Hello everyone.
This will be my last post on this blog. As most of you know, my wife of thirty some years died almost 2 years ago. I tried to keep up on the blog and put things there. I feel I have failed miserably. Sorry.
Last year I remarried, and we have been working to build a life of our own together. Part of that has been trying to figure out what to do with the farm and make it “ours” and what to do with the blog. I’m learning to blog, and maybe this is my personal replacement for Face Book. I do have a page, but I do nothing with it, and I’m not out to see how many friends I can get, either.
So somewhere along the line Jeanne (my new wife) and I came up with a new name for our place. We call it “The All In 1 Basket Farm”. We came to that decision because we want to lots of things here and it’s going to be a little of everything. We didn’t want to delete or take anything from this blog, and so we have created a new blog. The new blog is located at:
http://theallin1basketfarm.weebly.com/
And this is where all the new blog posts will be. We have put several on there already and I try to include more as time goes on. Part of it is for my family and others who follow us, and part of it is for our customers, the people who buy the birds and things we raise here on the farm. So they know how we do things and what goes on here. Lots of people this year have asked about how we raise our birds and if they are raised ethically. Well, we really hope so. They are about the closest things you can get to pets. But we refuse to name most of them, because we know the day we collect the eggs for the incubators, that the birds are destined for someone’s dinner table. So make no mistake about it, what we do is raise turkeys for people to eat. And we raise some darn good birds too! They’ll eat out of our hands and follow us around the yard. When we go outside they come running hoping we will give them something to eat.
We want to thank all of you who follow our blog for your time in doing so, and now we have moved and hope that you will continue to follow us, and grow along with us and share all that we do here on the farm.
Thank you.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Summer Ends
Well the end of august is almost here, and that means the end of summer. Had Bella and John come visit for about 4 weeks and just got back from taking them home. We had some good times while they were here, but it was too hot to do much. Over 100 degrees in the day time and neither one of the vans has AC. So we didn’t go as many places as we would have liked to.
We went up to Truman Lake and went fishing. Bells caught one fish and John caught another, but they weren’t big enough to keep so we tossed them back. Been fishing a dozen times and still haven’t caught something big enough or enough fish to make it worth bringing any home. Then we went to the visitors center and looked around it. And right nearby is a fish hatchery that we went to, only it is closed on Mondays. Should have looked that up before we went, guess.
Went to the movies several times. Saw Rio, Soul Surfer, Kung Fu Panda2 and Mr. Potter Penguins. They had a summer special on Tuesdays. Get in free with a receipt form a local McDonalds. And all the other movies are a buck each. So you know what we did on Tuesdays.
That and went to the library and let them read and play games on the computers.
Then we flew out Saturday to Utah. Went to Lagoon that afternoon and rode all the good rides. Rollercoasters are really fun to ride! Sunday we went to the state park on Antelope Island. That was interesting. Did several DIY repairs for Angela. Replaced the drain pump in her dishwasher so that it drains and she can use it again. Replaced the table top on her picnic table. The boards were warped pretty bad. Also replaced the door trim on the back door. Then we used Thompson Water Seal on the table, the door frame and the deck landing outside the back door. Also did some work in the flower beds in front. Didn’t get to do anything with the garden area in the back or the upstairs shower.
Before kids came, the drive belt on the riding lawn mower broke, and I’ve been waiting on parts. Got the belt and the pulley that fractured. Also replaced a steering linkage rod that had bent. Had difficulties replacing the belt. Seemed the more I got into it, the more things I ran into. Couldn’t get one of the nuts off the steering linkage, and ended up breaking it. That cost me a $10 part. Fortunately the store had it and didn’t have to pay shipping and wait. The pulley for the drive belt is connected directly to the underside of the engine. And because of the belt guards that are on it, had to take the pulley off in order to put the new belt on. Bet it had never been taken off since it was new. And the thing just kept turning the whole engine. Finally got the bolt off that was holding it on, and couldn’t get the pulley off. Figured out I could unbolt the engine and move it, and it worked just as well. Got it put back together, figured out where all the other things go and then started it up. Runs at least as good as it did before.
So spent the evening mowing as much of the yard as I could. Some of it had grown pretty tall from the rain and the heat and all.
Schools started this week. Springfield this week, and Buffalo last week. I am scheduled to sub in September for a week in Physics, and then for 2 months of Biology for a lady on Maternity leave. Both are at Central High School in Springfield. Long drive, but it pays more and I’m hoping that with 50 schools to staff, there will be more opportunities for me. Also hoping that it will lead to a full time job opportunity, either a new opening or the recognition so I’ll have a shot at a job. Have applied for about 7 or 8 so far and haven’t gotten so much as an interview. Depressing sometimes.
Oh, and finally made some jam. Did the first batch of just Balckberry and the second batch of moxed barries, Strawberries, Blackberries and Gooseberries. Have more berries in the freezer, and will have to wait to make more.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Peachicks
I'll try to get some pics on here soon, they are on the other computer.
Was looking on line last week about how to care for birds or something and decided for the heck of it to look for peacocks again. Since the coons killed our other two, we don't have any more and wanted to get some.
Just happened to find a lady not far from here that had 4 chicks a few days old she was getting rid of. Think she got in a little over her head and was getting out. That and the coons had gotten some of her birds, too. She had a pen of geese, and had already sold her adult peacocks, and these were her last 4 chicks. She also gave me a single easter egger chick she had and about 2 bags of feed. She was done.
Additionaly she had no fewer than 3 types of dogs and pups running around. Not sure she knew exactly what she was doing. ALso told me she was selling her cabinet incubator for $650. She had spent more than a grand on it, including shipping. Said she wasn't getting the profit she expected. Not sure exactly how much profit she was hoping for, because I turn very little if any. Most of what I get comes from just having the birds, looking at them and watching them and then eating or sharing them with others.
So we now have 4 peachicks, and the chicken in the living room. Had to go get a brooder cage from the shed and bring it in.
Had an incident with one of the big toms the other night. I had forgotten to put them up and it was a little after 9pm. Went out and some were in the trees and on the roof of the coop. So chased them all down and tried to get them to go into the dark coop, not such and easy task. Looked over and there was one of the big Broad Breasted Bronze toms standing inside the fence. When I looked closer I realized that he had one of the small fence post rods sticking up out of his back. Some how he had flown up, some where, and when he came down had landed on this fence post. It is round and about the diameter of a standard pencil. Fortunatley it hadn't pierced his body and looked to be just through the webbing on his wing. But the post was tied to the fence and used to hold it up. I had to go get a paur of wire cutters and cut the wire and then pick him up of the post. Took him in the house and put some stop bleeding powder on the top and bottom of the wound in the wing. It really wasn't bleeding that much if at all. It really did seem superficial.
But then yesterday he was kind of lethargic and just sat around. Of course it was 100 degrees outside. And he seemed to be limping. So if he doesn't get much better in the next day or so, I'm going to have to put him down. The kids can help me butcher it and we'll can the meat and make turkey broth to use later.
It has been really hot and dry here, everything is drying up. But over the weekend we got a good days worth of rain, so all the weeds and the lawn should start to grow again.
Speaking of which. Need to fix the riding lawn mower. The drive belt broke and it isn't easy to take off, and need to replace it.
Was looking on line last week about how to care for birds or something and decided for the heck of it to look for peacocks again. Since the coons killed our other two, we don't have any more and wanted to get some.
Just happened to find a lady not far from here that had 4 chicks a few days old she was getting rid of. Think she got in a little over her head and was getting out. That and the coons had gotten some of her birds, too. She had a pen of geese, and had already sold her adult peacocks, and these were her last 4 chicks. She also gave me a single easter egger chick she had and about 2 bags of feed. She was done.
Additionaly she had no fewer than 3 types of dogs and pups running around. Not sure she knew exactly what she was doing. ALso told me she was selling her cabinet incubator for $650. She had spent more than a grand on it, including shipping. Said she wasn't getting the profit she expected. Not sure exactly how much profit she was hoping for, because I turn very little if any. Most of what I get comes from just having the birds, looking at them and watching them and then eating or sharing them with others.
So we now have 4 peachicks, and the chicken in the living room. Had to go get a brooder cage from the shed and bring it in.
Had an incident with one of the big toms the other night. I had forgotten to put them up and it was a little after 9pm. Went out and some were in the trees and on the roof of the coop. So chased them all down and tried to get them to go into the dark coop, not such and easy task. Looked over and there was one of the big Broad Breasted Bronze toms standing inside the fence. When I looked closer I realized that he had one of the small fence post rods sticking up out of his back. Some how he had flown up, some where, and when he came down had landed on this fence post. It is round and about the diameter of a standard pencil. Fortunatley it hadn't pierced his body and looked to be just through the webbing on his wing. But the post was tied to the fence and used to hold it up. I had to go get a paur of wire cutters and cut the wire and then pick him up of the post. Took him in the house and put some stop bleeding powder on the top and bottom of the wound in the wing. It really wasn't bleeding that much if at all. It really did seem superficial.
But then yesterday he was kind of lethargic and just sat around. Of course it was 100 degrees outside. And he seemed to be limping. So if he doesn't get much better in the next day or so, I'm going to have to put him down. The kids can help me butcher it and we'll can the meat and make turkey broth to use later.
It has been really hot and dry here, everything is drying up. But over the weekend we got a good days worth of rain, so all the weeds and the lawn should start to grow again.
Speaking of which. Need to fix the riding lawn mower. The drive belt broke and it isn't easy to take off, and need to replace it.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Summer is here
Today is 12 July. Been a crazy summer so far. Time just seems to go by so fast and I haven’t gotten to write on here as much as I wanted to. Or I haven’t taken the time to do it. There is always something else to do and I put it off, or there are pictures I want that I don’t’ have. And then when I do get around to it, there is so much to write about I never know where to start. Do I start where I last wrote and try to catch up, or just start here and see what happens?
I realized a while back that none of my chickens have ever gotten broody, or at least not really into it where I couldn’t chase them off the nest. So I did some research and discovered that the 3 or 4 breeds I have are some of the least likely to ever go broody. Then I looked up which ones were. Bantams or Cochins are the best they say. Broody and good foster moms. So about 2 or 3 weeks ago we went to the auction and bid on 8 mottled cochin chicks. They looked like they were a week old or less. Paid just under $15 for the bunch. Then a few days later had some turkey eggs hatch.
Of course all this is a week or so after I moved the last of the brooders out to the trailer. We’d had chicks in the living room for several months by then. So starting over. Got them all moved outside yesterday into a little cage. Gives them room to roam, and protects them from other animals. I think.
Hadn’t had any problems with animals, but I’d been watching. Then one night something got into the peacock pen and killed the hen. Didn’t touch the male. A few nights later it got into one of my cages and killed all the babies. About 11 turkeys and 4 chickens. Ate two of them, and just killed the rest. So I put wire under the cage as well, and that is what the babies are in now. We decided we were going fishing one night when I got off work, so we drove up to the dam and stayed until about 3 am. When we got home I went to check on the birds and found the raccoon in the peacock cage. It had killed the male. I killed the raccoon, so no more problems with it, but both our peacocks are dead now, plus all the other birds. Hope to get more next spring, but obviously need to build a better enclosure first, one the coons can’t get into so easily.
We’ve done really well with the turkeys this year. After the old ones were killed by stray dogd this spring, we bought new babies. Ordered 10 Broad Breasted Bronze and 10 Narragansetts. We also decided to get a Broad Breasted White to check out and a new female goose to go with our drake. They gave us 1 extra of the BBB and Narragansetts, and we only lost 1 bird. Built a new mini-coop for them and put them in the garden. One of the reasons the garden was so late getting put in this year. Worked really well with them in garden and then putting them in little coop at night. And they did a good job on the garden, eating the pants and such. Didn’t bother my strawberries either. But moving them out was a problem because they kept wanting to fly back over into the garden.
Got out the pool and put it up. Had a few holes so we patched them. Filled it up and it popped a leak again. Must have filled it several times and it kept busting a hole along the bottom seam. Guess we have had it for many years. So took it down and got out Jeanne’s. IT had a few holes too, but got them patched and it’s been good ever since. And now that it 100 degrees outside and only cools down to 75 at night, swimming is nice in the evenings.
Nest Wednesday is my last day working at McDonalds. Then we are going to St. Louis for a couple of days. Then Jeanne and I take off to get Bella and John for a few weeks. We’ll meet Angela in Denver and bring them back with us. Plan to do some fishing, make some jam and jelly, maybe can some things from the garden. And there are a couple of fish hatcheries around here we’ll go check out and visit. Just do lots of things to help them learn about everything. Hope it’s not too hot to do things.
Riding lawn mower died yesterday. Broke the drive belt. Not sure if it jumped off or what, but it got jammed under the pulley and hung up, then the turning pulley on the motor smoked it in two. So I’m going to have to figure out how to get it off, it won’t come off easily. Then see if there was something else that made it hang up before I replace the belt. And while I have it apart, need to check on the steering and see why it only turns one direction. Just got though fixing the one for Jeanne’s mom.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Hatching Eggs
Has not been a good year for hatching eggs. We took the incubators out of the closet and they got unplugged for about 24 hours. Then being out must have affected them, because I haven’t had any hatch to speak of. I have 6 poults that have hatched out of approximately 50 plus eggs. I took 19 out of the hatcher today and tossed them.
But the good news is that I also put 13 turkey and 5 chicken eggs into the hatcher. They should hatch about Wednesday. I changed the hatch days so they would hatch before the weekend so we could try to sell them at poultry swap meets on the weekends. So in the incubators I have some that should hatch this week, next week and the week after that. About 5-9 each week. I’ll get pics as they hatch.
But the good news is that I also put 13 turkey and 5 chicken eggs into the hatcher. They should hatch about Wednesday. I changed the hatch days so they would hatch before the weekend so we could try to sell them at poultry swap meets on the weekends. So in the incubators I have some that should hatch this week, next week and the week after that. About 5-9 each week. I’ll get pics as they hatch.
More Birds
25 April 2011
Today is my mother’s birthday. Called to wish her happy birthday.
A lot has been going in here, and I haven’t been able to get on here to write any of it down.
Must have been last Wednesday or so was sitting on the bed and saw my Chocolate Slate come frying around the corner of the house. Followed closely by a dog. Well, the dog never left the yard, but then I couldn’t find the Tom. Looked all over for him, that day and that night. No sign of him anywhere. After a day or two gave up finding him. Just listed him with the others I’d lost. I mean at that point I only had three turkeys left, two of which I had to buy a few weeks ago. The two Bourbon Reds I have cooped up in the new pen next to the Peacocks.
So then Saturday Morning I get a knock on the door. A neighbor down the road says she thinks my turkey is in her back yard, and been there for a few days. So we go down there in the rain and sure enough, there he is on the deck of a trailer out in her back yard. He sees us coming a takes off. Not a chance of catching him. So I decide to try to herd him toward home. He takes off into the horse field next door, then decides to double back toward the trailer. And somewhere along there I lose sight of him and can’t find him. We look around everywhere in the woods and Can’t find him. Saw a group of wild turkeys but not him. So we came home and gave up. When I came home from work that night about 1am and went out to check on the birds, there he is on top of the pen next to the Bourbon Reds. Tried to grab him and he got away and hid under the Star trailer. So I left him there for the night. He’s done ok so far. Haven’t been able to catch him.
So tonight, Monday, we went out just after dark and he saw us coming and took off. Looked for him and couldn’t find him again. He had gone back up on the pen on the other side next to the Peacocks. So I had Jeanne shine the light in his eyes from one side while I snuck around the other side and grabbed his legs. Finally, Houdini was caught! Yep, what other name could we give him but Houdini? And with all this, he had to have a name. So we took him into the regular chicken coop and cut all the feathers off one wing. Hopefully that will keep him from getting out of the chicken yard. And if he hadn’t been out of the chicken yard to begin with, the dog couldn’t have chased him. Speaking of which, if the other birds hadn’t been out of the yard, the dogs or whatever couldn’t have gotten them. Never did find either of my old Toms, the old Red or Stripes. They were just gone.
These are the two new toms.
Speaking of peacocks. Jeanne has wanted peacocks, India Blues, so we have been looking for a pair. We found a pair, but the pair we found had been sold. Then they hadn’t. Come to find out, I wanted them for my wife for her birthday. The lady that was going to buy them wanted them for her husband. And she was looking for turkeys, So I sold her two hens that weren’t laying any more. One was a Spanish Black and the other was a chocolate slate, and I want to raise Bourbon Reds or the Narragansett’s. So getting rid of them was part of the plan, and they had both been broody and weren’t laying any more.
Basically that means that we are starting over this year with birds. I have my bourbon red hen and the new tom I got, and whatever we have for the Narragansett’s. They didn’t have Broad Breasted Bronze poults today, so we’ll go back and get them on Wednesday. I am considering keeping a BBB hen and breeding her with a Narragansett tom next Spring. See what I get. Depends on how big she gets and if it is feasible or not.
Today is my mother’s birthday. Called to wish her happy birthday.
A lot has been going in here, and I haven’t been able to get on here to write any of it down.
Must have been last Wednesday or so was sitting on the bed and saw my Chocolate Slate come frying around the corner of the house. Followed closely by a dog. Well, the dog never left the yard, but then I couldn’t find the Tom. Looked all over for him, that day and that night. No sign of him anywhere. After a day or two gave up finding him. Just listed him with the others I’d lost. I mean at that point I only had three turkeys left, two of which I had to buy a few weeks ago. The two Bourbon Reds I have cooped up in the new pen next to the Peacocks.
So then Saturday Morning I get a knock on the door. A neighbor down the road says she thinks my turkey is in her back yard, and been there for a few days. So we go down there in the rain and sure enough, there he is on the deck of a trailer out in her back yard. He sees us coming a takes off. Not a chance of catching him. So I decide to try to herd him toward home. He takes off into the horse field next door, then decides to double back toward the trailer. And somewhere along there I lose sight of him and can’t find him. We look around everywhere in the woods and Can’t find him. Saw a group of wild turkeys but not him. So we came home and gave up. When I came home from work that night about 1am and went out to check on the birds, there he is on top of the pen next to the Bourbon Reds. Tried to grab him and he got away and hid under the Star trailer. So I left him there for the night. He’s done ok so far. Haven’t been able to catch him.
So tonight, Monday, we went out just after dark and he saw us coming and took off. Looked for him and couldn’t find him again. He had gone back up on the pen on the other side next to the Peacocks. So I had Jeanne shine the light in his eyes from one side while I snuck around the other side and grabbed his legs. Finally, Houdini was caught! Yep, what other name could we give him but Houdini? And with all this, he had to have a name. So we took him into the regular chicken coop and cut all the feathers off one wing. Hopefully that will keep him from getting out of the chicken yard. And if he hadn’t been out of the chicken yard to begin with, the dog couldn’t have chased him. Speaking of which, if the other birds hadn’t been out of the yard, the dogs or whatever couldn’t have gotten them. Never did find either of my old Toms, the old Red or Stripes. They were just gone.
These are the two new toms.
So today Jeanne went to the hatchery and picked up 10 Narragansett poults. These should look like Stripes from last year. What we are hoping for any way. The plan is to try and raise them and sell the eggs back to the hatchery next year, or hatch them ourselves and then sell the poults. This is what they look like.
We also got one gosling, sexed to be female. She is supposed to replace the female goose that was killed this spring by the dogs. None of the goose eggs hatched so we didn’t get any that way. Was thinking of buying a goose from a lady down the road, but went for the gosling instead. Think raising them from chicks makes for better birds and they know this is home and where they live.
The plan is also to build different pens to keep them in. I built this pen for turkeys, but it isn’t what I really wanted. Don’t think it is big enough, and I built it way over what was needed for strength. I’ll try to get some pics of it up. It was designed to have three runs in it, each about 5 feet wide and 20 feet long. So I took the wire out separating two pens to create a larger one, and put the peacocks in there, and put the two Bourbon Reds in the other one.
Speaking of peacocks. Jeanne has wanted peacocks, India Blues, so we have been looking for a pair. We found a pair, but the pair we found had been sold. Then they hadn’t. Come to find out, I wanted them for my wife for her birthday. The lady that was going to buy them wanted them for her husband. And she was looking for turkeys, So I sold her two hens that weren’t laying any more. One was a Spanish Black and the other was a chocolate slate, and I want to raise Bourbon Reds or the Narragansett’s. So getting rid of them was part of the plan, and they had both been broody and weren’t laying any more.
Basically that means that we are starting over this year with birds. I have my bourbon red hen and the new tom I got, and whatever we have for the Narragansett’s. They didn’t have Broad Breasted Bronze poults today, so we’ll go back and get them on Wednesday. I am considering keeping a BBB hen and breeding her with a Narragansett tom next Spring. See what I get. Depends on how big she gets and if it is feasible or not.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Spring in the Garden
Went out in the garden today and planted some stuff. Got 3 short rows of red potatoes in and about 5 hills of Gurney Girl tomatoes. Planted a few cabbage plants in with the ones that over wintered. Also put some cilantro and basil and marigolds around them.
Did some looking on companion planting and tried to put the right things together.
Some of the turkeys started to hatch today. Had 21 eggs in the incubator and when I moved them out of the closet, they got turned off for a while. SO wasn’t sure what would become of them. 4 of them hatched and are in the brooder, a few more are pipped and waiting for them to hatch.
Have to work all day tomorrow so I’ll just see what is there when I get home.
I'll get some pictures up soon.
Drove to Nebraska over the weekend and met up with Angela to pick up Yaco and bring her back. Was great that she got to spend time there, but we had missed her and it’s great to have her back. Even when she screams really loud, or talks all the time. She says “Cory” now a lot. Not loud, just in a soft voice. Usually about 3 or 4 times in a row. And didn’t take long to pick up the chick chirping again! She is a riot.
Got the riding lawn mower out and mowed the lawn yesterday, until I ran out of gas.
And let us not forget the San Antonio Spurs. They play the Lakers tonight and even though we are resting our Big 3, we are tied at the half. We are riding a 5 game win streak and they are riding a 5 game loosing streak. We have the #1 seed in the West and possibly the best in the NBA. That or Chicago Bulls will. Season ends tomorrow night, play offs start Saturday.
Go Spurs!!
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