz today. It took a fair bit of groundwork before Biz would accept her as a leader, but she did. We kept in the small paddock and will likely spend another couple of hours there before going into the pasture. Biz is considerably taller than Boom, and much more spirited. We found that one of the problems was using Boom's bridle on Biz. The snaffle bit was a lot thinner, and Biz did not like it at all. A change to "her" bridle fixed things up. Elaine did very well, and familiarization will continue over the next few days. We have a week to get ready for the return of the grandkids from Bible camp.

Week Four

The little guys are getting to be a fair size now, and once I get their run area finished, will be looking at the great outdoors for the first time next week.

By then they will have learned how to regulate their own body temperature. So, any days over 70 F they will be outside looking for anything green, anything that crawls or anything that flys , within reason.





The only turkey in these pictures is sleeping by the water font. You can tell by the snood at the base of the beak.

Wordless Wednesday

Progress on the Acreage

The last few days have been pretty busy, with gardening, chickens and building an expanded hay shelter. It won't be long before the first cut of hay will be done, and we have to be ready. We had too much spoilage last year, even though the bales were tarped.

Two turkeys and a Sussex Cross.








 The chicks are now 8 days old, and capable of flying to a height of 12 inches, almost over the barricade. There are 4 turkeys and 2 Sussex Cross, plus one white leghorn in the picture. They do grow fast!

The aftermath of a Thunder-Boomer that just passed through. We needed the rain!

Boom is eyeing up the fresh grass. You can see the herder of horses and chief chicken watcher lurking in the background. He will sit there for hours keeping an eye on things.

Ditto for Tucker.

The New Additions

The chicks and poults all arrived on time and on schedule thanks to Canada Post. I was first into the UFA store in Mayerthorpe to pick them up.

All arrived healthy and talkative. I was serenaded for 45 minutes on the way home. Peep, peep. etc. etc.

The first task was to take them one by one and dip their beaks into the water tray. Elaine made it home in time to do the last 10. They caught on real fast and drank and drank and... then they found the food pan. They ate and ate and are still eating!

It's hard to believe that 62 birds can fit into a box about twice the size of a shoe box and survive. When I opened the lid, all these little beady eyes were staring up at me.

I can tell the turkeys by the nubbin snood. The white leghorns and the Sussex Cross chicks are hard to distinguish apart. The dark brown ones are probably the Sussex Cross.

The temperature in the pen is 90F and will be walked down over the next 4 weeks to 70F.

It's amazing how they have the instinct to drink and eat.

They don't walk, they scoot.

Tomorrow is the Day!

At 08:00 early, I will be in Mayerthorpe picking up this years flock of baby chicks and turkeys.

The brooding house is ready, with insulation, power, heat lamps, barricade and shavings. The temperature is right on 90F. We are ready!

After a year of watching these grow up, and mature, we tend to forget just how small and wonderful these critters can be! The 10 hens plus one rooster ( ROO, of course) kept us entertained and supplied us with 8 eggs per day all winter.

At present, the surplus eggs are being sold to offset the cost of feed. Labour is free, of course. We also give eggs to people that appear to be in need. Most recipients insist on paying, and once in the chain they are hooked, saying that they could never go back to store bought eggs again! Me to!

I have a heritage breed also coming, but the supplier is new, and having difficulties. Hopefully, there won't be too much of a discrepency in time or I will have difficulty integrating them.
The late arrivals will be 6 Gold Laced Wyandotts.

I shouldn't have to count on Roo for an alarm call in the morning. Fortunately, UFA in Mayerthorpe is only 45 minutes away. The priority will be to get these little gaffers home, dip their beaks in the water trough and see how they settle in.

Friday is going to be a GOOD day!
Oh yeah, lots of pictures is also a priority!

Silent Monday...Time to Order!

 

You've Got to be Kidding!! Turkey Testicle Festival

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNf9t8R-ZWo

Our Rhode Island Reds

So far, our 10 hens and one rooster are producing 8 eggs per day on average. This was after I had my talk with them about the option of laying or stewpot. It seems to have worked! The one rooster (Roo, what else) is very protective and inquisitive. Anytime I go in the coop, one or two of the hens hop up and wait to be petted. They talk and purr almost like a cat, only noisier.

The first year trial of raising chickens was a success and we are able to supply ourselves and several members of the church with fresh eggs. The other day I had the thought" Why not next year, hold over 30 hens and sell the eggs for $2.50 per dozen? Then I did the math, and it would not pay. I will hold onto 10 and continue to enjoy the best tasting eggs that I have ever had, and the fun of looking after a few, plus the blessing of being able to give to those that aren't into chicken raising.

I can sure recommend this breed as a hardy and productive addition to any acreage. There is an urban movement about to bring chickens back into the cities (minus the noisy roosters). Chickens just lay eggs with or without the roosters! I wish this movement all the best! No medications, no hormones, no pesticides!

History

Developed in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, early flocks often had both single and rose combed individuals because of the influence of Malay blood. It was from the Malay that the Rhode Island Red got its deep color, strong constitution, and relatively hard feathers.
The Rhode Island Red was originally bred in Adamsville, a village which is part of Little Compton, Rhode Island. One of the foundation sires of the breed was a black-breasted red Malay cock which was imported from England. This cock is on display at the Smithsonian Institution as the father of the Rhode Island Red breed.

In 1925, the Rhode Island Red Club of America donated funds for an elegant monument to the Rhode Island Red in Adamsville, near the baseball field and across the street from what used to be Abraham Manchester's restaurant. (The monument is now on the National Register of Historic Places.) A competing monument to the Rhode Island Red, claiming its creation not for the poultry fanciers, but for the farmers who grew them commercially in great numbers in Little Compton, was erected by the state in 1954 a mile or so (about two kilometers) south of Adamsville.
Rhode Island Reds and Sussex are also used for many modern hybrid breeds. Many modern hybrid hens have Rhode Island Red fathers, mainly due to the prolific egg laying characteristic of the Rhode Island Red, which is passed down through the males. (courtesy Wikipedia)

BEST QUOTE OF 2008

BEST QUOTE OF 2008...BRAVO FOR SHERIFF JUDD.




Gotta admire the man for being honest.

Florida got it right. Bravo for Sheriff Judd.

POLKCOUNTY FLORIDA SHERIFF GRADY JUDD

An illegal alien in Polk County Florida who got pulled over in a routine

traffic stop ended up 'executing' the deputy who stopped him.

The deputy was shot eight times, including once behind his right ear at

close range. Another deputy was wounded and a police dog killed.

A state wide manhunt ensued and the murderer was found hiding in a wooded area with his gun.

After he shot at them, SWAT team officers open fired and hit the guy 68 times.

Naturally, the liberal media went nuts and asked why they shot the

poor undocumented immigrant 68 times.

Sheriff Grady Judd told the Orlando Sentinel:

(Talk about an all-time classic answer.)

'Because that's all the bullets we had.'

How Big is Walmart?

(From a friend)

This should boggle your mind .


1. Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart every hour of every day.

2. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!

3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day

(March 17th) than Target sells all year.

4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target + Sears + Costco

+ K-Mart combined.

5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people and is the largest private employer.. And most can't speak English

6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the World.

7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger & Safeway combined, and

keep in mind they did this in only 15 years.

8. During this same period, 31 Supermarket chains sought bankruptcy (including Winn-Dixie).

9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world..

10. Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are

Super Centers ; this is 1,000 more than it had 5 years ago.

11 This year 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at a

Wal-Mart store. (Earth's population is approximately 6.5 billion.)

12. 90% of all Americans live within 15 miles of a Wal-Mart

Let Wal-Mart bail out Wall Street.

Better yet .. . . let them run the damn Government!

Humour and H1N1

Listening to the news this week on H1N1 I see people are starting to question the media hype on this topic. Here in Canada, the priority system tends to look at the very young and susceptable people for the priority. My viewpoint is that the media is making a lot of "news" about the H1N1 in order to generate attention. What is missing is the figures on the "normal" flu  and the numbers of young people that die each year and the breakdown on "prior conditions". Myself,I have the theory that young people get the priority because putting them in the health care system costs money, putting seniors in the ground is cheaper than the former. Perhaps I am getting cynical in my old age. Am I getting the shot? Absolutely not! My immune sytem is good, with about 2 colds in 3 years. I am also concerned about what goes into the vaccine and what it does to the body over time. This is my personal opinion and belief. We shall see!

You Are Unique! How Unique, you say.

We had an interesting sermon the other day. Contemplate your finger print. You have ten of them, all individually different from each other. So what, you say. Consider that there are approximately 6 billion people in the world. Each of them has no finger print the same as yours. That makes 60, 000,000,000 individually different finger prints in the world. You are Unique!

Let`s go one step farther now. Look in the mirror. Your iris is totally unique from any other iris in the world. Furthermore, it is different from every other eye in the world of all the people that are alive, OR have ever lived! You are truly unique.

Now we can sit and contemplate a finger print or an iris and wonder, or we can sit and thank God that He has not only made us in His image, but has made each of us different from each other.

On an acreage there is lots of time, particularly in the mornings after the critters have been fed, to sit and look around at the wonders of the world and contemplate on the reason that we exist. Yes, even at -40C ( or -40F). In this day and age, with all the pressures of living in a damaged and dangerous world, it is worthwhile to sit back, meditate and be thankful.

How to Get Rid of Ants

This is another one of those good things to file away. It is also environmentally friendly (at least to things other than ants). D.E. or Diatomaceous Earth is a naturally occuring substance that will get in the joints of ants and do them in. Simply spread some on top of the ant hill and "Voila" they are gone!Diatoms are microscopic sea shells that are mined and used in a variety of products

D.E. also works very well as a dust bath for chickens when mixed with sand or fine soil. The same principle applies to any mites or whatever that decide they like to live on the birds.

It can be obtained from any farmer feed store. Just be sure to get the food grade D.E.

What I like about this is that there no pesticides or other bad things involved with getting rid of ants. Hence, it's good to use when small children or animals are around. Apparently, although I can't speak for it, it is a laxative also.

That's all for now!

Life on an Acreage: Self Help Blog

Life on an Acreage: Self Help Blog

Never a Dull Moment!

It seems that on an acreage, something is always going on. Like the other day, a whitetail doe was enjoying my horse's salt lick while the dog was laying there watching. Everything was cool until I stepped outside. The dog figured he had to do a token chase. The deer figured on a token run. Both moved about 20 yards and resumed what they were doing. The dog's duty was done!

The dog (he doesn't know he is a dog) is a Border Collie that was brought up on a cattle farm. We don't have any cattle so he figured horses will do as a replacement. Horses don't herd! They kick! So far I have seen him get nailed 34 times. The damage is one broken canine tooth, badly cut face, cut ribs and assorted bruises. A slow learner? Or very dedicated?

The next best thing for him is to lay nose to wire and watch the chickens for hours. He found that if he grabbed the wire, he could make a hole, get in and herd the chickens around. Pretty neat, actually. Unfortunately, chickens go out holes, so the variation was to herd chickens around the yard. With coyote, bear and the odd cougar around ,I had to dog proof the pen. he is now content to lay outside and watch again.
 He reminds me of Ralph on the Wiley Coyote show.

KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid)

I got burn on the internet again! It seems that when things go wrong on an acreage, it appears the tendency is to think the worst or complicate issues. For example: my truck would come out of 4X4 with great difficulty. So.. I jumped on the internet, paid a guy to diagnose it as a starting point. THEN and only then did I stop, sit down and think it through. Let's look at the fluids. Front differential oil was low and black. Changed out the oil and things improved. Total cost $19 for the oil, $22 for the "Expert" and a negative $120 as I did the labour myself. I am still ahead, but could have saved another $22 if I had analysed it fully.

Last winter.... no water. Conclusion. The pump is shot about $800 to replace. By thinking it through and pouring about 10 gallons of boiling water down the well head, the problem was solved. Who would have guessed the water line would have frozen 10 feet down! It could have cost $1600 to replace it!

"Nuff said! I am learning to think befor acting. It's cheaper!