projects

Well, this isn't a project, but he is cute and I do love him!  My little buddy is sick.  He has bronchitis.  He got put on breathing treatments.  They can't seem to catch a break!  Hoping he is feeling better quickly!  Love you little buddy!

This is a project that wasn't supposed to be a project.  Our neighbor who owns/farms the ground to the east of us decided he should put the terraces back in the field.  One of the terraces was sitting on the property line.  He asked if we would be ok if they tore down some of the trees, as well as the fence (which is in terrible shape) in order to get the terrace back in place.  We said sure.  Then he asked if we wanted the track hoe guy to clear some of the cedar trees on our property.  Since he was paying the move in fee, it would be fairly cheap.  We agreed.  Mistake.  He did not clear half of what he said he could do in the time allotted.  And when he said "clear" he just basically meant knock over.  Now we have a path of stumps and junk that needs removal and cleaning/burning.  

And I know better.  I know that what I envisioned cannot be accomplished with a track hoe.  I do this for a living.  Oh well, I guess we needed something to do right?  

The good news is that I will be filled with time when we wean the bottle kids later this week.  Right?  

We have had a rough go with our rabbit project.  I have been changing their nutrition and learning more about feeding more grasses and greens and less pellets.  I believe it is working.  We had our first litter born that survived.  There are 6 of the cutest little bun buns.  We are cautiously optimistic that things are going to bet a little better now.  These babies happen to be mini Rex babies.  A breed we were looking to get out of.  But now, the girls are planning to show this batch this summer.  We are still working on getting some Flemish giants.  These can stay - they are easy keepers.  And they are cute! 

My broiler project.  They are officially to the gross phase of their lives.  They are growing well and we have a date with fate coming up in a couple weeks.  I am pouring the feed to them.  I would estimate they are between 4-5 pounds right now.  I would like them to be about 6- 7 pounds, which is doable I think.  Either way, I am ready for them to fill the freezer.  The poor things are just messy and dirty no matter how much I clean and put in new bedding.   

Also, when I bought the chicks, the hatchery had a couple of offers.  One was that they would give you a free pullet if you would agree to donating eggs to people occasionally (a feed America pledge).  The second was a free rooster.  I said yes to both.  I don't usually keep roosters.  Chickens lay just fine without them, and they seem to end up mean no matter how you handle them.  I refuse to have mean animals.  I am not going to have myself or my kids afraid to go into the barn!  I still said yes to the rooster, knowing they are easy to cull if needed.  This morning, I went down to take care of the babies.  I heard a crow.  But not a "teenage chicken" type crow.  I heard the crow of a bantam rooster!  And it cracks me up.  Such a wimpy little crow.  I do not know what I will do with a bantam rooster with my standard size chickens, but at this point, I am hoping he doesn't turn out mean, because I love his little wimpy noise!  Maybe he will be Harper's show chicken?  :)