So during homeschool I stood up and noticed the medium sized chicks had escaped their enclosure. So, I got the chicken wrangler (Parker) and her side kick (Sugar-Pie) and went out there to get them back into their jimmy-rigged coop area. After they were rounded up we looked up and saw what can only be called an abomination.
The ducks were chasing the pullets around their yard and then trying to mount them. So feathers were truly flying throughout the pen. What else is a farmer to do, we stood there and watched the show.
The kids kept saying "Look Mama their playing!" "
Mama just said "Uh-huh"...they know animals mate but there is no way to explain this mess.
Finally a duck caught a chicken and mounted it. The chicken was squacking like crazy. Then the beautiful Buff Orpington rooster got mad (how dare you touch one of my women!) and he comes running across the pen and jumps on top of the duck. So, now I am standing there looking at a duck on top of a chicken with a rooster on top of it! What I truly regret is that my camera was not set to 'sport' and I was unable to get a picture of this mess.
The ducks were an early farm experiment, in the future we do plan on offering duck eggs. But these two remaining ducks are both males and we had just been slow in getting rid of them. Well, after this incident I posted these fellas on Craigslist with a 'nice low' price and they were gone within 3 hours. Like I said on my facebook, its a good thing my Dad's a psychologist because now I need counseling.
New at the homestead are these two White Pekins. We have another on the way. These ducks lay some mammoth eggs about 2X the size of a chicken egg. We are going to try to get about 30 ducks total and sell their eggs, also. Right now we are just enjoying these mammoth eggs for baking and Wayne's fried or poached eggs.
Another new addition to the homestead are 15 day old baby chicks. 11 Production Reds, 3 Amerucana (blue eggs) 1 Production Red rooster.
On 6/26 we moved the rooster and the 3 baby hens into the hen house. We move our chicks into the hen house when they are between 8-12 weeks old. We prefer to move them when they are older and bigger so the other hens don't peck them to death (literally!).
This weekend we will finish painting the shed & future broiler house (current hen house)start clearing some land next to the hen house to build our bigger hen house. We will move the ducks into the little house and add a small broiler house to the area to our homestead. The broilers are for our personal consumption but we have some friends that are going to be raising organic broilers if anyone is interested let me know and I'll pass it along to them.
We now have a "Chick nursery" next to the shed. I made the basics and Wayne came in and finished if off. Although the pictures do not show it they have a roost and their heat light. I can't be happier to have those smelly little beasties out of the house!
Grand total: $0.97
Cost Breakdown
Chicken wire was already on the place
doors were dropped off by someone who thought we might need them.
hinges came from the door jams of the old door
latch .97
Equipment Purchases
1 Gallon chick waterer
1 Gallon base
Grand total of $4.24
The big news....we sold our first eggs this week. So now we are making a "profit"...okay not a profit but at least some money is going in instead of just going flowing out!
Garden
What just went in....:Black eyed peas,Green beans bush& pole,okra, tomatoes, acorn squash
What is coming out....Onions, Spinach
What stays...Romaine Lettuce,
Herbs for Sale: Organe Mint & Apple Mint
What will be different next time:
I'm going to start growing heirloom variety of seeds and I want to put a mini green house in the shed so I don't have to spend $30 on plants!!!!
I'll pay close attention to each upcoming planting season so the next one doesn't sneak up on me like this one.
We are going to start clearing for our big garden!
Why do small farms fail?
I think because it is so hard keeping track of the actual cost of the item you are producing. I just recently realized that I have to keep up with the amount of water the birds are getting to help determine my actual cost.
Making sure you buy the right breed of animal for the job you want done!
Making sure you get the best deal on the items you need.
Making sure you do not buy more then what is needed in size or quantity.
Learning how to manage the animals & crops well and cheaply.
Adding/Moving to quickly forward with plans.
Now that's just what I've thought about after 1 month of farming!
