Well, it’s been a while since I wrote, so let me update a few things. Redd is still sitting on the eggs in the bushes and last I checked she was doing good. She has too many eggs for me to count without making a big scene, so I’m just leaving them alone. The other two nests have been destroyed. Something started eating the eggs, and I took most of them out and put in the incubator.
The Narragansett sitting on eggs in the front yard managed to hatch about 7 of them. Bear got one of them, so there are only 6 left. She was leading them around the yard and into the woods and such, so we took them and put them in the large cage I built a couple of years ago. Put it out in the field.
The Narragansett hen in the peacock cage was laying eggs and pushing Edith off the nest. Well and first there were 2 nests, as I’d planned. But then she started jumping nests and pushing Edith off, and leaving eggs uncovered. So I took her out one night and gave her 4 chicks that had just hatched. At first I put her in the cage with the other hen, but they fought, too. So I let her out. I was checking to see if she would abandon the babies, since they were kind of foster kids. She took off for a few minutes and then came back. So I just let her run with her babies. I tried to pen her in, but the wires let the babies thru but not mom. And these babies have no intention of sticking near to mom. Tried putting her in the chicken yard, but she managed to get out. So just left well enough alone. She started with 4 chicks and is now down to just 2. Not sure what happened to the others, think they wandered away to check things out, and they got separated.
Edith had 5 eggs under her and one of them hatched this weekend. So she has 1 chick, and 4 eggs. Not sure how long to wait on the other eggs, and I’m not sure if they will hatch either. And I’m not sure what to do with them, because the peacocks don’t seem to like the babies, and don’t think that she could protect the babies from the peacocks. I’m thinking about taking the chick and putting it with the ones from the incubator and seeing if the eggs are dead. Archie and Edith need to stay in the peacock cage. The big chickens will not accept them, especially the roosters. So they are destined to be confined with the peacocks. Not sure why the peacocks have accepted them other than they grew up together.
And these are the problems we’ve had with getting hens to sit on eggs. Had it with the geese to an extent. First, where do you put the hen to sit on the eggs so the others won’t bother her or try to lay eggs in her nest or force her off the eggs? And it isn’t that easy do control. I didn’t try moving a hen this year, but last year it was all but impossible to move them. One of the things I did was allow them to sit on the eggs in the trees or in the front yard. It also helps that we have dogs we can let run every night. Until we get them trained better just leaving them with the birds all the time is out of the question.
So even after you get them to sit on the eggs, the next question is what do you do with them after they hatch? Where do you put mom and babies so that she can raise them? The other requirements are that the babies get feed and water. That isn’t the same as getting it for mom. And if you are setting out chick starter for the babies, you have to keep everyone else out of it. Not concerned if mom eats it, she probably needs it after setting for so long. For the geese, we just left them in the coop. But the geese are bigger and a lot more aggressive and I worried less about others bullying them. For the turkeys, the one in the front yard I let wander until she started going into the woods a lot. Guess I should have expected that, and it is natural, but we just are not prepared to allow her to just wander around in the woods. Getting fences around the perimeter should help in that. But still, mom can fly over just about any fence I put up. The problem comes when the babies can’t follow, or don’t follow.
So end result is I have one hen caged, and she has 6 chicks. One keeps getting out and I have to put it back. Not sure where it gets out either. She lost 1 chick, to the pups. I have the other hen running free, and she has 2 of 4 chicks left.
This year I have tried to use the “Dry Incubation” method, but the hatch rates have been really bad. Not sure what the problems are. I do know that I have issues with temperature control. To start with, I’m not sure I trust my thermometers. They are digital and seems to be a difference in them some times. Not sure how much of it is that temps vary by height in the still air incubators. But then again I haven’t had really great hatch rates from the forced air incubator either. Not sure how to calibrate the thermometers, or if I should have a thermometer in each incubator or just use one and move it from one to the next. Also, next year plan to use incubator #2 as the hatcher. It has a plastic tray on the bottom and about twice as much head room for the chicks. So will be better. Also, Next year I plan to put eggs in the incubators twice a week instead of just once. I have noticed that the eggs that are hatching the most are those put in the incubator within a day or two of being laid. So I’ll try that. They other thing I could do is find a better way to store the eggs between the time they are laid and the time they go in the incubator. Some place cooler than the house. My closet has the incubators in it, so that isn’t good. Not sure if Gavin’s closet would be any cooler. I’d like to put them under the house if I could figure out a way to accomplish that.
There are a few eggs in the incubator need to throw out, and then 2 more incubators full of eggs. Then that will be the end of the hatching season for this year.
In the garden, things are doing good. A week or so ago I planted a lot of corn. Sweet corn in the garden and field corn out by the birds. The field corn isn’t fenced in so not sure how well it will do, but figured it was worth trying. I’ll let it dry and then use it to feed to the birds. May have to pick it to protect from the deer and the raccoons and finish drying it inside, but we’ll see. Yesterday I planted watermelon and pumpkins. Need to plant more cantaloupes and such. Have lots of tomatoes planted, and herbs. Lots of basil, 2 different types; oregano; tarragon and rose mary. Saw some spicy basil and Thai basil at Wal-Mart the other day that I think I’d like to try. I also put out a cabbage plants I’d started, and some plants I had at school. Also have several beds of potatoes. Squash is also doing good. Have several Zucchini and at least one Acorn squash.
Friday. We all had off and so the weekend seems out of whack. I had my first job interview for a teaching position in the morning, was nice. In the afternoon we went out in the field and used our new post hole Auger digger to make holes for the cedar posts we bought. There were a lot of rocks in the first one and it kept binding and didn’t do well. Then we broke the shear pin and had to stop. So we went to town and got new, bigger pins. Not just the one we broke but both pins. We also got some landscaping timbers to put around trees and stuff in the front yard. The rest of the day was too cold to do very much, so we took the afternoon off and watched TV.
Saturday. We had waffles for breakfast. Hopefully we had what was our last frost of the year last night. I think it only got down to 37 or so, what the forecast said anyway, but they warned of patchy frost. And when I went out this morning to let birds out I checked, and sure enough, there was frost on some of the grass and the top of the little chick’s cage. We covered up the roses, and the pups pulled the covers off. Think we did more damage trying to protect them than would have happened if we just left them alone. Oh well, live and learn.
Spent the day out in the field putting posts in the ground. Started with the hole where we broke the auger, did them by hand with a crow bar, and it went pretty fast. There were some huge rocks and glad we didn’t try the auger again. All total we dug 3 holes by hand. The corner post and 2 bracing posts. The rest of the posts were pretty rock free and the auger worked great. Dug the holes in just a few minutes, then we put rocks and dirt in and packed them down. Figure in a day or so when they have a chance to dry some they should be pretty solid. The ground was still kind of wet. A few days ago, or last weekend we had torrential rains and everything was flooded. So it is starting to dry out some. All total we put in 12 posts and laid out the field fencing for 2 sides. The other 2 sides will be 2 inch chicken wire that is 4 feet high. It is in the shed, and we’ll have to decide how soon to put it up. We got wire to do the bracing posts. I’m not sure yet what I’m going to use for the cross member for bracing, but it can wait just a little. Also started pulling the staples off the little coop so we can move it tomorrow to a new area, with more grass and such.
The first of our turkey poults for this year hatched today. Right now there are two in the hatcher and about seven more to go. And this is just the first week. I have been putting eggs in the incubator every week, so they will hatch every week. This is just the first batch. I haven’t opened the hatcher to take them out yet, but as soon as I do I’ll post some pictures.
What else? Came home one night and the geese were alone in the coop with their babies. So we took the baby ducks and the baby geese and put them out there. Mom and dad didn’t like the ducks, so we put them back in the house. But they accepted the geese, so now all 4 babies are with mom and dad, walking around the yard and such. So cool to see them all out there. Today two of the babies got in the one of the drinking pools. I think they are too young, but I’ll leave it up to them to decide.
Took the rototiller and tilled up the garden, hoping to get some stuff planted in it tomorrow. Have a bunch of plants on the deck that are started and ready to go. And it is still pretty early in the season. I’ll try to get some more pictures of things as I can and get them posted.
Been sunny out for 2 days now and the grass is getting dry, but the ground is still soggy. Been cleaning up around getting ready to put fences in around the field. It looks like the clover is growing good, but hard to say if it is actually the clover I planted or what. I have this Friday off and I’m hoping to get things ready for the fence. The new post hole auger takes 2 people, so I’ll have to wait until Saturday when Jeanne can help me, but I’m hoping to get things laid out and posts put up Saturday. Gotta get the fence up and get the birds out in the pasture.
I’m also hoping to get things planted in the garden. Have a lot of plants in containers out on the deck and they need to get in the ground as soon as I can work it. Got a good jump on the weeds by tilling up the garden area, and hoping I can keep ahead. Picked up several retread tires from the highway that are perfect for raised beds. Now we just need to get things organized.
And Edith appears to be still setting on the turkey eggs outside the little house, and the longer she sits there the stronger the urge will be for her to stay on that nest and not jump from nest to nest. Didn’t go inside and check on the turkey eggs in the box, so we’ll see how that goes. There are 2 turkey eggs in the chicken coop and I’m just leaving them there. See what happens when the numbers get bigger.
Today was quite the day. Started with not wanting to get up, but then again, that isn’t special or unusual. Driving thru Buffalo on the way to work sounded like we ran over something. Stopped down the road a ways and checked the tires, but couldn’t see anything wrong, hear or feel any leaks or find something sticking out of the tire. So we drove on in to Springfield, about 50 miles by the time we go to Jeanne’s moms house and everything. Then I went and got gas before going to work. Didn’t have to take Jeanne to work this morning because she went to an appointment with her mom.
Then this afternoon while we were out for the afternoon recess, the announced on the PA system that a white van in the parking lot had a flat tire. Yep, that’s me. And I knew exactly which tire it was and where it happened. So I used the portable air pump to pump up the tire some, get it off the rim until I could get it fixed. After school I pumped it up more, then headed across town to Big O tires. They installed the new tires in it a few weeks ago and fix the flats for free. Took less than an hour to drive there, and get it fixed. They took a piece out of the tire that looks like it came from the edge of an aluminum rim. It’s about 3 inches long. Amazing that it didn’t completely trash the tire, and that we were able to drive on it all the way to work.
Came home and the pups were still in the chicken yard. I put some boards up in the corner where they were getting out, and guess that helped. Checked eggs and we got our first turkey egg. Not sure who laid it or anything, it was in the nest box up in the wall with some other chicken eggs. So we will see if we start getting more turkey eggs.
Then we went out in the garden and did a little work in it. Mostly I wanted to plant the potatoes that were under the cabinet. First I used the tiller and worked up the ground, then we flopped the big tractor tire around and got a couple of large truck tires form the field. That made 3 sets of tires. I dug down in the soil and planted the potatoes. Some of them had pretty long sprouts on them, so laid some over and a few stood up strait, then added soil around them. On top of that I put some fresh straw and filled the tires up. I also used the rake to loosen the soil in the raised beds I made the other day and then covered them with straw too. For the potatoes, when the plants get big enough and start showing through the straw, I’ll add another tire on top and add more straw. Somewhere along the line I figure I’ll also need to add some type of fertilizer, maybe some of the composted straw I remove from the coop later. Not sure if I plan to clean out the coop this year or not.
The raised beds I’m building I plan to keep using for several years right where they are this year. That will help me with my plant rotation too. And I’ll try to add new ones to them as we go along. There will still be some areas for a while that I do not have raised beds in. Some of those will be corn, my melons and large vine plants. Some I’ll try to train to grow up a fence, and some of the vines can even grow through the corn and help shade the roots. Other than weeding and watering, I really don’t need to get into the corn or the squash and pumpkins and such until I harvest them. So that will be a good dual use of the space. And it should help keep the weeds down.
We have done pretty good so far in tilling the ground and removing the roots and such to get things ready to plant. I need to do some PM’s on the tiller, and then tear up the rest of the garden area. Plan to make a real effort to keep ahead of the weeds this year. I have a lot more in the garden than we are ever going to be able to use, more so because we don’t all eat vegetables and such. I’ll give some to Jeanne’s mom, to people at work or what ever. If we have enough, the thought is to try to sell some of it at the Farmers Market on the weekends, or when ever. We’ll see. We got some tomato seeds the other night, made sure they weren’t hybrid types, and put a bunch in baggies to sprout. So I figure tomorrow night when I get home they’ll be starting to grow and I’ll need to put them in little grow pots. Looked at the other stuff I have sprouted, and I have 2 Rose Mary plants and about 8 Thyme plants. Guess I better find a use for thyme. And plant more Rose Mary. And I need to work harder at getting Oregano to sprout. Evidently didn’t do to well with it the first time.
And lastly, in two days, on the fifteenth, the new list of jobs comes out. Not like I’m excited about it or counting days or anything. Lol. Can’t wait.
Been a while since I wrote on here, so let me try to catch up.
One week ago. Took 3 of the chicks we hatched in January back to school a week ago. The kids loved them, they got to hold them and pet them. The ones that weren’t afraid of them any way. It was really an experience for them. Even some of the teachers and staff loved it, lol. Was interesting. Have 12 geese eggs in the incubator right now. The turkeys haven’t started laying yet, but hoping will have turkey eggs to incubate soon. Have 33 chickens we hatched in January, and all of the roosters are destined for the freezer or the canning jar in about 2 months.
Thursday night I took some of the chicks outside and put them in a pen outside our window. It was on the West side of the house and got the afternoon sun. I put a light in it and put up some blankets to form an area that was warmer. We put blankets over the sides and closed it in really well. I put half the chicks out there, the ones we think are roosters. They spent 2 nights out there and seemed to do alright. One of the problems was it didn’t get any sun until afternoon and another was only half the chicks were in it.
So today we moved the mini-coop from the garden out to the field beyond. I cleaned the area up and Jeanne helped me move the big pen and set it up. Then we moved the mini-coop and placed it next to the pen. I cut a new hole in the fence and stapled it to the side of the mini-coop. Because the problem we had last year was the chicks were either in the coop or in the pen. But now I can open the mini-coop and just leave it when we go to work, and the birds can come out when they want to.
I was hoping to get out in the garden and till up some of it so I can plant stuff soon. I have a few plants started in the house. The Broccoli and the lettuce didn’t sprout very well. The Thyme did really well, and I only got 2 Rose Mary plants. I still need to start more plants inside for the garden. I also need to get the seed for the field to grow clover.
I did a pre-screening interview for teaching positions with Springfield Public Schools, the other day and think I did pretty well. The next round on internal transfers begins 15 March, when positions get posted. They have to be up for 10 days, and then on 26 March, schools can begin interviewing. My name is in the hat for any positions I am qualified for, I don’t need to do anything. I just need to check out the positions and prepare for interviews. In the first round, there were 3 science positions. So either they are still open, or they got filled and now there are open positions where those people came from. So there are positions available, and chances are there could be additional ones also. One of them is with at risk kids. and I think I could enjoy working there, and have a real shot at making a positive difference in their lives. So now, just kind of wait and see what happens.
Oh, and in case you heard about our tornadoes. We did have one a few miles down the road from our place and one person died. Several mobile homes were destroyed, and Buffalo was with out power for 2 days. We never even lost power at our place. Got woke up by the rain and the wind, but no damage near us. The plastic lawn chair in the yard didn’t even get blown away.
Last week. We started putting the puppies in the chicken coop to sleep at night, and then they hang out in the chicken yard with them all day. Bear sleeps under the nest boxes and Nikita sleeps just inside the door. We have the light set to provide light until about 830pm each day, so we put them out in the coop a little after 8 each night. That gives the birds enough time to settle down for the night after we put them away, and then the pups go in and lay down for the night. Has worked pretty well so far. We are betting that by growing up with the birds, they will be less inclined to chase them or kill them. We know there could be accidents, and think we are prepared to accept those. We have been reading books on training dogs and ways to train Pyrenees especially, and how to work with birds. Did a lot of research on the tying the dead bird around their necks thing, and in my opinion it is the best way to go. And I’m trying to take a different view of training the dogs and how they see things and feel about stuff, and how they learn. So far the pups have been great. Mom has been the issue. Jeanne caught her chasing the birds one day, and she had Brownie pinned down and was playing with her. Bit all her tail feathers off, and lost some of her wing feathers, but there wasn’t a scratch on the bird. Now she just looks funny with no tail.
Stopped collecting the goose eggs. We have 7 in the incubator and 4 in the hatcher. Those 4 should start hatching Monday or Tuesday. Then 3 next week and 4 the weeks after that. There are 5 eggs in the nest in the coop now. She sits in them every night, but gets off them in the day time. That is the way geese do it. And so each evening, I have to go in and reach under her to get the chicken eggs, because she moved form the nest she built into the dog carrier I put out there and now the chickens all lay in her nest. We only got 2 eggs today, and 6 yesterday, 5 the day before. Not sure what the deal is. And we got our first egg from Edith today. Not sure what I’m going to do with it. I put it in the closet and will see if we get many more.
Bought 3 rose bushes and some herbs. Planted the roses in pots in the living room. Will grow them there for a while and then plant them in the yard when the weather has warmed up. Also started some seeds. I put some in the other day and they are in little pots now. Filled up the starter tray last night with cabbage, broccoli, beets, 2 kinds of lettuce, egg plants, cilantro, marigolds and some other flowers. Then today I cleaned all the plants under the stands in the house and got them organized. They were all covered with this fine, white dust film from having the baby chicks in the house. I also tilled up the garden some, set up 3 raised beds and burned most of the dead blackberry stalks and such. Jeanne helped me pick the plants out of the tilled areas. Didn’t plant anything outside yet. The peacocks came in the garden and “helped” me. The alternated between pecking at my fingers and the weeds I was pulling. Every now and then one of them would grab a weed and run with it. Other times they’d get my fingers. Not sure what it is about fingers, but they seem to love them.
The baby chicks are doing fine, and 33 is just about the limit of that small coop. The pen isn’t too big for them either. I need to take some of the new fencing out and fence off an area around the cage they can get to when we are home. They are still vulnerable to attack from the air by hawks or eagles or owls even. We also go some clover seed and I spread it in the field. We got 5 pounds at MFA today, and I broadcast it by hand just before dark to night. The seed looked like it was treated, or covered with something that should help it grow better, or maybe just make the seed bigger and easier to handle. At any rate, I waited until just before dark to lessen the chances of birds or something eating the seed. It is supposed to rain tonight, quite a bit, and so my the morning I hoping the seed will be worked at least to the ground layer and maybe less visible to animals. And the rain should help it to get started growing. We are expecting some warm weather the next week, with days in the 70’s and night in the upper 40’s to lower 50’s. 10th of March and not sure if we’ve seen our last frost or not. We got a good one Wednesday and Thursday night. Got down to 28 one night and 31 the other. Those were the first freeze we’ve had in a week or more. And no more are in the forecast right now.
This week the jobs get posted for internal transfers at work. And yes, I am very excited about it.
The Oscars have been acting like they are wanting to nest, or breed. They keep clearing out the gravel from around a rock I placed at the bottom for just such a reason. But the Pleco fish keep harassing them. Think the Pleco would eat the eggs given the chance and the Oscars couldn’t stop them. So I’m going to measure and see if I can get something to separate the tank and put the Plecos on one side the Oscars on the other. Haven’t decided what to do about pools outside this summer, but the plan is to turn the old pool into a fish pond and put the large Pleco in it. Think he’d be good in the tank the birds drink out of, just not sure what I’d do with him in the winter.
Wednesday. One more day of work and then the holidays.
Lots of things going through my mind right now. First is about the dog. She’s walking around the house right now, looking very pregnant. Her belly sags and she looks like she should give birth at about any time. And we go to work and leave her home alone for 12 hours each day. I know that one day we are going to come home and it will be like the fish. We looked in the tank one day and realized it was full of new baby fish. The laundry room will be full of puppies!
Been doing a lot of thinking about the garden and what I want it to look like. There are several thing that I know I want ot do. One of them is I want to build raised beds for as many things as I can. I’m not sure I f I really want rasied beds for everything, or just most things. I also want to build covers to go with most of the beds. Some of them will have screens on them, and some will be just have frame work to put other covers on. I also want to build some kind of bed to extend the season in. Either a cold frame or some type of mini-green house. I need, or want something to keep established plants from being damaged by frost in the fall and to give me a place to put out plants early in the springs.
I have some frames that I got from the waste bin at the lumber yard. They have been stacked in the garden. I used some of them for some things this year. Measured them and they measure 36 by 44 inches internal diameter. They are about 5-6 inches high. I’ve been thinking about build new frames. I want them to be 4 feet wide, but not sure how long to make them. In a perfect world I’m build frames to fit over the outside of them too, and then I’d have the prefect combination for growing things in. In my mind I can see row after row of the raised frames with gravel walking paths in between them. But it is difficult to get rid of the visions or memories I have of things being grown in the ground.
And then there is the orchard. I need to clear out some of the trees and make room for them. I’d like to plant a lot more than what I actually need or want for myself. Maybe I can sell the extras or something, not sure, but know that I can’t have too many trees. Just have to make sure they are different kinds. We want to have fruit and nut trees. They could take 3-5 years to start really producing, but they will be worth the wait.
Then there are the birds and the fences I need to put up for them. Need to put up perimeter fence around most of the property, over in the one corner where their grass field will be. And around the orchard and garden. I want to fence the whole place, especially the other side and down through the woods, but can’t afford to do most of that.
Money seems to be the bottom line for so many things. Along that line, I have been working for 6 weeks or so as an aid at the Early Childhood Development center in Springfield in an open position. I applied for it and interviewed the other day. They had interviews this afternoon, and then they are supposed to make a decision. I’m really hoping I get it. Would be a permanent job, I’d know where I was going everyday and could learn so much more than I already have. It just doesn’t pay a whole lot, but it would get me into the system and maybe help open some doors. And if I don’t get it, then I go back to looking for a job each day. So far, that hasn’t been an issue. There is almost always a job if I am willing to work some place. If I have to do that, I’ll also try to pre-position one of the vans at her moms house and go in early so I can teach at the middle and high schools. I mean, we did it for a short time for Central High, so we could do it again. Just have to prepare for it.
The other thing I need to think about is going back to school and getting my Masters Degree. There are things I need to learn about labs and such and this might make me more marketable to the schools here. Just have to figure out tuition and how to afford it and all. And if I’m going to do it, I need to do it now, before I take on all the responsibilities of my own classroom. Just need to find an employer that will help pay for it.
The birds. Still only getting one egg a day. Good news is that I think I know which bird it is. Not sure how to encourage the other birds to start laying. Today is the shortest day of the year, the official start of Winter. I have the light in the coop set to come on just before I go out in the morning, and then stay on until About the time I put them to bed. Was supposed to be shorter but didn't like going out there in the dark. Had it off for a while, now it's on all day, and each week or so I'll lengthen the time until they have 14-16 hours of light in the coop. Oh, and I took one of the bags off the screen. They need the extra real daylight and the air circulation. Think the straw is doing good for them. Need to get more to use int eh coop and garden next year.
Maybe after Christmas I will start collecting them and start a batch in the incubator. Late February or early March I need to start plants inside to put out for spring garden. May need to start the cabbage and such earlier to put out even before then. And sometime in April I guess the turkeys will start laying and I’ll have those eggs to deal with and then the chicks when they hatch. Think I have it figured out a little better how to do it so I’m more successful and have better hatches. I do really well on fertility, it’s just getting them to hatch. And I think a lot of it is the last 3-4 days of actually hatching. The incubation goes well. Need to up my temps some because they are still air incubators, and lower it some in the hatchers. Still haven’t figured out exactly how I’m going to do this with just four incubators. Back to the money issue. I have rough plans in my head, and probably some where on computer, to build a cabinet one that would enable me to use a couple of Incubators as hatchers and keep them in the cabinet one the rest of the time.
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