Final Post

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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!!

More Eggs

March 31, 2011

Last day of March. Had the day off. Worked on the new pens, Got the frames all built but they are too heavy for me to move to the new site. So we’ll try to do that this weekend.

Got the oil changed in both vans, and they needed it.

Got 11 chicken eggs, but only 1 turkey egg. 2 of the turkey hens spent a lot of time on the nests today. Not sure if they are getting broody or not. My slate hen sure loves the new toms, and she is seriously in heat! I mean, she’ll squat for me when I just walk by her!

So I go the two new Toms. Shaky on where I got them. The pens weren’t as clean as I keep mine, and mine sometimes get dirty. These were nasty, but it has been rainy and such so who knows what the deal is. Anyway, I put them in the pen I used for chicks last year. And they are really getting the attention. They are strutting like mad and gobbling, and when I let then birds out they all run over to the pen. One of the hens squats down on the ground in front of them. Hesitant to put them in with the others until they’ve had a chance to get some antibiotics in them.

I wrote one of the hatcheries and told them I was interested in raising birds for eggs for them. Got a response that he is looking for someone to raise wild turkeys for them. So I’m waiting to actually talk to them and see how that goes. Will be interesting. Should be about the same as I’m doing right now, but probably will have to get inspected too.

Hoping to get out in the garden this weekend and till it up some and need to start hardening off some of my plants so I can plant them.

Jeanne went and got a new drivers license and social security card today and we combined the car insurance on the vans. So getting to be a real family.

Married

Married.

Oh, yeah, Guess I should put this one on here, huh?

This is Gavin getting ready. Guess he was upset because I combed his hair.

Usually doesn't get it combed.

We all got up here at the farm and drove into Springfield to her mom’s house then her mom and sister rode with us to the courthouse. So we all went down to the court house to be married. A judge she knew, and didn’t like was scheduled to marry us. But what can you say right? And there were about 4 other couples there to get married. The court room was unlocked but empty when we got there. So we were all waiting in the hall.

A man comes up and goes in the court room, then leaves. Comes back in a moment and says, “Why don’t we go down the hall to Judge Holden’s courtroom?” So we all marched down there, filed in and sat down to wait. Gavin started throwing a fit. Didn’t want to sit down or be quiet or be in the court room. A courier brought in papers and they did a divorce. Then the Judge came down off his bench and called up the first couple. They had a small boy about 7 or 8 and the judge had them all go up, then he asked him all kinds of questions. Was this his real mom and dad, was it about time they got married and stuff like that. And the whole time I’m thinking, this ought to be good if he asks Taylor or Gavin questions like that. We got called to go up second. Made it kind of nice because then we didn't have to be the first, we got to see what was going to happen, but still not have to wait a long time.

So everyone went up. Gavin stood off on one side with Granny and his aunt, while Taylor stood on the other side with the camera. Guess she uses it as good as me, because half way through she realized she was taking a movie instead of still shots. So somewhere we have a video of the wedding, just have to figure out how to convert it to something that we can play on a computer.

But the judge didn’t ask us the same questions he asked the first couple. And he didn’t use our names when we said our vows like he had with the first couple. It was kind of strange, because this time I have a greater appreciation for exactly what those vows mean, and what is involved. And I know that we are both going to work hard to have a long, happy marriage.

When we were done and were doing the paperwork, the Judge had Taylor sign on the marriage certificate below Jeanne's mom and her sister. It’s not on the certified copy, but on our copy that we did that day. One you keep and the other goes to the courts for their records.

Then we went outside the courtroom and took a few pictures in front of the name tag so we would always remember who married us.

Then we went outside of the courthouse and took a few more pictures there. Some are in front of the Greene County Sheriff insignia, and a couple with the courthouse in the background.

The wind was blowing pretty good and it kept blowing my tie sideways. And everyone's hair.

One of just Jeanne and I.

And the whole family. Gavin kept getting distracted and wasn't sure when the picture was being taken. And no one realized my tie was blown away until later, but this is still the best pic. Just have to photo shop them later I guess.

Turkeys Update

24 March 2011

The dog came through the yard and killed some of my birds that were out of their pen. Lost 2 hens that I found the bodies to, and 2 of my Toms are just missing. Stripes, my prize Tom we raised, and my Bourbon Red. The Chocolate slate Tom got torn up pretty good, but hoping he’ll make it.

27 March

Got 3 turkey eggs and 11 chicken eggs.

28 Mar

Only got 1 turkey egg and 10 chicken eggs. Worked from 9am to 5pm, so I wasn’t here all day. Seems when I check eggs more often I get more.

29 Mar

Got 2 turkey eggs and 12 chicken eggs.

30 Mar

Got 2 turkey eggs and 9 chicken eggs.

Been averaging about 3 turkey eggs and 10-11 chicken eggs each day. The injured tom died today. Found him out in the pen. Not sure what happened, but I was prepared to put him down today any way. Drove to Seymour, almost a hundred miles round trip and bought 2 new toms. One is a Bourbon Red and looks good. The other one he had listed as a Blue Slate, but is really a chocolate slate. I know because I have a couple of them myself. This old man had them in a pen with a bunch of Guineas. Was kind of nasty, but I need a new tom. It was that or give up the rest of the season and wait for this year’s birds to mature for next year. And I think I still have a significant amount of the year left. The hens hadn’t even started laying this time last year. So I paid $25 each for them, about what I had been charging for my birds. And if I can sell the poults for $7 each, shouldn’t take long to recover that cost.

So I brought them home and put them in a pen I had built last year for the chicks. Put an anti-biotic in their water. Would like to wait a couple of days before I let them in with the other birds. Actually, tomorrow I am hoping to finish the pen I planned for the turkeys. I have all the materials and the lumber is cut and about half of it is put together. I found my other drill with the keyless chuck so I can change bits and got the roll of wire today. Cost me $103 for a 150 foot roll of 1 inch wire that is 60 inches high. Figure it will take about 142 feet for the pen and it comes in 150 foot rolls.

I was looking on-line and found a great design for my garden and chicken yard. Basically it has the coop in the middle with a yard on each side. You put the chickens on one side and the garden on the other side. Then each year you alternate and swap them. This is supposed to help control bugs in the garden and the chicken poop helps fertilize the garden. So I have to figure out exactly how I want to build it and where it will be. Also have to put the orchard somewhere. And speaking of orchard, ordered some trees from Gurneys and they came in the mail the other day. It has been too cold outside and I’m not sure where I want them anyway, so I planted them in pots and added them to the other plants in the living room. Figure that in a worst case scenario they can stay in the pots for the whole year. The ground isn’t very good for trees, especially ones that are less tolerant of wet soil in the spring. And there are several trees that need to be cut down to make room for the orchard and garden/chicken runs. Keep hoping that the weather will warm up and I can get outside and do a bunch of things I have been putting off.

I have a lot of my garden started in the living room. Drew got some shelves from work and I’ve concerted them to growing shelves. Have cherry tomato and Roma tomato plants, some cilantro, a lot of basil and other herb plants. My pomegranate plants are doing good under the lights. Cut them back and they have put on a lot of new growth. I have a Jalapeno plant that is about 3 years old. Each fall I’ve dug it up and put it in a bucket and over wintered it in the house, then plant it back outside. Got several peppers off it this winter, too. And it does better when it gets more light too.

Oh, and I also have a couple of grape plants that I bought earlier and they are growing in containers. Figure it will help them get a good start and then I can spend time this summer to find the right place and prepare the ground instead of just hurrying and stuffing them in the ground somewhere. One of the things I want to do this summer is prepare a bed for strawberries. I’ll get a bunch of runners from the few plants I have and if I can nurture them I may even get more than a handful of berries this year. My black berries should do really well also. I need to get a new pair of leather gloves and clean out all the old vines from them and from the black raspberries out in the woods. Not sure what to do with all the berries. Think I am going to try my hand at making jams and jellies. Something that I always want to use and it will make good use of them.

I have a book that I have been trying to write things down in, and then I realized that I should be putting this stuff on my blog. So I am going to try to get it on there on a regular basis, even if it means that I have to duplicate things in the book and the web. I also promise to try to get a few pictures of things on here. It’s just that sometimes it feels like there isn’t enough time to get things done.

Like last week, we were working to get the incubators out of the closet and set them up on a stand. We are trying to go thru things and get rid of some of it. It is almost like we have two households that have come together and we need to get rid of duplicates and other things that we’ve just been holding onto and will never use. And some of what I have is for my kids so I am trying to figure out what they want so it doesn’t get thrown away. Simplify my life is one thing you could say.

Anyway, we had moved things out of the closet, and then the dog came and attacked the birds and my schedule got messed up. Didn’t turn the eggs that day and when I did turn them, they were cold. Somehow the power cord had the switch turned off and so all the incubators were turned off. I’m sure the 2 goose eggs are dead. Not sure they even developed, need to crack them open tonight. Then there is an incubator with about 15 turkey eggs that should hatch April 11^th. Not sure if they survived. The incubators could have been off from 12-24 hours, and the eggs were room temperature, cold. So not sure how that will affect them. They had been in the incubator for 10 days, and not sure if it will just kill them or delay them a day or so or cause some other form of defect.

And the other thing is that is takes so long to write this. Seems I have so much to say. Maybe if I did it more often I would have less to say each time. Yeah, right!

Turkeys, a dog and Eggs

A stray dog came into the yard again today and killed some of our birds. Thought we had solved most of the problem by keeping them in their yard instead of letting them run loose so much. So when I heard a dog and looked out wasn’t too worried. But got the shot gun and went out any way. Guess a bunch of the birds had “flown the coop” and jumped over the fence. Found one dead turkey hen in the front yard, and another one over in the neighbor’s yard. Once again, the roosters didn’t get touched.

So I started the day with 9 turkeys, 3 Toms and 6 hens. I now have 5. 2 hens died and I can't find 2 Toms. I have 4 hens that escaped injury it seems and one Tom that got torn up on his back pretty good. It all looks superficial, so it should heal. And the 2 Toms that are missing not sure if they ran off to hide and haven't come back or are dead some where and I just haven't found them yet. This all happened about 11am and I was hoping the others would come home later, but no more did. So tonight we went out to the coop after we put them to bed and clipped one wing on all the birds. Except the injured Tom and one of the roosters.

On better news, I have eggs I’m putting in the incubators tonight. Not sure exactly how many, I’ll count them as I put them in. But I have both chicken and turkey eggs. I’ll put them in separate incubators, and check out the auto turner for the chicken eggs. The turkey eggs won’t fit in the turners, too big. I read about a new method where you put the eggs in the incubator for 12 hours and then store them in a chilled place. So I put some in one night and then put them in the little fridge with the temp turned as warm as it will go. I’ll see if that makes a difference. Also got a new egg wash to check out so some of the eggs have been washed and some haven’t. All are marked so I can tell which is which.

Got called to sub at the high school for a Spanish class. Fun. But it pays the same. Have sent in my app for about 3 different positions. See what happens with those, too.

And I’m happy being married again and having the kids here. And the flowers are started to show in the yard.

Spring is almost here!

Well, life moves on here in Missouri. Some news.

There is an older woman named Sue lives almost next door to where Drew bought his house. She is a friend of my neighbor Doreen. Has a disability and low income, so last year I gave her some of my extra roosters to eat. She had a turkey hen so I gave her a Tom to breed with it. Well, turns out the Tom or something beat up on the hen and it died. Bad news. The good news is it was a Red Tom, so she offered to give him back so I’d have a Red Tom to breed with my hens. So I went and got him last night. Now I’m trying to babysit while he gets re-acquainted with this group. They don’t seem to have really accepted him yet. Of course, he’s been back less than 24 hours, so we’ll see how some of that goes with time. So now I’m back up to 9 turkeys, 3 Toms and 6 hens, and I’ll have to decide how to split them up. Also need to start building the pens they are supposed to go in real soon.

And despite the loss of some hens, I’m still doing good on eggs. Got 9 yesterday, and 14 the other day. Today I thought I got 13. When I brought them in to clean them turns out one is a turkey egg. Kind of small and hove my doubts if it is fertile or not, but I’ll hold onto it and find out. The ones in the incubator should almost be far enough along to candle and see if they are developing. Always enjoy that.

Tonight was McTeachers night at McDonalds. The elementary school comes over and from 4-8pm they get 10 percent of our sales. Got to run shift for one a few years ago and it was a blast. The restaurant is packed, and the sales are crazy and it is just great. Ran lunch today and got to get ready for the night shift. That was pretty good too. And then Ronald McDonald came in the store for a while. THE Ronald McDonald. So I took a few pictures of him with the kids and stuff. Got talked into being in one of them and turned out bad. Looks like I’m peaking around the corner. Not what I intended it to be, was just trying to be on the side. Funny I guess.

It has been raining like crazy and the ground is saturated and puddles everywhere. Hoping that it will dry up some so I can start planting the garden. Oh, and warming up some too wouldn’t be a bad idea. I started seeds in the closet again, but not sure how many of them are actually going to make it into the ground. Most of them. Will soon need a place to put them to finish growing some before I plant them out, and wait for it to get warmer.

My paper work should be in the mail to apply for my teacher certification in North Carolina. Then when I get it, I can take it and go to Missouri and apply for certification here. Paper work drill, but being retired military I should be used to it by now.

March

Time sure has a way of just flying by. It is now the first part of March. Soon it will be a whole year since Connie passed. And so much has changed. Sometime maybe I will grow philosophical and spill feelings, but not today.

A couple of stray dogs came thru on Sunday while no one was here and killed a half dozen of my chickens. Hens at that, not any of the extra roosters I seem to have. They also tore into my old Red Tom. Ripped all his tail feathers off and tore up his back some. I thought he would recover, but he didn’t. Monday I watched over him and thought he was doing ok. When I came to let the birds out Tuesday morning he was dead in the coop. Honestly I think there was some fighting going on in the coop during the night among the toms, and he lost. Literally. When everyone is healthy they all seemed to get along just fine. Even the new toms got along with the old one. But injure one of them and they all seem to want to eliminate the weakness. The Red tom came out of the coop the next day and they had him penned under the porch, so I put him in the garden away from everyone else. And there were issues when I put them away, but thought I’d separated them enough. Or hoped that out of sight would be out of mind once they each went to their own spots for the night. Well, I’ll know better next time. Just not sure where I could have put him and kept him secure from the coons too.

Had a big cold front blow thru the other day. It was 70 degrees during the day, then that night a cold front came ripping thru. Winds up to 70mph And large hail and the temp dropped to the mid 20's. There were reports of funnel clouds but no confirmed tornadoes on the ground. We didn’t get any damage luckily. The strange part was that the next morning it appeared to be raining mud. The NWS said it was dust from west Texas and New Mexico caused by a drought there and the winds aloft carried it here. Made the cars and windows nasty.

On 28 Feb put the 2 turkey eggs and the 2 goose eggs I had in the incubator along with about 25 chicken eggs. The geese eggs are a week or so old and the turkey eggs are probably older than that. Wasn’t sure what else to do with them, and if they develop they do, and if not, no real loss. Most of them I plan to sell. This year we are going to attend some poultry swap meets and try to sell chicks, mostly the turkeys. I’ll hatch as many as I can, and then sell as many of those as I can. Less money invested in chicks, less risk of injury or loss to predators and I think a higher return on my investment. More so because I’ll be hatching my own eggs. I sold some poults in December for $7.50 each. And only got $20 each for grown birds that I had fed all summer, so do the math and figure it out. At least that is the plan. We’ll see how it goes. And even if I get less for them, still coming out ahead. And I’ll keep enough to eat and sell a few this fall. Also plan to get a few Broad Breasted Bronze birds for canning. We really like the turkey and dumplings. And there are other uses for it. And we’ll share some with family, too.

I also put seeds to sprout. Have some in containers and others in wet paper towels to sprout, then I’ll plant them. Not sure exactly where the garden will be this year, but starting to get a jump on things early this year. Have a lot of marigolds started to plant around the garden, too. And herbs. Hoping to grow just a lot of herbs this year. Some of them I may try to sell fresh, see if there is a market for that. Other I’ll use fresh myself or dry to use later. I have cilantro, rosemary, thyme, sage and oregano, and 2 or 3 different types of Basil. And 2 or 3 types of tomatoes. Hoping to grow a lot of corn and more potatoes this year also. And with a little work should be able to get some strawberries, finally. Part of it is taking care of them, feeding and weeding them, the other part is keeping the birds and varmints out of them. Things like Raccoons and ground hogs. Had several ground hogs that moved in the last year or two. Got some of them, but haven’t been able to get all of them. Maybe this year. Had one pesky one last year ate all my tomatoes and pumkins and watermelons. In fact, he ate just about everything in the garden.

Drew and Frances have moved into their own place in Louisburg, and Jeanne and I are getting things moved in here and getting ready for us to move. And trying to go thru things in the process. We got the Washer and Dryer hooked up today and did the first loads of laundry here. Need to get a clothes line put up again, with more lines on it, for this summer. Help cut down on the dryer bill.

As we get moved out here and begin spending more time, I’ll be able to post on here more often.

February is here.

6 February. Super Bowl Sunday and I get to watch it for a change. Not that I’m this big NFL fan or anything, just get the chance, so…. But speaking of sports, how about them Spurs? 42-8 with the best record in the NBA? Beat the Lakers twice so far! Go Spurs!!

But definitely winter weather here. Guess the ground hog saw his shadow. We got about 12-15 inches on Tuesday and then just when we were getting that cleared, we got about 2 more on Thursday night. So there is snow piled up everywhere, in all the parking lots and on the corners and such. Reminds me of Anchorage when we went thru there a few times. At one point it was pretty cold, but it has gotten better. Up to about 37 yesterday and about that today. They are calling for more snow early this week. Could be a problem.

We are scheduled to leave Wednesday morning for Utah. We are renting a car and then we’ll drive to Colorado to see Erin. Then Thursday we’ll complete the drive into Salt Lake City. Saturday in my college graduation and stuff, the reason we are going. Then on Sunday we’ll head out and return to Missouri. Just hoping the weather gives enough of a break for us to travel safely there and back.

There are a few positions being posted for high school biology teachers. I’m getting my package together to apply to them. I should have everything I need to get my certification. Have all my transcripts and such. Just need to apply to North Carolina, then take that one and submit it to Missouri.

There is another job I found that I’ve submitted my application for. It isn’t a teaching job, but pays a lot more. It is also more in line with my military experience, so I’ll see what happens with that before I say much more.

Sold the last of my chick yesterday. Had three turkey poults and 4 chicks that I sold. So now the living room has no lights on in it at night and the room is a lot quieter. In some ways I’ll miss them, but not the smell and they dander and such. Hoping that when I get back the turkeys will start laying again. I’ll need to build 3 pens to house the breeders and keep them separated so I know who breeds who. Just part of the plan. And I’ll try to sell almost all of them. Plus we’ll probably get a few Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys to can this fall, and maybe a couple reds to replace the gene line in my flock. They say not to breed parent/child to each other, but skipping one is ok. Just have to decide which I’m replacing, toms or hens. Right now we have 9 turkeys, 3 red, four slates, a black hen and my new tom. This is how I’ll group them.

Group one will be the Bourbon Reds, 1 tom and 2 hens. 1 hen is new the other two are 2 years old. These I’ll sell mostly as breeding pairs.

Group two will be the Slates. I have a Chocolate Slate tom and hen that I’ll put together along with a regular slate hen. These will be mostly for eating.

Group three will be with my new tom, and he’ll get the other slate hen and the black hen. These will be primarily for eating, but if I get a good looking bird I may continue it in the breeding program.

Drew got his own hose and they have been in the process of trying to move out of here and over there. He is hoping by the end of the month to be out completely. That will give us the month of March to get things ready to move into and out of the apartment. Plan to give notice there we’ll be out by 1 April. We may be out sooner, but who knows or cares. Really looking forward to being back on the farm all the time, and hoping spring gets here soon so I can start growing things. The plants in the living room are doing pretty good. The banana got two new shoots on it so I separated one of them and now have two plants. The Rose Mary needs to be divided, the basil is still doing good. Don’t think you can kill the Ti plants. And the pineapple plant is doing good, too.

New Year!

28 January 2011

Hard to believe it is almost the end of January. Time sure has been flying by.

Completed all my degree requirements and got my BA degree in the mail last week. Now I am waiting for my transcripts to get here so I can send off for my teachers certification. That will be fun. Because I went thru WGU on-line and Missouri won’t accept it directly from them, I have to apply to North Carolina for certification. Then I can take my NC certification and submit it to Missouri and they will give me a Missouri certification. Guess if that’s what it takes. Just seems like extra money somewhere and a lot more work. Should have gotten used to that in the Navy though.

So we have 3 small turkeys and 4 baby chickens in boxes in the living room. Wasn’t going to do that this year. But when the turkeys started laying in December, I just had to try to hatch them. The first ones did pretty good, but the last ones had very few fertile ones. As a result, I threw out over a dozen turkey eggs and had one hatch each week, for three weeks. Then the next week I had the 4 chickens hatch. They were supposed to be with some more turkeys, but none of them were fertile and I had to toss them, too. So now I’m trying to figure out how to deal with 7 growing birds in late January. Another 6 weeks and they should have enough feathers to put out side, the question will just be where? Also thinking about plans for new pens and such for this year’s birds.

The second week of February we are driving to Utah for graduation. Leave here Wednesday, stop and see Erin that night, then drive to Utah Thursday. Spend time at Angela’s and go to graduation Saturday. Then Sunday leave and head home getting here Monday evening. That is the plan anyway.