tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63251330570584620372024-03-14T07:38:10.431-07:00Big Island Chickenssuperkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-9692392127391399072022-03-23T08:18:00.004-07:002022-03-23T08:18:59.095-07:00More Cute! Photo heavy...<h1 style="text-align: left;"> The Cute continues. </h1><div>As promised, our flock has doubled in one shot. We responded to a post on Facebook regarding a mini flock for sale and snatched it up. The awesome people that run Kapanaia Farms in Kapaau, Hawaii put up a Ram, a ewe, and two sister offspring as a family unit and we fell in love immediately. three messages and two phone calls later and we were waiting for the day the babies could travel so we could head out to pick them up. This is Hemi. Not sure where they got the name, Sandra did speak of having a hard time coming up with 70 plus names every lambing, so she really couldn't recall where it came from. JoAnn and didn't have that problem and kept the name. </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimQIdtmZxYAf6ag0xQmQQzvYICurQmJTDu4FPw7AfcPw7FFSnEHFpS_Zg9mnDl3yzzeLEwhj6mBxv6wZct8pGyfcDW_uJ7yjqQkqRvsZMCqsQr5vh0sfMLSRXqQqxuVaUdYbS23g4N2WdKpJ5oN5aHgMSykFm3pYqZl4DUAB57pUAZpx1ZrE6UK0iR/s228/Hemi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="203" data-original-width="228" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimQIdtmZxYAf6ag0xQmQQzvYICurQmJTDu4FPw7AfcPw7FFSnEHFpS_Zg9mnDl3yzzeLEwhj6mBxv6wZct8pGyfcDW_uJ7yjqQkqRvsZMCqsQr5vh0sfMLSRXqQqxuVaUdYbS23g4N2WdKpJ5oN5aHgMSykFm3pYqZl4DUAB57pUAZpx1ZrE6UK0iR/w200-h178/Hemi.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div><br /></div>We decided that his name full name is Ernest Hemi Hemingway and Hemi's name is permanent. His lineage is out of Kapanaia's anchor stud Ram, 'Abacus'. A fine specimen that is fully spotted and has a history of black and white lambs. He is a cross of Katahdin and Dorper breeds. He has the signature cap marking of the Dorper line and that has continued into his lambs. He is two years old, fathering many of their current lamb crop this year. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKvG1PzXPSvEx9Mxr6fFtF0Hj5l-bBqp63LnhZKCJJtXktmLXzXBGLJwsJruM6s9G23lKw9aUC7XxkWbxVY8OgcrX3Up5CavTT7VWthmeZWL1tDXbIIOt6JrAkpRej48v-crFte0hrQ47IsL6fbMliq4XXHIimX3ACV9BQDKPMK3B2rKqmhwCNGR74/s4032/IMG_3188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKvG1PzXPSvEx9Mxr6fFtF0Hj5l-bBqp63LnhZKCJJtXktmLXzXBGLJwsJruM6s9G23lKw9aUC7XxkWbxVY8OgcrX3Up5CavTT7VWthmeZWL1tDXbIIOt6JrAkpRej48v-crFte0hrQ47IsL6fbMliq4XXHIimX3ACV9BQDKPMK3B2rKqmhwCNGR74/w150-h200/IMG_3188.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;"><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>The Ewe in the new family is Miss Mindi, a name that we also kept. <br />She is the same Katahdin x Dorper cross with a solid white coat with a light dusting of a Cinnamon tint. She is a good mom, and like Hemi, is two years old. Her first lambing last year </span>yielded<span style="font-weight: inherit;"> a single lamb, with a beautiful set of twins this year. She is an awesome and caring mom to her two lambs. She is a good milk producer for them and very nurturing. We are looking forward to many more lambs in the future. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZ3lKS2eegE_zCrtq7m3411CBUVgUAFdTiaCVengyFWEg7tsJVY3smPmvLCeRGki9-cwYV2FVtQJexESNW23ChL209nb_O9qRgYSvNgQ4MGVSboHL1p0qXLn9CCMm0cALK3vtIW1TmcS2-TSQTuhJqWCP7kcvvbSrT4U9MXJuLKrYeTeTT9Q6uET_/s4032/Mindi%20Babies%20(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZ3lKS2eegE_zCrtq7m3411CBUVgUAFdTiaCVengyFWEg7tsJVY3smPmvLCeRGki9-cwYV2FVtQJexESNW23ChL209nb_O9qRgYSvNgQ4MGVSboHL1p0qXLn9CCMm0cALK3vtIW1TmcS2-TSQTuhJqWCP7kcvvbSrT4U9MXJuLKrYeTeTT9Q6uET_/w200-h150/Mindi%20Babies%20(3).JPG" width="200" /></a></div>And finally, the babies! A closely matched set of siblings, a boy and a girl. Jet black, a negative image to Hemi, they both have the Dorper head cap markings in white, the ram, a solid black with a white tipped tail and a single foot marking with white foot. Because his Cap marking is more angular and diamond shaped, we named him after Lou Diamond Phillips. We call him Diamond, but his papers show the full name, 'Lou Diamond Phillips'. <br />The ewe lamb has four full socks, a tipped tail and a pair of lightening bolts on each side. Because of her socks, we gave her the name, 'Bobbi'. <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;">Sooo cute! </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjC8g6wHW3QAN-OVG2CMXqCmw1NuvYPoM-sjUwt52fXgiMLoKZWtTMhkzouSjUrC7RuB_dfj57GxDhuA1LGVczYae-D9jRj2sjMD7r76rH8vgufw1l5c3PV1_RpcNfY-OktAXHry_ck_SsVSVV_jc1Ul5qFUX1Do1HW9eYsJ_YJVHs5lZhZvC3INx-/s4032/IMG_3218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjC8g6wHW3QAN-OVG2CMXqCmw1NuvYPoM-sjUwt52fXgiMLoKZWtTMhkzouSjUrC7RuB_dfj57GxDhuA1LGVczYae-D9jRj2sjMD7r76rH8vgufw1l5c3PV1_RpcNfY-OktAXHry_ck_SsVSVV_jc1Ul5qFUX1Do1HW9eYsJ_YJVHs5lZhZvC3INx-/w150-h200/IMG_3218.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDEXs-xB2vXaDJKkvmOTiaoxNW1ZZq1HaKcT3ewmTrUHdyCg1LYZLJ3b9N7Pitafxvp2YtktMUBme3Jd6T_ukMhd9pGfAX2LK27tHkftoms3AGAr8ZRZqH0E4tvLII_EbTXFz7jFweKuLckEDOMjM0UnNIOCkgT6EYPD2jgS3QlYm55N24bB5HCevj/w150-h200/IMG_3200.JPG" width="150" /></div><span style="background-color: white;"><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>Mom Mindi and the kids- out for a stroll checking out their new digs.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;">Miss Mindi, the kids, meeting up with Mrs. Sheep and Rain, their new flock mates.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzRf4JeQlEEGR15dAYecfxZYzmtSznjGV0_g9dmCn9D3crATicyLvpF6PDXeHAs43zlavY-xIwVzGk-JXE6xVk3u0UeHRC7LYK9cH8R4wyHLbrSfdrDkFPa-3497vdlkQ2nJncHCSXv7r6fDBmZ_Dsu9IlGhjU4kH47Naww204M_ps364w5nJABP4v/s4032/IMG_3204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzRf4JeQlEEGR15dAYecfxZYzmtSznjGV0_g9dmCn9D3crATicyLvpF6PDXeHAs43zlavY-xIwVzGk-JXE6xVk3u0UeHRC7LYK9cH8R4wyHLbrSfdrDkFPa-3497vdlkQ2nJncHCSXv7r6fDBmZ_Dsu9IlGhjU4kH47Naww204M_ps364w5nJABP4v/w150-h200/IMG_3204.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><br />The Family; Hemi in the background, Miss Mindi, and the kids. Bobbi on the left, Diamond on the right.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2aedreA2cm68ZZ1xtOZVolfj2ZPa5293jMz0d2BsS-ebNdREfI4AAOr5z0OPZwD9UflPLPFmjei5L0CexcbWIfTNjiQ8GpK0lW9rJ3qNbOdRJ1hwHIwJzxmH9C7n4cEz3veYTGXHIOf4xuiRJdG3ZWwn4rBvZlaIRbHwbBv6R9k1HRLxEPbdHZKpw/s4032/IMG_3210.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2aedreA2cm68ZZ1xtOZVolfj2ZPa5293jMz0d2BsS-ebNdREfI4AAOr5z0OPZwD9UflPLPFmjei5L0CexcbWIfTNjiQ8GpK0lW9rJ3qNbOdRJ1hwHIwJzxmH9C7n4cEz3veYTGXHIOf4xuiRJdG3ZWwn4rBvZlaIRbHwbBv6R9k1HRLxEPbdHZKpw/w150-h200/IMG_3210.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><br /> Diamond and Bobbi playing with their new buddy, Rain. Mom watching them all in the background. The lambs are one week apart, and they are growing fast.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSOwFaL-LKDljbZkJsLiEoGOOlrs5hp2SUha5DqLx2Tm8uIRw08uWgtRUcbzHegtXQtnqj0y-rVYvNj_NhQ6LmyNhcfPLytKcuQjMvBE0gjyFi6UlPjjp9uKHUEMm4V1b7J1IyJC9pRHjI-0SINSwVW2051QA5F7sKkDSWj-qvGDRthmVd9SaZCXRm/s4032/IMG_3197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSOwFaL-LKDljbZkJsLiEoGOOlrs5hp2SUha5DqLx2Tm8uIRw08uWgtRUcbzHegtXQtnqj0y-rVYvNj_NhQ6LmyNhcfPLytKcuQjMvBE0gjyFi6UlPjjp9uKHUEMm4V1b7J1IyJC9pRHjI-0SINSwVW2051QA5F7sKkDSWj-qvGDRthmVd9SaZCXRm/w150-h200/IMG_3197.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;">Early play date fresh out of quarantine. Both mom's are making sure things don't get out of hand.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;">Next time- Freckles a mom? </span></div>superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-66397364859239807862022-02-18T01:39:00.000-08:002022-02-18T01:39:00.180-08:00 Big news!<h1 style="text-align: left;"> Big news!</h1><div><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEit1h9rlbpGa1qvqPani26Hkp2SQKzVfL8ya0rgBTgJvDTn8GVLXkh1lsrKHmvi9bYqDWP2QbrAj9WuEfptlQOVdxglPI4hPBS11CR7rnUEf15YShZEI0e2RexeznrhJZFwpuhLvsC2YCwhnq2zO60m6cpFNyjAjKM8NRrU7IOI6NDGNPMAk-8y0GGq=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEit1h9rlbpGa1qvqPani26Hkp2SQKzVfL8ya0rgBTgJvDTn8GVLXkh1lsrKHmvi9bYqDWP2QbrAj9WuEfptlQOVdxglPI4hPBS11CR7rnUEf15YShZEI0e2RexeznrhJZFwpuhLvsC2YCwhnq2zO60m6cpFNyjAjKM8NRrU7IOI6NDGNPMAk-8y0GGq=w150-h200" width="150" /></a></div>Our very first mammal birth on the farm happened early this morning. Our very own flock has been expanded by a count of one. We had a ram lamb born this morning sometime early because by the time I got out there for morning feeding, it was settled, dry and apparently had it's first meal. We did the checks- <br />Teats open and flowing-Check <br />Little guys knows which end to find food- Check</div><div>Umbilical Cord ok- Check</div><div>Afterbirth cleared- Check</div><div>Second Lamb- Only a cursory check made- No tools for internal checks available. She did make moves like she was or might have another pawing, pacing, but no real labor signs so I think they may have been to contract the uterus back to normal. But what do I know= I raised market lambs years ago not breeding sheep.<br /><br />This also marks the milestone of our Ewe, our Ram, and our lamb. Up till now, we have bought lambs to be grown up for the freezer , this is our first to be raised made by our flock. For those of you that will ask, 'how can you eat something so cute?', I say, "with a knife and fork." Farm life isn't for everyone, though not so very long ago, if you didn't grow it or raise it, you couldn't get it to eat it. Even 100 years ago, the variety of food we had to choose from was VERY limited do most tended to eat what was in front of them or go hungry. </div><div><br /></div><div>This was actually a surprise, since we brought in a Ram provided by a friend on Oct 11 and he stayed with us until November 11 of 2021, we expected a due date of March 7 at the earliest, but a reverse check of a lambing calculator said the lamb was conceived on Sept 23rd. A full 18 days too early. The only other ram was the stray we caught at a neighbors house because he was raiding their garden! We though he was too young to be a papa, but okay- got that one wrong. </div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqWWsQdgKtgi1gRlxnLv1aD7_1JdyD_xnjM_MVgZVCNHFRhMN6_KnEPL3AqvNcLRE-SOMCP0JrlBg2INC3QducN8n7Tj6iuNbUG3r8Y5Aa1Rs_FM0Sd7qOqGg5EfB8cOsEyvX4ge8nHTCg8Yp5PsoFvMbuEkC9fszfN1tQo7uV482ZzAFC6l12nzOd=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqWWsQdgKtgi1gRlxnLv1aD7_1JdyD_xnjM_MVgZVCNHFRhMN6_KnEPL3AqvNcLRE-SOMCP0JrlBg2INC3QducN8n7Tj6iuNbUG3r8Y5Aa1Rs_FM0Sd7qOqGg5EfB8cOsEyvX4ge8nHTCg8Yp5PsoFvMbuEkC9fszfN1tQo7uV482ZzAFC6l12nzOd=w150-h200" width="150" /></a></div>This is Rambo, father to Rain when we first got him- 6 months ago. We have since butchered him and he is in our freezer, ironically contributing to that same freezer after he was gone. </div><div><br /></div><div>In another odd twist, we are picking up another 4 sheep on this coming Sunday, A ram, a yearling Ewe, and their 2 daughters. They were supposed to be settled in and part of the 'old' flock by the time birthing day came, but the best laid plans, and "all that, wot?' </div><div><br /></div><div>Plans were for this lamb to be freezer bound, however, until I figure out (someone I know suggested this) how line breeding new 4 sheep in a way that makes a DNA clear set of 3 distinct breeding sets that won't mess with the DNA. Yeah, sounds like snake oil to me too. Well, I am going to find out more, and will post soon. <br />Some more pictures just because they are cute:</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEil10TXlf2EAZMLAOAk1sQfdaU_hpmZuj1yST0kum5TRVQJKDP5I_1xUHYDXX8TWiaNCpxOzJcDmOSlNhJhAgUA3fwdZaeQK8yursifsObzh6Of_Iyof3Em6gPMMqqP7L6DjwpuYzYcv3HvJoKkOVkDbSvLt9TSMVl523dacaQAAn1WLLk7e40V3BaH=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEil10TXlf2EAZMLAOAk1sQfdaU_hpmZuj1yST0kum5TRVQJKDP5I_1xUHYDXX8TWiaNCpxOzJcDmOSlNhJhAgUA3fwdZaeQK8yursifsObzh6Of_Iyof3Em6gPMMqqP7L6DjwpuYzYcv3HvJoKkOVkDbSvLt9TSMVl523dacaQAAn1WLLk7e40V3BaH=w105-h140" width="105" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFGfdVpypcakW8EJrtC20LE2HD7-xRReDDEN3byCxlox35ZxosO0UfqMaVNny0tpncHyWAjXyGiNsyisJ_L20IaGVDcQSaSVhWc1s6B9zlmjeBNo7LdlXIjcYCceg6v13FWbSmacfxIvIv62KO63rKkqdgydyCTjI7oJTot0uljm-urpdXZfwMfc00=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFGfdVpypcakW8EJrtC20LE2HD7-xRReDDEN3byCxlox35ZxosO0UfqMaVNny0tpncHyWAjXyGiNsyisJ_L20IaGVDcQSaSVhWc1s6B9zlmjeBNo7LdlXIjcYCceg6v13FWbSmacfxIvIv62KO63rKkqdgydyCTjI7oJTot0uljm-urpdXZfwMfc00=w108-h144" width="108" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh39vJ0JHqkh_VbbPFQ_NPZw_jfPQb2C9R-Apiho-ChWy5VUR_H0F3c5MhsCudU4bTmTnWGpVAzZjs9GKiwsMc8B-Ceb-jATzO2IY6fQty4yo7mKH8MhBM0RkBFVjBwAL03tLw09o04HMrUJ1SFpnCs4fj9FrWNiYC2UQLhDJOnpm7g6-KJegICzOhd=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh39vJ0JHqkh_VbbPFQ_NPZw_jfPQb2C9R-Apiho-ChWy5VUR_H0F3c5MhsCudU4bTmTnWGpVAzZjs9GKiwsMc8B-Ceb-jATzO2IY6fQty4yo7mKH8MhBM0RkBFVjBwAL03tLw09o04HMrUJ1SFpnCs4fj9FrWNiYC2UQLhDJOnpm7g6-KJegICzOhd=w107-h143" width="107" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Next time- More Cute! </div>superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-47111985473097358072021-12-23T10:00:00.001-08:002021-12-23T10:00:35.932-08:00<h1 style="text-align: left;"> Processing Day and More Sheep!</h1><div> Today is December 23 so todays post is a few days old, well, not quite a week since we processed the chickens out of the flock. We also have more sheep but more on that later. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br />Processing day was on the 18th, a Saturday and since we were taking the birds off to a friends to make a day of processing both our and her birds, AND she has a working feather plucker, we loaded up our 19 hens and the 2 roos we decided to cull. Our current flock is in it's third year of hens with a very few that were in their 5th year. With this years particularly hard molt (nation wide if you gauge it by the general tone on the chicken forums online) that saw egg production go from 25 eggs a day to actually zero and the high number of older chickens in the flock we decided a hard cull was in order, saving only the youngest in case they start up again in Spring. That means we are keeping the golden comet hens that have been the dominant layers for us this year, accounting for 80% of the measly 25 eggs a day and they are going into their third year this upcoming season. We do have an order ready to be placed in January for a new set of 15 chicks from our local hatchery on Oahu, Asagi Hatchery. We are going to be ordering another set of golden Comet layers, and 20 Cornish Cross chicks for meat processing. But that is in the future, so for now, we'll get back to processing day. <br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9z_U03_NB0PRg6dUxfa1dVPNbrNbtA3qOmdxZeT6gZqTVQeDDfxVkZSyGccqKYP8Qzf0cYYH77Hs7DWRsLr7jzFzQ20_xnMHz1BCvP_Oid6jy2Z3jLRTvW6N3Y6KiDKnqSqEkz2cKiP3KGnYiXZnVgtjdBnv3cAkScZn9f0jO9JiOZ7EufrEepWNa=s2048" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9z_U03_NB0PRg6dUxfa1dVPNbrNbtA3qOmdxZeT6gZqTVQeDDfxVkZSyGccqKYP8Qzf0cYYH77Hs7DWRsLr7jzFzQ20_xnMHz1BCvP_Oid6jy2Z3jLRTvW6N3Y6KiDKnqSqEkz2cKiP3KGnYiXZnVgtjdBnv3cAkScZn9f0jO9JiOZ7EufrEepWNa=w238-h238" width="238" /></a></div></div>Total number of birds that brought to process for us was 19, 17 older hens and our two roos. For our friend that we<br />joined in for making a full day of it, she had 21 roos of hers and 11 rabbits. We travelled to her because she has a mechanical plucker, and if you have never used one, it is a whirling, thumping devil of a machine, bordering on medieval that takes a hot, wet chicken in and delivers a naked, steaming bird, almost ready to be bagged up and chilled. Those that have processed chickens know that the getting the feathers off the bird is one of the most disagreeable parts of the process. This wonderous machine can take three chickens at a time, or one turkey, or one , maybe two ducks, and I am pleased to say that I am about half done in the process of making one of our own and a build post will be following the completion of that! </div><div><br /></div><div>We got a late start at about 11 AM but with four people processing, we made relatively short work of it, finishing up at just before 5 pm. Total chickens processed, 40. Total Rabbits done, 11. A very good day. </div><div>Both freezers a little fuller and food security on an Island where 80-85% of all food stuffs are dependent on cargo ships is just a little bit more secure. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj15dtpvzAP7gnNuIPLvzEnvchGETMik6L6len6d8kGKknjwBNA29exonw9_HdacejSEzvffTv4HT7nkxCJJgGcx0Vctk4mZBNPLeX6EP8AaSV9MryYfrXUFc9UjnPt889mq5XSZUpku4nPslljWHKmkEAnooKtqVswl_ZjHXhiJ2c7grl3RjxNsrGR=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj15dtpvzAP7gnNuIPLvzEnvchGETMik6L6len6d8kGKknjwBNA29exonw9_HdacejSEzvffTv4HT7nkxCJJgGcx0Vctk4mZBNPLeX6EP8AaSV9MryYfrXUFc9UjnPt889mq5XSZUpku4nPslljWHKmkEAnooKtqVswl_ZjHXhiJ2c7grl3RjxNsrGR=w108-h143" width="108" /></a></div>Meanwhile, we have more news on the farm food front. JoAnn and I have gotten 2 more sheep. Both young ewes to boost the breeding stock, and both under a year. They are hair sheep breeds, Dorper<br /> crossed with Katahdins, one about 5 months old, her name is Freckles for the tiny red-brownish spots on her muzzle, and the smaller one, Oreo, named for her black and white spots. Purchased form one of the big farms on the north end of the Big Island, we got them wormed and their hooves were trimmed before they got placed into the truck for the trip home. Once there, they got their CDT initial dose, and FAMACHA check and another once over by JoAnn who wasn't able to be there for their purchase. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhrRYAxHyWd0ix8KADl42sQeubTGuw9tmQowD_bKqKjIsNZGj831I0UxeiCtys6rE2SAPVSmMpEpbH0IUQO7aMZ28JtrQTqYtidMRewEMi9vYfS48plLdyWzpJCp5EtpPVwJrNVlBUCUbH1_jNCMb--qpyT224fLb7J37miRxoAlW8t-iKoYZ6h6qn=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhrRYAxHyWd0ix8KADl42sQeubTGuw9tmQowD_bKqKjIsNZGj831I0UxeiCtys6rE2SAPVSmMpEpbH0IUQO7aMZ28JtrQTqYtidMRewEMi9vYfS48plLdyWzpJCp5EtpPVwJrNVlBUCUbH1_jNCMb--qpyT224fLb7J37miRxoAlW8t-iKoYZ6h6qn=w125-h167" width="125" /></a></div>We kept them isolated from the others for a week, just in case, and once their time alone was up, we opened the gate and they were ready to bolt out and join the herd. We run them on a quarter acre for now, we will be expanding that to about 1/2 acre once I put in the more permanent chain link cross fence. One thing about the new girls, they come from a herd of feed bucket callable lambs, but they haven't been handled much so they are skittish. Not as skittish as Mrs. Sheep was, but not a 'walk-up-to-you-to-see-what-you-have-for-them' kind of sheep to be sure yet. It's been just two weeks so far, and they are getting a lot more friendly, even taking treats like papayas, and banana leaves albeit nervously from our hands. Our goal is to have friendly sheep, but not so far as to have lap sheep.<div><br /></div><div>Next post: Smoker news<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgc-Dbtz7M22IQsOYv94D6ORp07UDZSndlADP1UgAgy6ob5Pay6l5oxo-yqqhOfJc1Ms32QNoBUZpUAMXaHS7g31-lvZk3M7onHVxil4SXYMNi2YQGjJ_9aQERgyyNL5yQK69QEMymJWjyLhkLoLhB-6wC-KWBCF025XRvLGXebPhSUOGLnhU8V32vV=s475" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="301" data-original-width="475" height="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgc-Dbtz7M22IQsOYv94D6ORp07UDZSndlADP1UgAgy6ob5Pay6l5oxo-yqqhOfJc1Ms32QNoBUZpUAMXaHS7g31-lvZk3M7onHVxil4SXYMNi2YQGjJ_9aQERgyyNL5yQK69QEMymJWjyLhkLoLhB-6wC-KWBCF025XRvLGXebPhSUOGLnhU8V32vV=w169-h107" width="169" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /> <div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div>superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-9638638487134679512021-12-08T10:45:00.005-08:002021-12-08T10:45:49.308-08:00<h1 style="text-align: left;"> Feeder Results</h1><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifUGeGn8hVvkCet9XBk0O7JTwTrLXjxg6YjnVT2mOF2yu_R4gO9WQMUbydOhKufVMh6UIKbvg1YTeelXbqlDs-zB5AJafQCQESDG5Zbn_X2kw0G5Xfxj2eaxygN-iOYy4BILFS5pxP8mQ/s4032/IMG_2568.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifUGeGn8hVvkCet9XBk0O7JTwTrLXjxg6YjnVT2mOF2yu_R4gO9WQMUbydOhKufVMh6UIKbvg1YTeelXbqlDs-zB5AJafQCQESDG5Zbn_X2kw0G5Xfxj2eaxygN-iOYy4BILFS5pxP8mQ/w150-h200/IMG_2568.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>The girls are using the feeder well, of course the goats are wanting to climb<br /> into it. Sheep have no such inclination. As long as they can eat, they are happy munching outside the feeder. </div><div>As for the chickens, they too tend to hop up and into the feeder. We do feed alfalfa pellets and some occasional grain for the goats and the sheep so they are looking for the left overs that get missed. </div><div>Though this is a Chicken Blog, right now we are focusing on our meat flock of goats and sheep. Today's concern is setting up appointments for seeing candidates for two new additions of sheep ewes. We have two farms we are looking to set up go see's for tomorrow. Both on the north end of the Island. WE want Dorper's, but most breeders are ranging their herds so inter breeding and crosses are really all we are going to find here. Still, they are hardy and reasonable fast growers if crossed with Katahdins. <br />We fell in love with a few on Craig's List that showed black against white markings, as they can throw "Panda" faced offspring. Too cute. I am hoping we can find them and that they are ewes. </div><div>We still do not intend on having a Ram on site, preferring to have 'sleep-overs' or rental stud service for breeding. <br /><br />I know this is short entry, but getting late in the morning and today I have lots to get done. </div><div>Next time: ? </div>superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-87781468679448625272021-11-11T12:53:00.000-08:002021-11-11T12:53:22.662-08:00<p> </p><h1>Sheep or Goat Feeder<o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing">We do more than Chickens here and this project is all about our goats and sheep. <br />This build takes basic woodworking and basic metalworking skills. If you know
how to weld and use a saw, you can do this. I have a table saw, miter saw,
metal cut off saw, pneumatic tools, drills, sanders etc., but this can be made
with a hand saw, hammer, nails, and a drill. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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</v:shape><![endif]-->Design: I started
with an image of a shed type of feeder that I found on Google and modified it
based on what I felt I wanted for my animals.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiled5hrcA-hCm2SGRQV_Gig5eMYa7XXvM5pAFpGHFXwFeFks4OK9SaR_TOQsSNBVB_FCaw11AoguNeQda_xEK2o4Au9U5_ZPUmhoTkmzdF2tc0U_gK2pN3fbBbTWG1zRgr1MeIZ_VFZ6Q/s2048/IMG_2564.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiled5hrcA-hCm2SGRQV_Gig5eMYa7XXvM5pAFpGHFXwFeFks4OK9SaR_TOQsSNBVB_FCaw11AoguNeQda_xEK2o4Au9U5_ZPUmhoTkmzdF2tc0U_gK2pN3fbBbTWG1zRgr1MeIZ_VFZ6Q/s320/IMG_2564.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /> <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Less waste. More feed in the animal is better,
right?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Covered area. We like to eat in the shade, why
not them?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Raised tray. Eating up off the ground means less
chance of parasites.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Holds a full bale. Less feeding time means more
for other things. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Easy loading. Well, because I’m old and getting
lazy. <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoCaption><span style='font-size:6.0pt'>Photo Credit: media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com<span
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->Cheap. I wanted to use what I had
on hand.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing">Build:<o:p></o:p></p>
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</v:shape><![endif]-->The plan I came up
with was based on the measurements I had. The internet has a standard bale of hay at
16” tall, 22” wide and 44” long. The one I got at the local Tractor Supply
Store was a bit longer and weighed in at 60 pounds. They call it a 2-string
bale, but mine had 3, no matter, it was the same dimensions but a much looser
pack. Their three string heavy bale is the same dimensions, but weighs in at 120 lbs.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing">I purposefully avoided using dimensions in this blog because hay bale sizes are totally arbitrary from location to location, please use the heights, widths and depths you need to suit your
application and the bales you can find locally. </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">Notice also that I wanted the top to hinge up and out of the way as I loaded
the bale, and since I want to try the heavier and denser bales I also made the
front panel hinged to fall forward for more room and to act as a lever to aid
in swinging the bale up and into the unit. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p>Materials:</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing">I built this out of the lumber and metal items I had on hand,
so cost was minimal. 2x4s, 1x2s, 1” EMT, and #3 rebar is what I had, and you
should use what you can find or buy new. Like the dimensions, it’s totally up
to you. None of the materials I used were too old or rusty, just extras from
older projects. Like the roof. I had the roofing laying around from an old
lanai re-roof project we did. When HPM delivered the roofing, they also sent
one sheet of a damaged panel they used to protect our material while
transporting. Thankfully it was a full 10-footer cut into (4) 30” lengths and each
side took 2 of these panels and so the entire roof is the same color. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I painted the wood with two coats to
help stave off the inevitable termite and water damage, but hopefully, it will
last a couple of years. In the drawing I show a 2x4 on the feet of the feeder,
but I haven’t found I needed it yet. The area it is in is level enough that the
weight of the bale keeps the center of gravity low enough to keep the unit from
toppling. It’s even stable with the goats standing and climbing into the little
tray I did make. I left only 8” for head clearance but the rascal goats can
climb on fingernail holds, so I figured it’s going to be what it’s going to be.
<br />
<br />
The remaining pages are the photos of the build. If you have more specific
questions, feel free to contact me. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeGw4c_dXDNjQTbNuz8LTwriGAqcj1CFcscVCF4TPu0h8JgicINWZ5uab1Q0G3IGUo8rf5ricb3eZXF6t8TufjIMNkN_wlIWVqRNT1ZNyYwrK-f4xgZvKrYIdV2JV6ryyL8tnunAElE5A/s2048/IMG_2499.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeGw4c_dXDNjQTbNuz8LTwriGAqcj1CFcscVCF4TPu0h8JgicINWZ5uab1Q0G3IGUo8rf5ricb3eZXF6t8TufjIMNkN_wlIWVqRNT1ZNyYwrK-f4xgZvKrYIdV2JV6ryyL8tnunAElE5A/w150-h200/IMG_2499.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">This is the base unit. (4) 2x4's and a sheet of ply, notched to fit the uprights. Cut the notches tight to eliminate feed waste.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1gQDonbtrCSPnZW2EqR_k6zK4oCBipfZNddJYOxMPS7eNb6BLn7TJqBzeAMPr1QnAWpYNpf3gNK1JikYsxROGkyRrzWy9UyM39VTTtr0tNmSIUZtuEJW1Ec1OoiARPvDmcOeHzIyR9xs/s2048/IMG_2502.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1gQDonbtrCSPnZW2EqR_k6zK4oCBipfZNddJYOxMPS7eNb6BLn7TJqBzeAMPr1QnAWpYNpf3gNK1JikYsxROGkyRrzWy9UyM39VTTtr0tNmSIUZtuEJW1Ec1OoiARPvDmcOeHzIyR9xs/w150-h200/IMG_2502.JPG" width="150" /></a></span></div><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"> <br /><br />Roof rafters made from 2x4's ripped to 2x2. Since there is no weight loading for a roof this size in our area 2x2 is economical. If you get heavy snow loads, the roof angle or rafter size (or both) must be adjusted to compensate for it. No sense building it twice, right?<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwavNsrH7_KdPYQtqu2FxNidq7BgR7L6AlMIEiaHLDp-wtMio4xO2b1PqIV8aUVJxTMZVDAoUKWbgwu8eedZHxh1oTmx4DrJToiwaH2aTGpTZh5RNzUVFdmH9OvS_btshHe5w5bUn4CoA/s2048/IMG_2548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwavNsrH7_KdPYQtqu2FxNidq7BgR7L6AlMIEiaHLDp-wtMio4xO2b1PqIV8aUVJxTMZVDAoUKWbgwu8eedZHxh1oTmx4DrJToiwaH2aTGpTZh5RNzUVFdmH9OvS_btshHe5w5bUn4CoA/w150-h200/IMG_2548.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><div><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div>To load a full bale in this feeder, I hinged the roof to open on one side. This photo shows the hinge placement as well as the attachment method I used for the EMT head gate to the left panel.</span><div><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir68c0iQxbB1qhAt26gp8NAagXN054VWpsQ3YZtfWEGBcFSF200PCv3PNtUfjTXSbnlpQlY4RWZ-YqVtU2Vx3gJo7r4gEINZnDGDOmd7H8JDkk2bAae0eNCm15YWaeBXAIWyKjRcdE61w/s2048/IMG_2546.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir68c0iQxbB1qhAt26gp8NAagXN054VWpsQ3YZtfWEGBcFSF200PCv3PNtUfjTXSbnlpQlY4RWZ-YqVtU2Vx3gJo7r4gEINZnDGDOmd7H8JDkk2bAae0eNCm15YWaeBXAIWyKjRcdE61w/w150-h200/IMG_2546.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><div><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div>Interior shot of the upper bracing just under the roof and the side head gate attachment. The rafters contact both sides of these upper 2x4's<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLlpX_JkSsDmxVSwwExk4WMyqq7FhVyXCvslxf4NJnNQgw-aPTwCsR57vEKnq7D9kAp4QfXtQhJBj7egHq1EOoCaqMPIk3YCfhElIJlEcj3zezDSZxkuNXxHJqjBafDfxRhVsnePkhT98/s2048/IMG_2551.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLlpX_JkSsDmxVSwwExk4WMyqq7FhVyXCvslxf4NJnNQgw-aPTwCsR57vEKnq7D9kAp4QfXtQhJBj7egHq1EOoCaqMPIk3YCfhElIJlEcj3zezDSZxkuNXxHJqjBafDfxRhVsnePkhT98/w150-h200/IMG_2551.JPG" width="150" /></a></div></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p>This shows the roof in the open position, and the front head gate panel in place. Note the EMT hanger brackets at the lower right corner. I doubled them up and I am using them as a hinge. This panel acts as a lifting arm "loader" for getting the full bale into the unit. </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p> </o:p></span>I placed separate panels of 2”x 4”
welded wire fencing on on each of the rebar head stock panels to act as a way to
make the girls work at getting their supper. In theory, this is going to make
their consumption rate a bit slower, thus the name “Slow Feeder”. I used short
staples to attach these wire panels in place. They can be removable or left out
completely, but you will need to feed more often as their access is really,
unfettered. Part of the reason for this build is so I don’t have to lug hay out
to them as often. They get 24/7 access to quality hay, I work way less every day to make
sure they get it. Win/Win</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">The roof was a single 10
foot metal panel that I cut into 4 equal pieces of 30”, placing 2 of these pieces on each side. This was a little
short at the top leaving a gap but knowing that it would be covered nicely by a standard 6” Ridge roofing cap.
This was the only piece I purchased.<br />
<br />
So the build picts are finished, and I thought I took picts of the rebar head
gates, but I cannot seem to find them. You should be able to zoom in on any of
the photos to get a clearer idea of what I did. You can also message me and
ask- I would be happy to help. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">The next set of photos is
of me loading the first bale into the feeder.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8HUjjqUeLDpD3X1NSwrMSf0ODEEusabEmccH-SO9WMQv3eoBHsAiGzf2ODGFTVa1lhD77cGdxNNrZicOTJGcRCWlhSwRSxf-HF1pXuTRQ5wM5gik1OwK6wPIjmqdQ_2QIDXjsq0aaPjg/s2048/IMG_2556.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8HUjjqUeLDpD3X1NSwrMSf0ODEEusabEmccH-SO9WMQv3eoBHsAiGzf2ODGFTVa1lhD77cGdxNNrZicOTJGcRCWlhSwRSxf-HF1pXuTRQ5wM5gik1OwK6wPIjmqdQ_2QIDXjsq0aaPjg/w150-h200/IMG_2556.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">I raise up the roof and set a pole to prop it open, (this will change soon to a more elegant method) </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Flip the front panel down </span></p><div><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcfw7oAQRfloDVPr1wblM-UFiLX4X772sm8P-bey_q5vW3pfPJMWeg7bWGbn9pwCxDIcKCtij1mSEPmniDx_mHGbfJwkoza3xF7afdekqmitbz20Vvty6KDWIw7yJTBgnt0iGyrGnB-tg/s2048/IMG_2560.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcfw7oAQRfloDVPr1wblM-UFiLX4X772sm8P-bey_q5vW3pfPJMWeg7bWGbn9pwCxDIcKCtij1mSEPmniDx_mHGbfJwkoza3xF7afdekqmitbz20Vvty6KDWIw7yJTBgnt0iGyrGnB-tg/w150-h200/IMG_2560.JPG" width="150" /></a></p><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">Roll the bale onto the Head gate and lift it up loading the bale into the unit.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpuUfsqoC8Rnrf6JsRyMZSGoxEQpXL5Gy39ofgsAyLOVDp0RSuHZZ06VFdIEFTQMWzKi_KPt8Uv8G1xY2U80MYjgiaZ8KwiVHegha6kbXAYk7mlrSvRZsJk0-FOO5-fCIccB47KA-m6rQ/s2048/IMG_2563.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpuUfsqoC8Rnrf6JsRyMZSGoxEQpXL5Gy39ofgsAyLOVDp0RSuHZZ06VFdIEFTQMWzKi_KPt8Uv8G1xY2U80MYjgiaZ8KwiVHegha6kbXAYk7mlrSvRZsJk0-FOO5-fCIccB47KA-m6rQ/w150-h200/IMG_2563.JPG" width="150" /></a></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p>Secure the head gate and its ready to feed.<p></p><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0d-7FsCEJ8uhA6r2Q1OzImWcs1lFJi9OXGGIVhXVXm9kCdTyBiUWwmJ0aWjMoMqPkavFnfnqMKIMt9AVZqyljNkgeNMd0kS3rwamj30qfQ_wxgAEWlzbpcgiVbVPzsESMrGzgiq20Uxg/s2048/IMG_2564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0d-7FsCEJ8uhA6r2Q1OzImWcs1lFJi9OXGGIVhXVXm9kCdTyBiUWwmJ0aWjMoMqPkavFnfnqMKIMt9AVZqyljNkgeNMd0kS3rwamj30qfQ_wxgAEWlzbpcgiVbVPzsESMrGzgiq20Uxg/w150-h200/IMG_2564.JPG" width="150" /></a><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">All that's left is to lower the roof and let them in</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWd1wItlJ2ADxv6jL8t3LVBA3vBhj3atXTEssLsMQVj8HmBKWP-pHtuGBeDqf_J67wxOdADwOrJfPT2iINTnK6Z6RYJYUYtimwdyXkRhgq3Gd1ND1Bll9cv9P0Sa1Es1dNxYjmHWBzK2w/s2048/IMG_2565.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWd1wItlJ2ADxv6jL8t3LVBA3vBhj3atXTEssLsMQVj8HmBKWP-pHtuGBeDqf_J67wxOdADwOrJfPT2iINTnK6Z6RYJYUYtimwdyXkRhgq3Gd1ND1Bll9cv9P0Sa1Es1dNxYjmHWBzK2w/w150-h200/IMG_2565.JPG" width="150" /></a> </p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p>
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</v:shape><![endif]--></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFmZW9ARpFyR4Tg8eJ_XL7N-Eq2W5Am_pBVuUWc5PzRnYf9KF0oDwTI22Etnbv-CitpuGaST1lqGa7lwAaFD-9UeHEPxQhaTxsDhmc2EHOmplzyyOCRRHvjKQf__ZOFmhnopUps9wC0wI/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="192" data-original-width="237" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFmZW9ARpFyR4Tg8eJ_XL7N-Eq2W5Am_pBVuUWc5PzRnYf9KF0oDwTI22Etnbv-CitpuGaST1lqGa7lwAaFD-9UeHEPxQhaTxsDhmc2EHOmplzyyOCRRHvjKQf__ZOFmhnopUps9wC0wI/w200-h162/image.png" width="200" /></a></div>So, even with the
weight of a young nanny standing in the tray, the unit is stable. Though, just
to be on the safe side I am going to add a 2x4 along the lower feet of the unit
as a stabilizer (Shown in yellow on the drawing to the left) That 2x4 will be
a minimum of 3 feet long and will be screwed into the bottom of the upright
2x4’s. </div><div>Just to be sure it is not a tripping hazard for the animals nor the
humans, it will not extend beyond the feed tray. <br />
Currently, the hay is directly contacting the plywood base of the tray because no gap
exists. If my experiment shows it may be beneficial, I will adjust the design to include a gap.<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> Next time: Feeder Progress and Results!</o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p></div>superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-51098527335074564102021-10-12T14:53:00.003-07:002021-10-12T14:53:19.496-07:00<h1 style="text-align: left;"> What's New</h1><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimBIYFycDaWG6vMIj_Gr8ISbfnw8rU-M4a4VmkvgpILkRwYS5JgCmMQ7EykM9GSG_Z1tX4bQpA4BEtfejF1ixmjwwfz-kQuZotz61BEvkKvPE388moIauh8WUmVFDTUQccI20MVfXhrs4/s960/IMG_2447%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimBIYFycDaWG6vMIj_Gr8ISbfnw8rU-M4a4VmkvgpILkRwYS5JgCmMQ7EykM9GSG_Z1tX4bQpA4BEtfejF1ixmjwwfz-kQuZotz61BEvkKvPE388moIauh8WUmVFDTUQccI20MVfXhrs4/w150-h200/IMG_2447%255B1%255D.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>A month has gone by and of course by now you know that had Mrs. Sheep delivered a live or dead lamb, I would have been eagerly posting the news. Well, her due date has come and is long gone and we have decided to rent a Ram from a friend to make sure the deed is done and we will be expectant farmers in just a few months. <br />The Ram has indeed been delivered to the farm, today in fact. His name is Liam and he is a fine hair sheep of the breed St Croix. Looks to be at 100-125 pounds and he hit the ground ready to do his duty. Not so sure about Mrs. Sheep. While her introduction was not so much seduction, she seemed interested though in tried and true 'hard to get' fashion, her interest was feigned with a distancing dash to the pen. Things look to be busy for the month and I am sure he will get it done. New due date will be 5 months from now or March 12 plus or minus.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Rambo of course, is totally confused as to the new occupant of the property and doesn't know what to do. They are settling in nicely, with only a few issues of dominance. Liam is the clear dominate male in the area and he knows it. </div><div><br /></div><div>We made arrangements for Liam to be here for a month, hitting a hopeful two heat cycles just to be sure Mrs. Sheep gets and takes the pregnancy. Last owner said she had a set of twins that didn't survive so we are at least hopeful that she can still become pregnant and carry the babies to term. Thus starts the breeding program at our JK Farm/Homestead. </div>superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-37914842930842696802021-09-06T11:12:00.003-07:002021-09-06T11:12:32.408-07:00Lamb or no lamb what's up Mrs. Sheep?<h1 style="text-align: left;"> What's Up?</h1><div>Well, its been a few days and we have had a couple of odd ones. We are running out of time for this pregnancy to actually be a pregnancy. Goats gestational period is 145 days, give or take and she is taking as many as possible. I went to Blackies Suffolk and Veggies site† to use their gestational calculator and found out this:<br />Breeding Date: Since we didn't know exactly when, I used the last possible day it could have happened, the day before we picked her up which was September 6th<br />The calculator spit these out:<br />Due date- 08/30/2021</div><div>As early as-08/26/2021</div><div>As late as - 09/11/2021</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr3cbCPAn9YrXP06ZmtR4QVaB8ZBj0jOkX94VXswgswB-gD2x2UfJeYNXHYt2cIJzVgx_qN_UUeet-ufE8O0g6GcUQkp4tY3Nvo4W-3z7Bl5vfN9kNWG1PQ8PWfEYgoGRkoQF_8aoX_G0/w112-h149/IMG_2232.JPG" width="112" /></div>So there is only 5 possible days left until she either is a fattie sheep and I have been over feeding her and it's my fault she is a tubby sheep, not a pregnant sheep OR she is just taking her time and enjoying the ride. As I stated in earlier blog posts, she has had days of what I would call Braxton-Hicks like contractions where it looked like she was in what I have been described as active labor but then it passes and she gets up and walks away. Maybe these are dry runs, or she had a bad alfalfa pellet, gas, or, but as a newbie to raising breeding sheep instead of market lambs, I am in uncharted territory here.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj76uQ5bMtHX07bPaoas_BaA3YpSXqePkL_eQ8UB733BL1dqtB51AW4Q_2i7_Qh0mPjBGZLBBu-AxP3IpB4h0XotFaE_gEo260oFM8BEtTNqJWMa-z8Jd2uHDBSI-RguTOtY5epkJn8eX8/s2048/IMG_E2199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj76uQ5bMtHX07bPaoas_BaA3YpSXqePkL_eQ8UB733BL1dqtB51AW4Q_2i7_Qh0mPjBGZLBBu-AxP3IpB4h0XotFaE_gEo260oFM8BEtTNqJWMa-z8Jd2uHDBSI-RguTOtY5epkJn8eX8/w114-h152/IMG_E2199.JPG" width="114" /></a></div></div><div>She does seem to pace, (she is in a 10x10 space for lambing)</div><div>She does seem to kick and bite at her belly (flies and the hairy left over coat may itch)</div><div>She does seem restless (perhaps I am reading her face incorrectly) And </div><div>She doesn't seem to show the back end changes- full udder, wet vulva and twitchy tail<br />But again, this is new and I am not entirely sure what I am looking for. </div><div>Farming is hard.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Next: Hopeful but not Expectant</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>†https://www.blackies.ca/lambing-calculator/</div>superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-47092859559181071142021-09-03T10:09:00.003-07:002021-09-03T10:13:35.670-07:00What's up? Welcome to the state of Confusion<h1 style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Mrs. Sheep is on Lamb watch; or not.</span></h1><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPK_xjcMaUfNT0INQkMn1ymENpH9GTNDe2SLMrSpWndj_tZ_XCF0bqKB6Gwi6HHnpyn7RK6DXwkHzQu8s_To9gLl02TrKLCkw5WNHhIj8_ZCYz5Nh_JWuYaQFvGBYcxoTECSlEotakt3Y/s2048/IMG_1751.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPK_xjcMaUfNT0INQkMn1ymENpH9GTNDe2SLMrSpWndj_tZ_XCF0bqKB6Gwi6HHnpyn7RK6DXwkHzQu8s_To9gLl02TrKLCkw5WNHhIj8_ZCYz5Nh_JWuYaQFvGBYcxoTECSlEotakt3Y/w150-h200/IMG_1751.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><div>I have raised sheep before, but never for lambing, only market animals so I have not been exposed to the idiosyncrasies of sheep labor. I am however, confident that barring a breech birth or multiples, I can handle most medical emergencies, including birthing. Handling them and knowing the processes and stages of birthing are completely different areas of expertise so I differ to those that know in the areas I lack. First a bit of background about Mrs. Sheep. </div>We bought our first ewe sheep off Craig's list. We got two of them the same day- April 7th, 2021. Well, the guy we got them from stated that the sheep we have come to name, Mrs. Sheep might have been bred since she was in a pasture that had a ram running in it, but he wouldn't definitively say yes or no since he was "away for most of the time". Just in case, we fed her like she was expecting and she did get a bigger belly. As time goes by, she gets bigger, and we feed more, and we have a friend that knows goats and sheep pretty well check her out and she isn't sure. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGZHTp8oOCG2Cqx0v3A-nSfXAF48KHVRt0R9Crl4WRJG1R7Z_1N3w25p6xmo-ifvS9HTYKZY-7PyzbGI1fI2BrOz9BpYT8mrP6KS57B8TJEzjIOqCTLujIeE5aToJ9SAfASPE4-f-b4NY/s2048/IMG_2013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGZHTp8oOCG2Cqx0v3A-nSfXAF48KHVRt0R9Crl4WRJG1R7Z_1N3w25p6xmo-ifvS9HTYKZY-7PyzbGI1fI2BrOz9BpYT8mrP6KS57B8TJEzjIOqCTLujIeE5aToJ9SAfASPE4-f-b4NY/w150-h200/IMG_2013.JPG" width="150" /></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Fast forward two months and now, she has quite a tummy, Our sheep friend still isn't sure and because we didn't know when or if she was bred, and she isn't showing signs of pregnancy like an engorging udder, "sloppy" rear end, or pacing etc. I cut down the feed, Friend says no- keep going with the feed just in case. We will know soon enough, right? 145 days is the usual pregnancy and because we don't have a definite cover date I raise feed level again. I have since expanded the run they have access to, so more room and access to free grazing. Still big belly, and no signs yet. Okay, I'm waiting.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpjZP_yKJM4LcmuGou8pTxTOioHGYcvrlkQYRShBvsBiwV71EygWx1We0OHcXl5qGIMCD52tnCJa1vq1eXbllGUlELXM3s4x9LUtYJ6gW62CF-ccH4h0XriV-gPEn-Mg76zTa5FshXE_E/s2048/IMG_2021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpjZP_yKJM4LcmuGou8pTxTOioHGYcvrlkQYRShBvsBiwV71EygWx1We0OHcXl5qGIMCD52tnCJa1vq1eXbllGUlELXM3s4x9LUtYJ6gW62CF-ccH4h0XriV-gPEn-Mg76zTa5FshXE_E/w150-h200/IMG_2021.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>So I go out two days ago, and I find her like this. Panting hard, and erratically. I look up gestational calculators and plug in the last day a Ram could have impregnated her. Since we got her on the 7th, I entered the 6th. It takes a sheep 145 days on average to have a lamb, so it spits out August 31 for me with an over under of Aug 22 to Sept 12. Okay, still no udder engorgement, and still we wait. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxa2inOYOhqjePJzgDlFFGm0fizwznZGUUczU628UkbFxrS5EXTnArTlgh1jddAV6lz_GR9EdbkOefI9wZHegzT8JJ4UApaGiEC9Ae3AJ2ceocudETi27TnyiJhmSLiPDU_S-N57aNyps/s2048/IMG_2230+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxa2inOYOhqjePJzgDlFFGm0fizwznZGUUczU628UkbFxrS5EXTnArTlgh1jddAV6lz_GR9EdbkOefI9wZHegzT8JJ4UApaGiEC9Ae3AJ2ceocudETi27TnyiJhmSLiPDU_S-N57aNyps/w150-h200/IMG_2230+%25281%2529.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDWFKer-rKmY98CsGjqR8WW8NQhpxrinGeDZQC8atzaWgEfA3-8W2SUBkwmmM6WzjfScMudUDZ8zHPSN590V9wzgg7EYlu4boBahFgcagydmeWlItKXOaWrWgX83GNmFLt_aYXb5kuk1E/s2048/IMG_2232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDWFKer-rKmY98CsGjqR8WW8NQhpxrinGeDZQC8atzaWgEfA3-8W2SUBkwmmM6WzjfScMudUDZ8zHPSN590V9wzgg7EYlu4boBahFgcagydmeWlItKXOaWrWgX83GNmFLt_aYXb5kuk1E/w150-h200/IMG_2232.JPG" width="150" /></a>These next pictures are of yesterday, Sept 3, 2021 and I go out to find her lying pronated on the ground, feet and legs totally under her, head stretched out face in the chain link wall of her pen. She is breathing hard and in a manner that reminds me of the La Maz breathing techniques taught in the classes me and my ex took during the days of having our own kids. Short staccato-like gasps. Fast but deep with an occasional deeper catch-up breath, then back to panting. Repeat: staccato, catch-up, panting. This goes on for 20-30 minutes then she gets up walks over to the feed bin like nothing was happening and starts to munch. JoAnn and I separate the ram out of the pen with Mrs. Sheep letting him run with the two doeling goats, which he immediately head butts to show who's older (only by a day or two at most!) and in charge. That is another story though... </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl-PilvJF-g1JVHyS075MydnOtbpVMZl4d7-rvhLKdK-TCmIsVIVrCUpWnk9wg3amzlVegh7J1foxhX3u-IcveG2hIuoewmR8nemLFeplp4AlUiCfwvL6eaeLXT038HeksaFnHvzrDR2k/s2048/IMG_2234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl-PilvJF-g1JVHyS075MydnOtbpVMZl4d7-rvhLKdK-TCmIsVIVrCUpWnk9wg3amzlVegh7J1foxhX3u-IcveG2hIuoewmR8nemLFeplp4AlUiCfwvL6eaeLXT038HeksaFnHvzrDR2k/w150-h200/IMG_2234.JPG" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Unsure of whether or not of our sheep's pregnancy even is a pregnancy, what she is doing is normal and what we are supposed to do if so, or what is happening if she is not, we contact our knowledgeable friend, Batina, in a frantic exchange on the Messenger app. We tell her what's been happening, what is happening and in the photo on the left, tell her that Mrs. Sheep has been acting odd. She is a wary pasture sheep, not one for the pleasantries of petting, head scratching nor any human contact really, so her coming up to us on her own is odd behavior to me. Four video posts, and countless text posts later, we are at the same confusing conclusion, Unsure. Batina is busy at the material supply store on Island getting the 900 pounds of Sac-crete she pre-ordered otherwise she would be here. She tells us this, and we know that she absolutely would have been here be so the app is the way we are going. Throughout the rest of the day, she is walking about the pen, but not in a manner I would categorize as pacing, nor is she showing signs like irritability, kicking at her belly, or any of the other signs, so JoAnn and I pack up and leave her to be alone for the time before we have dinner. Both pre and post dinner checks show the same non labor signs so we close up the pens for the night and await morning. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Next: What happened? Lamb or no lamb?</span></h2><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p><br /></p>superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-33509249244228814962021-08-20T11:31:00.000-07:002021-08-20T11:31:25.191-07:00<h1 style="text-align: left;"> Cross Fencing</h1><div><span style="font-family: arial;">So far, the most we have gotten done on Cross fencing the property is to get a rough idea on where the fence is going to go. I have the materials, but will need to jackhammer the post holes into the lava, and right now I have an injured hand. Banged it up trying to drive posts in for running some temporary fencing to get the sheep and goats out into a small, but contained area that is larger than their pens alone. We will try to get the posts dugs ASAP, as my hand allows. <br />In the mean time, I was able to purchase a new Banana variety! It is a Red Tiger, <span style="background-color: white;">Musa sikkimensis Grows to about 15 feet in about 2 years and the fruit is said to be a deep, almost blood red. Fruiting occurs at 2-3 years. I prefer the dwarf varieties, but some that are dwarf can still grow over 10 feet. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8PwjLiwILZu2QC3axhZL2q8zBTTK1_Yao8JQ9ZkTxjHd8JB9HJEZ2Z2Yr5rFeJbDyoKYxY9oSdbjOlYmFLc683ZK7reCz-EFSQTeeJXej_Ad5akZtQlY5DDg9cWrIqlPexWrVHUFbfI/s500/Red+Tiger+Banana.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="400" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8PwjLiwILZu2QC3axhZL2q8zBTTK1_Yao8JQ9ZkTxjHd8JB9HJEZ2Z2Yr5rFeJbDyoKYxY9oSdbjOlYmFLc683ZK7reCz-EFSQTeeJXej_Ad5akZtQlY5DDg9cWrIqlPexWrVHUFbfI/w106-h133/Red+Tiger+Banana.jpg" width="106" /></span></a></div></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsmLQCJCFXFzTQtMcdc5qEYCqUZg9g-TnHDj1-yVN2h5ePeLUZ5GCHILDCtZE0Mmw8O8gNgyGQN3niYPFmEWf4ieoY2haTncpjhFU438rENBaQWBPmJGlC9oCDOxha7_VepMLsW2FK2WI/s1380/Striped+bananas.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1104" data-original-width="1380" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsmLQCJCFXFzTQtMcdc5qEYCqUZg9g-TnHDj1-yVN2h5ePeLUZ5GCHILDCtZE0Mmw8O8gNgyGQN3niYPFmEWf4ieoY2haTncpjhFU438rENBaQWBPmJGlC9oCDOxha7_VepMLsW2FK2WI/w217-h173/Striped+bananas.png" width="217" /></span></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">I am saving my extra cash to buy a really cool variety, known here in the Islands as </span><span style="background-color: white;">A’ea’e. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">In Hawaiian it means to climb up, the leaves are variegated, and the fruit is too. It is listed as </span><b style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.25px;">Manini, </b><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.25px;">Musa paradisiaca on an Etsy offering and further known as the Dwarf </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25px;">Hawaiian Variegated Banana.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25px;">Next: Who knows?<br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-12319066397835791622021-08-10T20:02:00.000-07:002021-08-10T20:02:33.204-07:00<h1 style="text-align: left;"> Settling in</h1><div>Coco and Vanna are selttling in nicely, though they do cry still right about dark. They are in a 10x10 converted kennel for now, while I finish the property fencing. I have done three of the four sides of our acre, and I am going to be cross fencing the back 1/3 for all the animals to graze eventually. We will allow the chicken, the goats and the sheep to graze, but I am on the fence still on the pigs we are scheduled to get in two months.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKeqnjARydfRYWbI2HYwNozTDA1A0cV0nigpccdmx2vqsVRBpg_Mft6KTVOQ8JhWl80jqJURJr1CtfiIl6RH8yVoX5KJT05oOgym6iYsEEcy-8rwjIcoc5Jz_6nCib0pyx-ThU7gXE0xk/s554/Vanna.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="502" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKeqnjARydfRYWbI2HYwNozTDA1A0cV0nigpccdmx2vqsVRBpg_Mft6KTVOQ8JhWl80jqJURJr1CtfiIl6RH8yVoX5KJT05oOgym6iYsEEcy-8rwjIcoc5Jz_6nCib0pyx-ThU7gXE0xk/w163-h180/Vanna.png" width="163" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi31q2jNCEE7tl7yCov1wdRWfibm2TouyuENzW5ojbEyiQnpdgSflEwms1Kpa3OmS7sZjqYVxJt1tt5N_BDQPvcUpUr2Z0T9_Jq31C66G0yvie5rEjNT18aslaW6lNR1flwyiWWF2ZeEno/s554/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="502" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi31q2jNCEE7tl7yCov1wdRWfibm2TouyuENzW5ojbEyiQnpdgSflEwms1Kpa3OmS7sZjqYVxJt1tt5N_BDQPvcUpUr2Z0T9_Jq31C66G0yvie5rEjNT18aslaW6lNR1flwyiWWF2ZeEno/w150-h166/Untitled.png" width="150" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">So, speaking of pigs, we are scheduling getting them on the farm in two months. so pens need to built soon. I am thinking of doing a modified KNF -Korean Natural Farming method of piggery that results in a no smell pen. Yeah, I thought the same thing too. JoAnn and I went through the KNF certification process and when we got the opportunity to visit a piggery with 4 full sized 400 pound sows and found that there wasn't ANY smell other than the animals around them, we were sold. I will need to dig down a bit or find a puka to build a deep base of logs and branches. Then it's mulch and then soil- their method dictates 4 feet, but thats where I AM modfiying the system. <br /><div style="text-align: left;">Logs and branches will be of thinner dimensions and the mulch and soil layers will be only a foot for a total of 2 feet. I am too old to have been injured by falling off our pig skyscraper! <br />Oh, the digs the goats and the sheep are in are temporary while JoAnn and I come up with a design we like for them. We try not to do Utilitarian if we can avoid it. We know that they may cram together in one shelter but we'd like to do two so they at least can have a choice. We are going to start with this and tweak the design a bit to fit 4 animals. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoRWRuLdHtQj9kbFE4tO4-GKif_77IHzjidqr1WISzQ9q1K3IVdAq_ZXv7yHNOQn08r17yvB5vAxQiDrBFmS3_xwoDpc2khg6BWsBWog69hJeb0sCltnVAI2WC6LP-lMQ0P9YyI8jf6Dw/s2048/Goat+House+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoRWRuLdHtQj9kbFE4tO4-GKif_77IHzjidqr1WISzQ9q1K3IVdAq_ZXv7yHNOQn08r17yvB5vAxQiDrBFmS3_xwoDpc2khg6BWsBWog69hJeb0sCltnVAI2WC6LP-lMQ0P9YyI8jf6Dw/s320/Goat+House+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Next, Cross fencing so we can get these sheep and goats out in the yard. </div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia_0yegi4wBmXOLZ8S7D0rVpQD6G0GU9fTlTZe-auK87zy6Z1VsreB6uTe1TRz2yL0YNXRwA6mUtzjUeQICGPOKAM7DuVTIO7BPSVUbb8FSykDq9_OlsmG_JC7Oxxpr-4JBMGWSTkVi-U/s554/Vanna.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div></div>superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-27790444967902355392021-08-08T09:56:00.000-07:002021-08-08T09:58:20.876-07:00<h1 style="text-align: left;"> Big News on the Farm</h1><div>Today is goat baby day! We are heading out at lunch tiime to pick up our newest additions to the farm, Coco and Vanna, twin sister goats that are going to be the Matriarchs and the breeding anchors of our eagerly awaited goat herd. We are going to be breeding these two to build a small heard of goats with the aim of keeping our freezer full and selling the overflow. Since they are twins, and come from a line that has proven multiple births, we feel pretty confident that we can keep our farm in goats and in the black with sales. Coco and Vanna are the two new additions and will join Mrs. Sheep, our hair sheep ewe, and Rambo, a young ram we found pilaging a neighbors lanscape. We will be holdong on to him until the rightful owner has been found, but we are needing another ewe for the sheep flock as of right now. <br /><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="502" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6kh2Zjmjynms1A8c0A9_b1jhyphenhyphenMiZ-dqwfcKqAYXS6yRqQsGBIIn2ZDAISGE3gSFJOY-jx_FwWIgLkPdwSnbSvUgj0aJvpujijlzkNnmvFrEt_ch6hqEs1i9iDpoXfZlCVV5V8DmqZ2o0/w181-h200/Untitled.png" width="181" /><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="502" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRRsdzGRLtsa_M8t496YUEAlBWkGyW8STg4jbiSQJKOywfGGo5EI7P2T6tnZLDVmld1I5JJEWIfEp4rBDxcGM2lveinqHAG-2FyrRdaYd5bExADF-GjZ9PIru0VEWNgQ9cF-Q03LMKlSk/w182-h200/Vanna.png" width="182" /></div><div><br /></div><div>In the coming weeks, I will be building a pig pen for or two gilt piggery. And in bigger news, I found a person that not only has Mini cattle on the Island, but will sell one! So a mini moo may be in our future. The main aim for the animals on our farm is so we can be a self sustaining food generating acre. Meat through husbandry and Veggies through farming. I have been in the planning stages for a reasonably sized garden space that will be high density production. Both in ground plots, raised beds and in the greenhouse, which ever is best suited for the plants to be grown in this locality. We aren't trying to get all tie-dyed earthy, but we do want to be less reliant on shipped in food and a supply chain that can be precarious at best. We do live on an Island in the middle of the pacific ocean where 80-90% of the food is imported by boat and plane. <br />Once we have the garden finalized, the animals grown and producing offspring, we can turn to landscaping a nicer place for us all to live in. "Pretty" might be secondary to production, but it is important. <br />Next time: Photos of the girls in their new home!</div>superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-26776959311253784172020-04-23T14:06:00.000-07:002020-04-23T14:06:39.015-07:00<h2>
Can Closet Update</h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRqQ_hGhQm68p4RPcOhsDztgzGzyMrpxLhZY3bPjepDrgwQZDRF977OpI_OIWM20snm5QjzY2WovWawzGj-utZoFPGvnZCNdGvaFlDSTDzJy6UgvicFY33vayYKMXj_xqM1YWB-4a8p3U/s1600/IMG_0267.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRqQ_hGhQm68p4RPcOhsDztgzGzyMrpxLhZY3bPjepDrgwQZDRF977OpI_OIWM20snm5QjzY2WovWawzGj-utZoFPGvnZCNdGvaFlDSTDzJy6UgvicFY33vayYKMXj_xqM1YWB-4a8p3U/s200/IMG_0267.JPG" width="150" /></a>As promised, the Can Closet project is moving along nicely and it's time for an update.<br />
Here is the wall we selected for the project. it is just off the Kitchen, and a short open wall space. Three steps and we are out and back into the kitchen so we felt this the logical choice.<br />
This unit is going to be placed in the hollow space between the wall studs. It is an often unused dead air space and can be really useful as long as you are careful to not to overdo the span. There are also a few other considerations- There are bearing walls that need to be handled carefully, exterior walls will have insulation that if removed, will affect heating and air conditioning costs, check ahead of cutting into a space for water pipes and electric wires, central vacuum tubes, and of course, be sure to check your local codes as some un-permitted repairs or additions can be costly when you want to sell the property. Different states have vastly different rules. For us, this wall is the left side of a storage closet with shelves, No water and shouldn't have any electric lines. So the next step is measuring it out and removing the drywall on the outer side.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaj_gfPKyoQUpNRRuOK5ZCffPRy6WlaWL_HKzIpIklQqA8NfytzfJEbZ4TgUw5LGGYU3Rs_VUMk9KDPDaLi2SV9QYd_XhJl-NH3nvV7yQye0A8D_ep05GUW_oCLYuVdUwhcFWuOsFbL-A/s1600/IMG_0269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaj_gfPKyoQUpNRRuOK5ZCffPRy6WlaWL_HKzIpIklQqA8NfytzfJEbZ4TgUw5LGGYU3Rs_VUMk9KDPDaLi2SV9QYd_XhJl-NH3nvV7yQye0A8D_ep05GUW_oCLYuVdUwhcFWuOsFbL-A/s200/IMG_0269.JPG" width="150" /></a>This photo shows the rough opening, note the stud in the middle. Turns out that the shelves in the closet on the opposite side are nailed into this stud so I need to remove it carefully and supply a way to stabilize the shelves once its out. I used a Saws-all to cut the upper and lower end of the end of the stud. I intended to make the unit full height so though I cut the bottom piece a bit proud, I was able to completely remove it. The blade of the saw did pierce the drywall, but a bit of spackle will repair that quickly.<br />These photos were taken from the Kitchen, braced against the fridge on the left- you can just see the counter on the right for reference on how close this unit will be to the kitchen. We really didn't want this to be inconvenient when cooking.<br />
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This shot is to show the new header I installed at the top of the space. A header isn't really needed since this isn't a bearing wall, but in case I needed to nail up to secure the can unit, I would have a spot already in place. This is just a 2x4 cut to fit, laid in horizontally, screwed in to the mid stud and on both ends by using a toe nail technique, or 45 degree angle for best hold. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBiSW29nCD85moR8eC9KlG1CWoxrveDTT_dLVWsokTEWmHdRokY2-COqBHkXfc_TUaboL7WRrb2e-u8CCWUYRqKgfO64slEkNE-c174i2CmhFc5uzn0L_rTUNpAT0mIrIovNhsebOOSMU/s1600/IMG_0272.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBiSW29nCD85moR8eC9KlG1CWoxrveDTT_dLVWsokTEWmHdRokY2-COqBHkXfc_TUaboL7WRrb2e-u8CCWUYRqKgfO64slEkNE-c174i2CmhFc5uzn0L_rTUNpAT0mIrIovNhsebOOSMU/s200/IMG_0272.JPG" width="150" /></a>Left Photo shows the can unit is placed prior to installation. I made this out of 1/2" plywood that I had in the garage, ripped to sized with a table saw. This could easily be done with a circular or even a jig saw. I placed vertical dividers of the same 1/2" ply to separate the cans, and to keep them from spilling out, I used 1/8" ply (door skin) on that edge. I also decided that since cans are heavy when stacked on top one another, that I would divide the unit into a set of upper and lower halves.<br />
This still allows for a stack of 12 standard sized veggie cans and they won't be too heavy to get the lower can.The upper unit has a 45 degree triangular piece of wood in the lower back corner. This is to aid 'kicking' the can forward making it easier to get it out of the column. This worked so well that I also placed a half stop in front of the can to keep the stack from machine gunning their way out! <br />
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Here on the right is the unit in place and secured both top, bottom, left right and along each of the shelf supports on the opposite side.The unit was a bit narrower of the opening so I centered it which left a smallish gap seen on the left side. I milled out a background molding (1/4"x 3") out of a 2x4 that I nailed in place. On top of that I placed a moulding of "Ring-Ring". I am not sure at all of the spelling, but tis stuff is hand cut somewhere in the south pacific or Indonesian Islands. JoAnn painted the details to match an art piece already hanging in the hall. These cans were the testers for both the fit and the mechanics of the design and with just a bit of tweaking it is ready to fill. I did not realize that soup cans are not the same height as veggie cans.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMt6PWM7tqubPy6nhSxuUaH-pUE0-_XXJBuWp8Wx93lRPbR3Bg2Z2KcfoDVjo4FADotgC92e0LBhoVO4Rw1rbUXkfEMSELPMAZuFpGX5NXy5T80HkH8i-P-9Fr2WoTnKMQaOuJMwDGbo0/s1600/FREE9182%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMt6PWM7tqubPy6nhSxuUaH-pUE0-_XXJBuWp8Wx93lRPbR3Bg2Z2KcfoDVjo4FADotgC92e0LBhoVO4Rw1rbUXkfEMSELPMAZuFpGX5NXy5T80HkH8i-P-9Fr2WoTnKMQaOuJMwDGbo0/s200/FREE9182%255B1%255D.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
The Ring Ring in place- framed like 'normal' molding, this adds a definite Bali type feel to the place.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVtIE1WgwSbaarVu92_vv6X8-_4teeDwABSWfhXsXNZb3UUaDcPqn706Vv_ZNEoGiaZSAiB4xpOLamwDjrU2mdfXKKxmzykuM78VKFfKS5edQxWFUqsnXHHRmTb1iqzT6RntlsI7t-soY/s1600/AXVZ0879%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVtIE1WgwSbaarVu92_vv6X8-_4teeDwABSWfhXsXNZb3UUaDcPqn706Vv_ZNEoGiaZSAiB4xpOLamwDjrU2mdfXKKxmzykuM78VKFfKS5edQxWFUqsnXHHRmTb1iqzT6RntlsI7t-soY/s200/AXVZ0879%255B1%255D.JPG" width="200" /></a>A closer look at the detail.<br />
Now the only thing left to do is to add the doors. We are planning to make up a left and right side set of doors, made of four individual panels to mimic a Bali inspired dressing screen. I have scroll saw made for doing pierced panels. I will post photos of that process and how the whole thing looks when completed!<br />
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All in all, this was a weekend of work since we had all the pieces here. The can storage capacity is a total of 10 half columns of 12 each or 120 cans. Not bad for using space that was but wasn't there!<br />
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Until next time!<br />
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superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-46264414568458647252020-04-01T10:14:00.002-07:002020-04-01T10:14:46.675-07:00<h2>
Prepping </h2>
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<a href="https://bottleoftravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/hawaii_world_map-1280x720.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="WHERE IS HAWAII LOCATED | Bottle Of Travel" border="0" height="112" src="https://bottleoftravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/hawaii_world_map-1280x720.png" width="200" /></a>This is the first post after the news of the Covid 19 "pandemic" and it's associated panic got me to reflect on the precarious nature of the Islands JoAnn I call home. an Island is defined as a land area surrounded on all sides by water. Turns out, quite a lot of water. In one of TenTree . com's blogs about remote vacations places, it lists Hawaii as " <span style="background-color: white; color: #0a282b; font-family: "merlo_neue_round" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">Hawaii is the most isolated center of population in the world, at 2,390 miles from California and 3,850 miles from Japan.*</span> " A not so quick flight of 5 hours at 700 mph IS a lot of water.<br />
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<a href="https://cdn3.iconfinder.com/data/icons/prohibited-red-signs/121/Prohibition_sign_006-512.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Ban, cargo, no, prohibited, ship, shipping, tanker icon" border="0" height="200" src="https://cdn3.iconfinder.com/data/icons/prohibited-red-signs/121/Prohibition_sign_006-512.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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Being an Island 'Vacation' state, we don't have the political real estate to grow enough of our own food to sustain the population on any given day so we rely on ships to bring in what we won't grow. I say it this way because we do have the acreage to do this, but the powers that be ran off the large farm conglomerates and fruit growers in favor of being the Island Paradise Vacation capitol of where ever. This means that should the boats supplying the food and supplies we need stop coming, we do not have enough stockpiles on the island for more than a few weeks, some argue less than one week if more than one docking is missed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUyI2KS6QgCfYAoj77XAoBA3kbd7CQTgohPOXBVlxqCXVBQDdy6RMNbAgOEeZ3YaE1F6u_17mRV0kda5-B_DDxFSI30x1-pM7jALfXHizjYMbck4it7v6LkXwcY05sICG8lS2sRo6fOhY/s1600/IMG_0270.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUyI2KS6QgCfYAoj77XAoBA3kbd7CQTgohPOXBVlxqCXVBQDdy6RMNbAgOEeZ3YaE1F6u_17mRV0kda5-B_DDxFSI30x1-pM7jALfXHizjYMbck4it7v6LkXwcY05sICG8lS2sRo6fOhY/s200/IMG_0270.JPG" width="150" /></a>Doom and Gloom aside, I got to thinking that natural disasters and those man made ones mean that we are or potentially are in a more tenuous spot than most places. I am not ready for the Montana bunker mentality just yet, but I am ready to start stocking up on long storage foods and supplies. Looking around the inter web for a logical starting place, JoAnn and I settled on adding canned food as the kick off project. In our list of upcoming projects we are planning on finishing the garage shed so we modified that plan to include a move of the laundry into it. This opens up the current Laundry area inside the house for retrofitting it into a true off kitchen Pantry.<br /><br />This is a work in progress so I will e posting as I go. Updates to follow.<br />
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Stay Safe and keep busy!<br /><br />* <a href="https://www.tentree.com/blogs/posts/10-of-the-most-remote-places-on-earth-and-how-to-get-there">https://www.tentree.com/blogs/posts/10-of-the-most-remote-places-on-earth-and-how-to-get-there</a><br />
For right now, JoAnn suggested putting a can rack inside one of the walls. Yup, in the space between the drywall.<br />
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Photo Credits in order of appearance:<br />
<a href="https://bottleoftravel.com/where-is-hawaii-located/">https://bottleoftravel.com/where-is-hawaii-located/</a><br />
<a href="https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/4271168/ban_cargo_no_prohibited_ship_shipping_tanker_icon">https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/4271168/ban_cargo_no_prohibited_ship_shipping_tanker_icon</a><br />
My own photo'<br />
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superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-39182738634843986852020-04-01T09:26:00.000-07:002020-04-01T09:26:25.902-07:00<img alt="Death and Dying" src="https://www.apa.org/images/death-title-image_tcm7-187855.jpg" />Well, it's been over a year since the last post and I am surprised that the blog hasn't been shut down. But since it hasn't, I'll start with some news.<br />
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<a href="https://www.thepharmaletter.com/media/image/coronavirus_structure_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Medicago claims to have a viable vaccine candidate for COVID-19" border="0" height="133" src="https://www.thepharmaletter.com/media/image/coronavirus_structure_large.jpg" width="200" /></a>In that time frame, the world has gone nuts about toilet paper, become afraid of all human face to face contact, the US government has closed schools, banned public gatherings and have ordered people to shelter in place. All because of a flu? Not a flu, a novel Coronvirus. They named it Covid 19.Another of one of the Governments wonderful acronyms: <b>COR</b>noa<b>VI</b>rus <b>D</b>isease of 20<b>19. </b><br />
They've known about it for a year, but the panic was a bit delayed. So much for the world for me today.<br />
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On a more personal level in the time I have not been posting, I have gained two grandchildren and my father passed away. Today actually.<br />
I got up this morning at 4:00 am. It was only a little early for me as I usually am up at 5 or so, but this morning I couldn't sleep so I got up had coffee and got to work in my sewing room on orders I need to get out. by 8:30 I had completed one custom order and the phone rang. I usually pass most calls off to the answering machine function, but this time the screen showed "POP" as the caller. I knew exactly what the call was going to be. In fact, I had been ready (as anyone can be to hear their parent has passed away) for this call for some time.<br />
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My father wasn't what most would call a good communicator. Perhaps it was the era he was raised in, the large military family he grew up in, the stringent parents, the broken first marriage, or that he just wanted to be left alone. Any contact we children had with him after the divorce was initiated by us.<br />
I was the oldest, that is until I found out some 5 plus years ago about an older half-sister given up for adoption by our mother, (long before they were married) and I called to talk with him roughly monthly so I got the initial phone call from Jane, his current wife. <br />
A wonderful woman, twenty years younger than he they met and married while he was working at a florist shop. She ended up nursing him in his ailments til today and is left to care for the final arrangements.I have left this draft for two weeks, I originally started this on Monday the 16th of March. Which turns out one of those grand ironies . Though it happened some years after her death, my mother passed March 15th, a day and some years earlier s it turns out they were the same age, 81, when they passed.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://g.foolcdn.com/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fg.foolcdn.com%2Feditorial%2Fimages%2F564902%2Fairline-hawaiian-holdings-ha-airbus-a330.JPG&w=700&op=resize" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="A Hawaiian Airlines plane flying over the ocean, with mountains in the background" border="0" height="132" src="https://g.foolcdn.com/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fg.foolcdn.com%2Feditorial%2Fimages%2F564902%2Fairline-hawaiian-holdings-ha-airbus-a330.JPG&w=700&op=resize" width="200" /></a>Other news of the day- the state of Hawaii has stated it's inter-island ban on travel, incoming flights are still allowed for some reason, so it seems the state has lost the fight in keeping the pandemic from our Island paradise. I still believe it to be a minor thing, a disease like all others-It will run its course, we will be sick for a time, we will heal, and we will get immunities built up for the next time it flashes around the world. Sadly, like other disease progressions, some patients will succumb to the disease. This s the story of Life and to think we can stop it is ludicrous. Of course time will tell who was right and if we were justified in the panic. <br />
<br />Photo credits, in presentation order:<br />* <a href="https://www.apa.org/topics/death/">https://www.apa.org/topics/death/</a> <br />
**<a href="https://www.thepharmaletter.com/article/medicago-claims-to-have-a-viable-vaccine-candidate-for-covid-19">https://www.thepharmaletter.com/article/medicago-claims-to-have-a-viable-vaccine-candidate-for-covid-19</a><br />
***<a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/03/24/coronavirus-hawaii-cracks-down-tourism-airlines.aspx">https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/03/24/coronavirus-hawaii-cracks-down-tourism-airlines.aspx</a>superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-66822253456562660652019-05-18T11:45:00.001-07:002019-05-18T11:45:28.274-07:00<h2>
Progress on the Big Pen!</h2>
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<h3>
The Ideal: </h3>
As mentioned in the last post, we are building a large (for us) pen to house both the chickens and the turkeys. We will be separating the flock by type, and by variety in the case of the turkeys. We are going to be selling the turkeys as purebreds and that means no mingling for the Bourbon Reds with the Royal Palms. We are also separating the turkeys from the chickens in order to monitor feed consumption better. </div>
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The size of the pen is going to be a total of 20' x 50' with a common run of 10' x 50' for an 'exercise yard.' We have decided that while the chickens will have access all day every day, but to allow for the turkeys to also enjoy this area, and continue to be separated, the Reds and the Royals will have access on alternate days. <br /><br />Because we anticipate that the turkeys will return to their own space for the night we will be training them by not allowing exercise yard time for the first three weeks for any bird, chicken or turkey. That way they know where to come back to for roosting. One of the many down sides of alternating the days the turkeys will be allowed access means that we will either be having to go back at dark thirty to manually close the turkey door to the yard, OR come up with a mechanical gate that can be operated remotely or better, automatically. I like the clock timer methods over a sensor unit since the dusty nature of the fowl can lead to breakdowns or missed closings. </div>
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<h3>
So, progress:</h3>
The initial project was to find a used greenhouse and up-cycle it into as fowl Shangri-La. We found a lightly rusty but smooth arched roof greenhouse on Craig's List that was 100 feet long. We had to do the tear down, haul off, and reassembly, but hey, that made for a fun few days. Who doesn't like good old fashioned hard work in their DIY project? </div>
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<br />
To set the vertical pipes that made up the walls, I borrowed a generator and jackhammer from a good friend and hammered a 6" diameter hole 24" into the lava field we call home. It took 2-3 days per hole since the lava rock was hard (Hawaiian blue rock). It also took that long because I am an old fat man with little endurance for jack hammering. John Henry, I am not.<br />
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Once the holes were done we set the 3" pipes for the sides into the holes and cemented them in. Once the concrete cured for a few days, we leveled the pipes to final height using a water level. Man those Egyptians had it going on- Marking the 12 outer pipes and the 6 inner pipes once the initial bucket was leveled and secure took only minutes! Cutting the tops to height was dicey, as I used an angle grinder on a ladder. Remember to use a face shield! Hot sparks in your eyeballs is not a fun way to finish off a hot day. </div>
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Setting the arches was a tough job. This took two of us a week because neither of us had the free time to do it in a day so we got them done as we could. Purlins or cross bracing running the length of the pen acted as stabilizers and helped tightened the whole thing. Racking, or the shaking movement end to end of the building was dramatically decreased once the purlins were in.. In fact, as I am finishing up the interior fencing, it is getting stiffer every day.<br />
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The humidity here in Hawaii is in the 70-90 % and better range every day when not raining so to keep as much of the rain out and still allow for as much ventilation as possible, we opted for a Greenhouse or shade house type of fabric for the end and back walls. With a 50% occlusion of sunlight, it provides shade and rain protection yet still allows the breeze to waft through it.<br /><br />More next time! </div>
superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-36857289985406249932019-05-11T17:58:00.001-07:002019-05-13T12:47:09.387-07:00<h2>
Back at it!</h2>
Almost a year off, but time to get back into things happening here on our little farmlet.<br />
<br />
The changes:<br />
Chickens:<br />
We have lost a few chickens, but added a few turkeys, 40 or so chickens and 22 turkeys. We stopped fermenting feed and turned the sprouting station into a seed station using dirt, but that will be changing soon into a starting station for our soon to be built hydroponic / aquaponic system.<br />
We have purchased a new to us, or used greenhouse that will be housing the birds. The cutesy coop will be replaced by a more industrial set up for the comfort of the birds. The new size coop will be 30' x 50'.<br />
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Goats in the horizon! <br />
Originally we were having second thoughts regarding the 'old' coop and maybe selling it on Craig's list, but we have decided that it will be repurposed for use as a goat house. At 64 square feet, this is plenty for two or three kids as a shelter from the rain. We also will be supplying ample run room for them and their future kids including a play/climbing frame that they can spend time one rather than testing the fences. We do plan on bring our nannies to a male for breeding- we will not be raising a billy goat at this property.<br />
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Pigs are also being considered, though they will follow the successful integration of goats The Grow out pen ( a 10x10 dog kennel) for our new breeding stock turkeys has turned into a second coop for the new leghorn hens we got off Craig's List. 8 stark white birds that started laying two days after they got settled in. Once the big Pen is finished they will be blended in with the rest of the flock and the will also be repurposed for two or three wean-off piglets. We will be raising one of these females to a sow for breeding stock, and like the goats, no male boar will be on the property. It might be a bit inconvenient for the twice a year breeding, but better twice a year than every day with a boar. Like the Chickens and turkeys, the goats and the pigs will be for generating feed money by selling the babies off, and saving one or two for ourselves to replenish the freezer. <br />
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More later! </div>
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Ken</div>
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<br />superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-18531072600020435382017-11-16T12:41:00.001-08:002017-11-16T12:43:03.366-08:00Grain Sprouting Update<h2>
New and Improved Seed Station</h2>
<h3>
Or, protecting and taking the stink out of the seeds. </h3>
My last post was about the idea of sprouting seeds for our chickens gastronomical pleasure.Since then, I have run into a few problems that I think I have solutions for, we'll see.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHv_t9RGTzKW6pXGlkbutzYAKs5v5tbA4KWJzttb5eJBMtNJJqVcfoZkPo_jenMrJZvCb3dJ-SOSxP0Q7TQQoZLlM2qM4t3QQPAOJAOXKmW7YCsgU8rguVArtPSrGKJPmVAcGAGc7VZ4w/s1600/Sprouting+Grain+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHv_t9RGTzKW6pXGlkbutzYAKs5v5tbA4KWJzttb5eJBMtNJJqVcfoZkPo_jenMrJZvCb3dJ-SOSxP0Q7TQQoZLlM2qM4t3QQPAOJAOXKmW7YCsgU8rguVArtPSrGKJPmVAcGAGc7VZ4w/s200/Sprouting+Grain+%25281%2529.JPG" width="150" /></a>This is my Sprouting station as built:<br />
A standard set of big box store shelf racks set up on the ground near a water source. Seeds soaked in a bucket for 24 hours (convenience, as they need only 8-10 hour soaks) then spread out in an even layer on a 10" x 20" garden tray with pre-punched holes.<br />
Problem 1. Water distribution. Dry seeds in one side, flooded on the other.<br />
Problem 2. During the night rats and during the day the birds are getting to the seeds eating and fouling the trays with husks and their waste. Between the two shifts, I am losing almost half the seeds to these scavengers.<br />
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This is my Sprouting station as it is today:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ccjRfMo7IWZon47Rpqxt4CbpZ1WiykRJI3k3PXQWYV3kgUnwDqdiM0maYkM72oEo612bMybbqJvQWuxri_5POMeFGkhX1v_37Zk76gS6CcUcBhDA6x8XzH_-Uewc7U9EatzOV87NQQ0/s1600/Sprouting+Grain+Mod+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ccjRfMo7IWZon47Rpqxt4CbpZ1WiykRJI3k3PXQWYV3kgUnwDqdiM0maYkM72oEo612bMybbqJvQWuxri_5POMeFGkhX1v_37Zk76gS6CcUcBhDA6x8XzH_-Uewc7U9EatzOV87NQQ0/s200/Sprouting+Grain+Mod+1.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Ge0S7z9ZMUPpEyNfxBmO-Tnim6drLgQX_5X6aU15HOYaRtOARP6Xht0zEeo5Y8zEaRkDrtyj67a7kkCjNVckDZtVYlw4H5DLkVMFtOaz5jfjJPEb040AFYeyq2TaFZ7u_YPQJCuBnnA/s1600/Rat+frame+%25285%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Ge0S7z9ZMUPpEyNfxBmO-Tnim6drLgQX_5X6aU15HOYaRtOARP6Xht0zEeo5Y8zEaRkDrtyj67a7kkCjNVckDZtVYlw4H5DLkVMFtOaz5jfjJPEb040AFYeyq2TaFZ7u_YPQJCuBnnA/s200/Rat+frame+%25285%2529.JPG" width="150" /></a>We added 5 more shelves, a larger water recovery tub for recirculating the water, added more trays as we have upped the grain feed to three trays a day, and a direct water line from the pump to the emitters. More on that below. We added a Bamboo floor decking under the station to level the rack out, added a cage surround to keep out the seed marauders, and an inner window screening liner in an attempt to keep out the fruit flies that have become Problem 3. We are now employing a more chemical deterrent for the fruit flies, pheromones. The hope is that by enticing them away from the seeds, there won't be a cloud of insects when I open the door. They are also stinging the seeds and perpetuating their kind right in the cage. Not something that I want.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9JZo6UrYT-mJreZPguxYwOIZA-CmTZLxwqKS7-QSuztN9ZMGb3WU2V42KsPTNsk9Gjh6t4d1Bn03KwviLvsGC5iGb1Fvk0p0i3eW7udOJEeGRE_c2wUf01IcJHBWljyWQt72euPp_LxI/s1600/No+Dove+rat+Fruit+Fly.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="903" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9JZo6UrYT-mJreZPguxYwOIZA-CmTZLxwqKS7-QSuztN9ZMGb3WU2V42KsPTNsk9Gjh6t4d1Bn03KwviLvsGC5iGb1Fvk0p0i3eW7udOJEeGRE_c2wUf01IcJHBWljyWQt72euPp_LxI/s320/No+Dove+rat+Fruit+Fly.png" width="320" /></a></div>
I am also changing the way I water the Station. Initially I thought using a pump to recirculate the water from a collection tub up to the top trays and let it trickle down through the subsequent trays would be awesome. And it is, but there is a major set back. The odor that builds up over a day or two. The water rinses the seeds and washes all the carbohydrate rich dust off them and no matter how many pre-rinses I seem to do before setting them out in the trays, the water reeks after two days. This is the current system and how I am going to change it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUexaSBY6jvt6zA7g6bJCHLCXbzK_jV6fg-bk1bGhFxVbNfJvXNcNej2U42ut4-gOOfAugPfIhEkGp6cizW75LB3py5sFPBHRquzwoAMaFcbwb4F3V6scD39YEKLq2WLDAO3ajO6_2wSA/s1600/Sprouting+system+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="879" data-original-width="1600" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUexaSBY6jvt6zA7g6bJCHLCXbzK_jV6fg-bk1bGhFxVbNfJvXNcNej2U42ut4-gOOfAugPfIhEkGp6cizW75LB3py5sFPBHRquzwoAMaFcbwb4F3V6scD39YEKLq2WLDAO3ajO6_2wSA/s320/Sprouting+system+3.png" width="320" /></a></div>
I'll be taking the pump out of the system altogether, using a direct bottom up flooding system rather than the top down system I am using now. It is said to promote better root growth with lower fungus and mold growth by not wetting the greens from above. The double trays means that in the lower tray, holes placed only in the lower front of the tray allows the tray to fill for a time period dictated by the size of the holes. With the upper trays having lots of holes the seeds and roots have time to soak up the water and still allow drainage to avoid over soaking.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqWXTN4ZAEOHFXCWbd-w9jjh8qpqWb50bPC2sOIVg6kJllexvtU30tq_LNmhBUHJdb-iXL6xDDWnS3M4ndgpHM0oEtOFP4Zf9U65zJ8l03neYGxvSUBdrwEpcJ5W4Xp_BJ3fiEjCfx7Qw/s1600/9qSfd.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="262" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqWXTN4ZAEOHFXCWbd-w9jjh8qpqWb50bPC2sOIVg6kJllexvtU30tq_LNmhBUHJdb-iXL6xDDWnS3M4ndgpHM0oEtOFP4Zf9U65zJ8l03neYGxvSUBdrwEpcJ5W4Xp_BJ3fiEjCfx7Qw/s200/9qSfd.png" width="130" /></a>I am not sure at this point if there will be any method to take 100% of the odor away from this kind of thing. I notice that most people sharing their systems online are either avoiding the smell issue or discounting it to a single mention. I am determined to decrease the smell to as close to zero as possible. I bleach the system every day I drain it using a supermarket strength 5% bleach solution cut further to 1:10 so it won't poison the seeds nor the chickens. The residual bleach will dissipate within 24 hours when left open to air so an 8 day growing cycle should allow enough 'airing-out time' for their safety.<br />
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Next post: Garden Update<br />
<br />superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-91129575853802028242017-10-13T11:30:00.000-07:002017-10-13T11:30:06.125-07:00Feeding Chickens on the Cheep!<h2>
Use Sprouted Grains</h2>
<h3>
How much can I expect it to save me? </h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr-pBFNxb8Y8JQ524Xo9tX6QxAmrLNRzyxETjlOAZ0Am0YWtSy0p3aTjz_wKMvZcvI1K3e8BNSC0Jp5dOriB7rVxbqgPOYkUwC1C23MBqkaoBdEnDT2qBD2FdSU2WcVhd6zhmugwddEn0/s1600/Chicken+Feed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr-pBFNxb8Y8JQ524Xo9tX6QxAmrLNRzyxETjlOAZ0Am0YWtSy0p3aTjz_wKMvZcvI1K3e8BNSC0Jp5dOriB7rVxbqgPOYkUwC1C23MBqkaoBdEnDT2qBD2FdSU2WcVhd6zhmugwddEn0/s200/Chicken+Feed.jpg" width="120" /></a>Wow, that is a good question. In my last post I outlined what I was spending on the chickens to "save" money and I realized I needed to bring the feed bill down even further. I had a few options.<br />
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<ul>
<li>Feed scraps only</li>
<li>Feed commercial feed only</li>
<li>Feed fermented food</li>
<li>Feed sprouted grain</li>
</ul>
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or a combinations of the above. Wait, before the comments go off on the "Free Range" options, we choose NOT to free range our birds for a number of reasons. Some are based in our laziness in not wanting every morning to be the Easter Hunt / Bill Murray Ground Hog Day debacle on our one acre, we don't want to chase the wild child chickens roosting in the trees, and now that we have turkeys, we know that is where they want to be (that is a story by itself!) and then there are the Mongoose that are invasive here. Yesterday the girls killed a rat that somehow got in. So rats are not a real threat for the adult birds, but the <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Goodreads.com "Rikki Tikki Tavi"</td></tr>
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Mongoose is a predator that is used to killing snakes and fast prey items. It is has a darker side to it somewhat like some of our baser human-kind selves. They have the tendencies to go off, caught up in the moment killing simply for killings sake not just for something to eat. Mongoose attacks are not common but when they happen, it's usually wholesale slaughter.<br />
The biggest reason we keep the chickens in a pen is that we do not want our chickens to be our neighbor's dogs dinner. I have said this many times in the past, and I still mean it now, but because we won't have the chickens free ranging and foraging for most of their food, we'll need to provide it for them. </div>
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We have 59 chickens and 10 turkeys right now and at 1/4 pound of food per chicken and 1/2 pound for each Turkey, that adds up to about 20 pounds a day.<br />
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We will be dividing up that number with the following ratios: </div>
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<ul>
<li>Commercial feed for us is 16 - 20$ for 40-50 pounds, Walmart vs. TSC or .40 cents a pound </li>
<li>Fruits and Grasses are free as we use over ripe fruit and collected grasses</li>
<li>Sprouted Fodder is barley, one pound per tray and works out to be about .40 cents a pound</li>
</ul>
At .40 cents a pound and feeding 19.75 pounds that comes to $7.90 per day. How do I make that go down? </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim9fCN1DkMirEqnKIoB40UhslVKkeG9s5t3z2aDzreHy5J8-OIzVvyCK9UwgTyX78fnKC84gG1LuO7ycdTOaD7cKTa6Qv_XljPFEG2xrKEVIhI289JNzzibs-RovQs2LCwAmjA_bWIHQo/s1600/Fermented+Feed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="816" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim9fCN1DkMirEqnKIoB40UhslVKkeG9s5t3z2aDzreHy5J8-OIzVvyCK9UwgTyX78fnKC84gG1LuO7ycdTOaD7cKTa6Qv_XljPFEG2xrKEVIhI289JNzzibs-RovQs2LCwAmjA_bWIHQo/s200/Fermented+Feed.jpg" width="193" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Pickytoplenty.com</td></tr>
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<div>
We are already feeding the girls fermented feed. That is something we started a few weeks ago. One 6-8 pound bucket of layer crumble in a 5 gallon bucket, water to cover, and we add a bit of our Korean Natural Farming IMO and LAB solutions to the mix, cover and wait 2 days. I did this for 2 days before I started feeding it so I would have a bucket for every subsequent feeding. Every time we feed, we take 6-8 pounds of commercial feed, the previously fermented 5 gallon bucket and some of the fruit and scraps we saved from the day before and feed it to them in the morning. In the afternoon we take one bucket of 6 pounds of commercial feed to be sure they aren't hungry when we gather the eggs. At 14 pounds of commercial feed plus the fruit and grasses, they seem pretty happy. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYnckC_DgRLzqQeaf7yEGfPU8UCtehqje6e-fxtQ_ZsJaseMGs8QTy-0rXDC_eVKDrlD5w1M1mXliAOkXuPfFw6w4YjaLuuyVX-WZN5BgLwMKPsAfDL49rrWMbLIUz15B3NcBAp8Cw9JU/s1600/Sprouting+Grain+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYnckC_DgRLzqQeaf7yEGfPU8UCtehqje6e-fxtQ_ZsJaseMGs8QTy-0rXDC_eVKDrlD5w1M1mXliAOkXuPfFw6w4YjaLuuyVX-WZN5BgLwMKPsAfDL49rrWMbLIUz15B3NcBAp8Cw9JU/s200/Sprouting+Grain+%25284%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My sprouting station</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPlXCKkM_nh5wkik1LyYVV0L2x7AlHE5CFNMq_f9bA0reppqPwb8hU0KJJJBndVbVgMma5B-W25ZDFBwTGbuL0mjRzmOty5PycqkPArDwrQYkQQsswlupVGOoE-8QwSGJtl8843aLAd1c/s1600/Grains.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1102" data-original-width="1600" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPlXCKkM_nh5wkik1LyYVV0L2x7AlHE5CFNMq_f9bA0reppqPwb8hU0KJJJBndVbVgMma5B-W25ZDFBwTGbuL0mjRzmOty5PycqkPArDwrQYkQQsswlupVGOoE-8QwSGJtl8843aLAd1c/s200/Grains.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Agrodaily.com</td></tr>
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<div>
Wanting to drive the $$$ output for these primal dinosaurs even lower, I looked into something I found on the internet, sprouting grain. Just plain ol' grain. Grains like wheat, barley, rice , oats, etc., can be used though the rice I hear is a bit persnickety. Just about any seed you want can be used.</div>
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I look up a few more articles on the subject and a quick trip to the feed store, H.D. (list of supplies needed is below) and a lighter wallet later, and I have the makings of a semi-automated feed sprouting station! </div>
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<br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJSSg9OQBgrSdPRgTtbgwhyorj9qyMLPSsHueSsb05xT5J1KmO_e6FlneYydpDkzkuQW9rN0OhXt8qx1UR7YPioMvroKlKwj1yAajkRWsL8c6GEgy4F6p9AY-FNtmTVs0WgmwFgW9-BV0/s1600/a+skunk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="500" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJSSg9OQBgrSdPRgTtbgwhyorj9qyMLPSsHueSsb05xT5J1KmO_e6FlneYydpDkzkuQW9rN0OhXt8qx1UR7YPioMvroKlKwj1yAajkRWsL8c6GEgy4F6p9AY-FNtmTVs0WgmwFgW9-BV0/s200/a+skunk.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Amazon.com</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: right;">
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</div>
<div>
The idea is simple: Add seeds to a tray, soak seeds till they sprout and wait till they grow their foliage up a few days. But its tougher than it seems since if the seeds soak too long, they can rot.</div>
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Not a nice "earthy" rot smell like good compost, but the foul, just-opened-the-cesspool kind of stench. The solution? <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCv91LFeJlgF3sogBjhsWQ3RshbGgALSXcZEVyEOmzyE3uUnBpzI1P9aQ8itxeth_i1uSp_yFKaD_fIGe9BDzUaavCvtzJ_5L_xZILzKwqhvBiB4bcIgcoq0BLhRyhEwKu9XVqpVTNEAo/s1600/10-20-tray.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCv91LFeJlgF3sogBjhsWQ3RshbGgALSXcZEVyEOmzyE3uUnBpzI1P9aQ8itxeth_i1uSp_yFKaD_fIGe9BDzUaavCvtzJ_5L_xZILzKwqhvBiB4bcIgcoq0BLhRyhEwKu9XVqpVTNEAo/s200/10-20-tray.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Leanpub.com, "Fodder"</td></tr>
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I use planting trays that are perforated that have holes well under the seed size in them but you can drill 1/8" holes in any tray you like. I use a shelf rack system to stack these trays one over the other so when I fill the tray with water, it slowly drips out of the upper trays filling the lower trays until it gets back to a sump container under all of them. This allows me to essentially 'change' the water as often as I add water. This has to be done many times a day to make sure the seeds and the growing fodder don't dry out.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmhze4u8eCPjvTAumGH36JOdDjKvflwWBTAA9U07LhAPhlEE5q6lTU2AkNnfhrpQwwA4N3DmHY6QvGLrRop2XIvkBsH-ly5mNP43-YdE92l93kQG6nHC7SZu17VX-NvvhRmxlM-UcCHsk/s1600/pond+pump.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmhze4u8eCPjvTAumGH36JOdDjKvflwWBTAA9U07LhAPhlEE5q6lTU2AkNnfhrpQwwA4N3DmHY6QvGLrRop2XIvkBsH-ly5mNP43-YdE92l93kQG6nHC7SZu17VX-NvvhRmxlM-UcCHsk/s200/pond+pump.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From HomeDepot.com</td></tr>
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<div>
Since I am basically lazy, I opted for using a submersible pump and a timer that allows me to set the times I 'change' their water. I chose a timer that I can set multiple on and off times so the pump comes on a total of 5 times during the day and once through the night. The pump is on for 5 minutes each time then shuts off, waiting for the next wetting. I do have to change the starchy water in the collection bin below the trays every other day or the water starts to smell a bit off- not good for the seeds or the chickens. </div>
<div>
Here are the steps:</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Scoop the seeds into an appropriate sized bucket. I use a 2 gallon bucket since I use only 1-2 pound of seeds in a tray. If you use more seed or need to seed more trays, you'll need to get a bigger bucket. </li>
<li>Fill that bucket with water 1" over the seed level. Remove any chaff, debris or floating husks or seeds. Most seeds sink if they are viable for germinating. (but know your seed- that variety may all float) and soak for 12-24 hours. Do not soak more than 24 hours! </li>
<li>Next day, empty that bucket into one of the clean perforated trays and allow to drain then spread in a thin even layer.</li>
<li>Set on your rack of choice and wait for the magic to happen! </li>
<li>This does take a few days so make sure that the seeds are never dried out, but not swimming in water and in three days you should have both rootlets and small sprouts. </li>
</ol>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp8aRY3AmZtuJmHs5DwSNOUAGQd8T39hAsIvSb2pyRiIPhSBLddcFbxOaVNPmhkxbSHbVPQPNxHFbH2B9GBuhNuU3uT1eGjzS55zSPOAcB2k7B5fweCYfPXsMmZgKEA2sWTCYm6JwLElc/s1600/Sprouting+Grain+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp8aRY3AmZtuJmHs5DwSNOUAGQd8T39hAsIvSb2pyRiIPhSBLddcFbxOaVNPmhkxbSHbVPQPNxHFbH2B9GBuhNuU3uT1eGjzS55zSPOAcB2k7B5fweCYfPXsMmZgKEA2sWTCYm6JwLElc/s200/Sprouting+Grain+%25283%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a> You are done at this point and can feed them to your chickens, ducks, etc. for sprouted feed, but I wait a few more days till they can get the full seed potential and the greens that can come along with the seed value. The photo shows my trays in different stages of growth, all one day apart. I did this for one week before I was able to take any fodder to the girls so it is a do ahead thing. </div>
<div>
Parts list for this project:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>soak bucket(s)</li>
<li>shelf rack</li>
<li>perforated sprouting trays</li>
<li>submersible pond pump with head pressure of at least 6 feet </li>
<li>clear tubing to fit pump and related fittings (drip heads or spray will work)</li>
<li>zip ties to hold the tubing in place</li>
<li>timer</li>
<li>seed</li>
</ul>
This is a satisfying project since it results in an increase of both feed weight and nutrition; the growth enzymes trigger nutrient blooms for anticipated plant growth, and the chickens go nuts for it! 1 pound of food is grown into 4-5 pounds which decreases the net grains usage for us, saving us feed $$$. </div>
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Happy chickens, better nutrition for them and a fatter wallet for us? Win on all levels!</div>
superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-92031598997057938772017-09-18T12:27:00.001-07:002017-09-18T12:29:45.079-07:00Teenagers started laying<h2>
Our "Teens" started laying</h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGmuwz7JFR6oG13lfA-1fqu9-DLctY_5viKRbzOUJNCoAXCfKeWObfIqZcC6RbpQLm0IsmWSnMEfcI7itMJlpLMG3PM3t-8dJYFC8V0lJe6yrBYntAieHQw2-n4Sbj-Z09Q74KDT7t5XQ/s1600/DSC01945.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGmuwz7JFR6oG13lfA-1fqu9-DLctY_5viKRbzOUJNCoAXCfKeWObfIqZcC6RbpQLm0IsmWSnMEfcI7itMJlpLMG3PM3t-8dJYFC8V0lJe6yrBYntAieHQw2-n4Sbj-Z09Q74KDT7t5XQ/s200/DSC01945.JPG" width="200" /></a>The eggs are a bit on the small side for one of them. We got 15 eggs today, including the Peewee egg. We are ramping up our bid for food independence by raising our own chickens for meat and eggs, and for that, we need hens. We are building our laying flock up to 30 adult hens and will maintain that level until we feel a need to change. We obviously can't eat 25-30 eggs a day so the surplus eggs are to being sold to offset the feed cost. We are already selling to a local organic restaurant in a town down the road a piece.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGvKVf1odHEDaUp2ENpo1f9Gf3k4ZGwjZ-AzPA15ob1a1edAtrPkMvljbH6tgN2Blavzpr6qGRCqolUu9AwC2n5w20ZOOpsN4EXEhBuPUVkvFX9hCysmjLtjQ5nv5Td02cd8o5yfcirU/s1600/IMG_3030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGvKVf1odHEDaUp2ENpo1f9Gf3k4ZGwjZ-AzPA15ob1a1edAtrPkMvljbH6tgN2Blavzpr6qGRCqolUu9AwC2n5w20ZOOpsN4EXEhBuPUVkvFX9hCysmjLtjQ5nv5Td02cd8o5yfcirU/s200/IMG_3030.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
We keep our hens in a coop and run so while they are "Free-Range" according to the US Government, they are confined for many reasons. One of which is that we do not want our chickens to become our neighbors dog's dinner. Their Coop is 64 square feet, with a second internal story, and the run is 20x20, so plenty of room for our initial flock. The small 'Mini-Cooper' on the left is the brooder we intended to house the growing chicks, but proved to be too small. The chickens just grow too fast. To keep to the recommended square footage per bird we will need to modify the pen to house the hens for 30 eggs a day. That means a new build and more will be coming on that. For now, we are living at the top of the numbers, but still within the guidelines. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAS7pGh9XmoksegtDEtx2jKlIS2xQAURfh0ISbOCDEdZ_J6uQDooV9MCYyAL8I_LAHT-aolVgEEUBVDQG8yY6PmiaGRsmzXdej06UHLOJV0bSRJiuVbdQuBVBtaT8wcS04fhQiVHYQlok/s1600/Turkeys+%252812%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAS7pGh9XmoksegtDEtx2jKlIS2xQAURfh0ISbOCDEdZ_J6uQDooV9MCYyAL8I_LAHT-aolVgEEUBVDQG8yY6PmiaGRsmzXdej06UHLOJV0bSRJiuVbdQuBVBtaT8wcS04fhQiVHYQlok/s200/Turkeys+%252812%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Annie the Araucana</td></tr>
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<div>
If you noticed, two of these eggs are a bluish-green. Totally natural coloring from our teen-aged Araucana. We originally bought 4 supposedly 'white leghorn' chicks from a breeder down the street. 2 died and only the rooster turned out to be a leghorn. Leghorns are the breed most commercial egg producers use, though that is changing over to a new 'breed', the Red Ranger. Red Rangers are a Cross Breed like the Cornish Cross is for meat. They are not a fast grower like the Cornish Cross, but they are an early egg layer and prolific at laying eggs. 300-350 eggs a year is an awesome production rate but like most things, you give to get so their 'peak production season' isn't too long. 2-4 years and the bird is spent. We are thinking of trying a few of these birds, but I don't think we will be replacing them altogether. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilik1ufLJ3oD5dHYXLNPXb3rtl-WE9aTdVes2EcwFYugmRpMDG9c0PNBez04mRtSbMTs-DpuUk9xUDT4qE3skKoEVfymIYvvBWpQkYzSIiYjFAwUa0s5GmkbC-Vg_oJk0ARZEYcpBeTtI/s1600/farm-innovators-2150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="450" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilik1ufLJ3oD5dHYXLNPXb3rtl-WE9aTdVes2EcwFYugmRpMDG9c0PNBez04mRtSbMTs-DpuUk9xUDT4qE3skKoEVfymIYvvBWpQkYzSIiYjFAwUa0s5GmkbC-Vg_oJk0ARZEYcpBeTtI/s200/farm-innovators-2150.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div>
So the new teens are laying and we have the next wave in line ready to go. 22 chicks of mixed sexes and these are already 10 weeks old. We are doing successive breeding/hatching to both build and replace the birds numbers at a pace we think we can handle rather than just buying and then starting out with big numbers. Our incubator will handle 40 eggs at a time and between the sex division hatch rate (@50% Female to Male) and natural attrition, this builds both our laying hen numbers and meat production quota without too many of either at one time. Pullets start laying at 20 weeks or so, and the roosters can be slaughtered any time after about 12 weeks so we decided that we will set a new batch of eggs for hatching every 20 weeks. Once the laying hens reach our goal of 30 birds, we will cut back on the number of eggs set out to hatch to the number of meat birds we need. Yes, even though it will be 40 every 12 weeks to keep the freezer full, we are thinking that we should do 20 every 6 weeks to keep both the feed rate down, and the freezer full. Until the hens total 30, we keep the hens hatched out, and the males go to the freezer, but once we reach 30 hens, both male and female chicks will become meat birds out the hatching. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkyMDA_jZqcxqwW7MZOXI9J4H__FY-VMx-_TLUg-b9q2V6Tky_cYnZmoRxsF7fs2ACdDN9nW4Aei1ufdtxmL4c3_uxe_85jliRDkyfbwZKame_o1320j0S4hRMJuLOJ1JLkjLRxXawkE/s1600/Chicken+math+image.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="256" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkyMDA_jZqcxqwW7MZOXI9J4H__FY-VMx-_TLUg-b9q2V6Tky_cYnZmoRxsF7fs2ACdDN9nW4Aei1ufdtxmL4c3_uxe_85jliRDkyfbwZKame_o1320j0S4hRMJuLOJ1JLkjLRxXawkE/s200/Chicken+math+image.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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The Math: </div>
<div>
We are calculating 2 chickens per week (4 meals) so over the 20 weeks we'll need 40 in the freezer at a time. </div>
<div>
We want 30 hens laying that lay 25-30 eggs a day and that means that we'll have </div>
<div>
25 x 7=140 days :</div>
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140 days x 25 /day = 3500 eggs : </div>
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3500 eggs/ 12 per dozen = 292 dozen</div>
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over the 20 weeks. </div>
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<div>
Price for chicken at the local KTA is 20$ so<br />
40 birds @ 20$ = 800$ in meat value or savings</div>
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Price for organic eggs at KTA is 8$ so </div>
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292 dozen x 8$ = 2336$ in Egg value or savings </div>
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<div>
That comes out to 3136$ of food value every 20 weeks, minus the cost of feed. extrapolated out for the year, that is 8,153$ in savings (not buying at the supermarket) for the year! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJW5h7bQbJPOBW7SpFPD6DP1MIqNZqS79hgjwdcmmGF7GR115X0mTly-D8xzIn4YEaeEPtGcGkPyK84jKCPBTqGftrQimFV1Sky7SotqNygMt0n-Si-rhavDt5QFYdxIYZz1S4z2MxD3s/s1600/Chicken+and+eggs.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="990" data-original-width="1600" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJW5h7bQbJPOBW7SpFPD6DP1MIqNZqS79hgjwdcmmGF7GR115X0mTly-D8xzIn4YEaeEPtGcGkPyK84jKCPBTqGftrQimFV1Sky7SotqNygMt0n-Si-rhavDt5QFYdxIYZz1S4z2MxD3s/s200/Chicken+and+eggs.png" width="200" /></a>We spend 25$ per bag of feed x 2.5 bags per week or 3250$ per 52 weeks for a savings of 8153$ - 3250$ = 4903$ in food savings over buying chicken and eggs at the supermarket. WIN!</div>
superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0Keaau, HI 96749, USA19.6213287 -155.039413919.5615022 -155.1200949 19.6811552 -154.9587329tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-22192333837207656262017-09-13T13:49:00.003-07:002017-09-13T13:52:02.321-07:00Chocolate Grows on Trees? Sign me up!<h2>
Are there really such things? </h2>
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Yes, Virginia. Chocolate grows on trees.</h3>
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Willy Wonka's ultimate dream! Rows of trees with bars hanging low for easy picking. 10-12 bars on each branch, 200 or more on each tree- Ready to make into Truffles, bars, creams, sauces and powders. What a dream but alas, all dreams fade in the mornings first light.<br />
Oh, Chocolate does grow on trees, but not like this, though it would make pruning less of chore wouldn't it? <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL8oOT6uC_8FgNR-ztiPk7heT8xmpFuYvMXIrjaLzT_BRMjemqNrihRuQgY7VEzn_GlZpAJtWASQ-95ShMV3oQaYNaRLHocOlhKJDkfY-ot98oDRbk3KYZj5Lh7ZSztuBCI513xnbiz9s/s1600/c91d6bac810fcfc81091fff4dcabe755--chocolate-tree-hot-chocolate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL8oOT6uC_8FgNR-ztiPk7heT8xmpFuYvMXIrjaLzT_BRMjemqNrihRuQgY7VEzn_GlZpAJtWASQ-95ShMV3oQaYNaRLHocOlhKJDkfY-ot98oDRbk3KYZj5Lh7ZSztuBCI513xnbiz9s/s200/c91d6bac810fcfc81091fff4dcabe755--chocolate-tree-hot-chocolate.jpg" width="133" /></a><br />
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They grow like this. Medium height tree, with the seeds that chocolate is made from set in thick football shaped pods that grow directly out of the trunks and limbs rather than out on the outer portions of the terminal branches on fruit spurs like most other fruit. </div>
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And unlike other fruit, chocolate pods have to go through an intensive set of processing steps to become what we know as Chocolate. Fermenting, drying, classifying, milling, pressing, heating, mixing, tempering and a few I can't remember off the top of my head just to get into an advent calendar, an easter bunny, or a dove bar. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From "Food Anatomy", Julia Rothman*</td></tr>
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Funny thing though, I am allergic to chocolate. So why would I plant this any where near my garden? Easy. JoAnn loves chocolate. I love her, so I planted 2 of our 4 cacao trees (to date) so she could have her favorite type of chocolate, nibs. Nibs are found in the middle of the chocolate process following fermenting and drying and roasting; the nibs are what the dried seeds break into when you do the first rough grind. She loves them. This is a simplified diagram on how chocolate is processed- Link to the book is below.</div>
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When I transplanted this tree into the new bed, I noticed these flowers growing on it. I was so excited since all the info I've read said it would take a few years to get pods. This little plant is the biggest we have, but at just 3 feet, I wasn't expecting any blooming this year. We have plenty of space for more than 4 trees, I'll be planting them all over the property, tucked into small beds here and there- two to three trees to a bed for pollination. These are not self pollinating. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnip5oc-bm3WII30dt_JxBErv6Hwyd3_qVfQuPMTNqhBGmdvLZq5wFGh2yDwPRrevu7n-6oTymYoczl_3kQB-ZHv3awGiz_k3YExMfx8seHONfiKE9dOkdb5RCPoZ93SRsJ0NIzafQFyY/s1600/IMG_3751.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnip5oc-bm3WII30dt_JxBErv6Hwyd3_qVfQuPMTNqhBGmdvLZq5wFGh2yDwPRrevu7n-6oTymYoczl_3kQB-ZHv3awGiz_k3YExMfx8seHONfiKE9dOkdb5RCPoZ93SRsJ0NIzafQFyY/s200/IMG_3751.JPG" width="200" /></a>The bed is roughly 5 feet wide and about 15 feet long. I laid Ohi'a trunks along three sides and filled that space with just over 1500 pounds of mulch, just under 12" deep. Our County provides heat treated mulch for free- you go get. We can haul away up to 10 cubic yards for free, but only one load is put in the truck by skip loader, the rest I have to load by hand. I get one load a day. </div>
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The cacao trees are slow growers so I paired them with papayas we grew from seed. These are fast growers that grow up tall and straight, up to 12-15 feet for some varieties. They are another trunk fruiting plant. The thing with papayas is that they only fruit if they are either a female or a hermaphrodite, males do not produce fruit. And since the papayas are self fertilizing, males are not needed at all.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-hyTamc_p0tMe5L9TroGzFNsmwZpyHeUfBRwua4IY_G64F7t6WJyXj2rgCIC3GmAOohU_muhPyXcMY12bqz_p6dpQffOWy33OWeTOhx3mU3DXIpU5TV1xSd1T-ILCSMmyTF9ugvyp24s/s1600/Papaya+flowers+male+and+female.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="590" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-hyTamc_p0tMe5L9TroGzFNsmwZpyHeUfBRwua4IY_G64F7t6WJyXj2rgCIC3GmAOohU_muhPyXcMY12bqz_p6dpQffOWy33OWeTOhx3mU3DXIpU5TV1xSd1T-ILCSMmyTF9ugvyp24s/s200/Papaya+flowers+male+and+female.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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They are planted in multiples because there is no way to tell if it is a Male, Female or Hermaphrodite until it flowers! The males are then culled and added to the mulch piles, the females and hermaphrodites allowed to grow and fruit. </div>
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I will be adding flowers to all my vegetable and fruit beds to 'round' out their overall look. Function first, which is food, then aesthetics so a walk in the garden isn't all about just getting the food off the plant, it's also a peaceful place to be. </div>
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Next post: Updates</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">*</span> Link to the book, "Food Anatomy" :</div>
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https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-27843/this-illustrated-book-is-the-perfect-gift-for-the-foodies-on-your-list.html</div>
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superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-67864057809374950232017-09-04T16:40:00.002-07:002017-09-04T16:40:21.043-07:00PINEAPPLES<h3>
The Pineapple Bed is in</h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2DaLh-SrNa4Wb5GtkXPgPVc-wrcb5RcYeV6bjV1cTk7fVOG7ynt2t0mKrMLSJAY3g3agKTfF_4u0XxrxD_wPWvfF9BrSEFNCdaXSjkmsYT6Oq3waE1KSvvINMJnqPFTR2yt97hbRp7F0/s1600/Pineapple+replanting+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2DaLh-SrNa4Wb5GtkXPgPVc-wrcb5RcYeV6bjV1cTk7fVOG7ynt2t0mKrMLSJAY3g3agKTfF_4u0XxrxD_wPWvfF9BrSEFNCdaXSjkmsYT6Oq3waE1KSvvINMJnqPFTR2yt97hbRp7F0/s200/Pineapple+replanting+%25283%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Start from a store bought pineapple</td></tr>
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I went for mulch yesterday and decided instead of putting it in the new chicken pen area (yes, I know that mulching the expansion should be this post, but...), that I would start a new pineapple bed. </div>
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I have been collecting pineapple tops from the ones we and our friends are eating and putting them into our saved and recycled pots. Its been a few months and many have really established roots on them. One or two needed to be planted as their roots are feeling their way out of the drainage holes. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjITgCVlHIZEcCaWZ9EdJgdGo559zsO0mcXZeSWDkA8UsiReE22b9Raa82bORUZ30CPGbzt7S-_0GJXrd_uWlsmTVGW6LmLqrx66bGnG94fTC2Fygurw5ofGMP93DJLPK3kAZkxz57fcxk/s1600/IMG_2929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1196" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjITgCVlHIZEcCaWZ9EdJgdGo559zsO0mcXZeSWDkA8UsiReE22b9Raa82bORUZ30CPGbzt7S-_0GJXrd_uWlsmTVGW6LmLqrx66bGnG94fTC2Fygurw5ofGMP93DJLPK3kAZkxz57fcxk/s200/IMG_2929.JPG" width="149" /></a>I am a newbie to pineapple growing so most of my info is coming from interweb searches. This is a two to three year investment of time and space since I get the starts free.</div>
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This is what our little ones looked like in the front horseshoe last year. They turned a bright yellow and wow, did they small good! I have both the yellow and white varieties of fruit, white being preferred here by the locals. I still can't tell the difference because the flesh of both is yellow and yummy. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Gardenweb.com</td></tr>
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Today was a good day to plant; sunny and warm, with just a hint of a breeze. I put up 14 new plants in the new bed and we have 5 others still left in the front horse-shoe in the driveway. These had produced pineapples already so we are going to have to wait until they send up slips, or keikes that I will then replant. These are tough plants. I had thrown one to the side meaning to trash is on the next trash run, but forgot about it and it set roots and produced a mini pineapple! They can be tough to get rid of around here. </div>
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Once a pineapple plant fruits, that plant will only bear smaller and smaller fruit so while the mini-me pineapples are still yummy, they just are a double or single serving so we wanted to farm bigger ones. The suckers, slips and keikis (Hawaiian for child or baby) will produce full sized fruit and are easy to propagate. Which is why I can do it. </div>
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To do it yourself using a store bought pineapple, trim the top off the pineapple and pull off any of the fleshy fruit. Remove the lowest leaves until you have about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch clear. You may see roots already between the leaves- this is a member of the Bromeliad family and while most get their water from the air, pineapples are one of the few varieties to put down roots.</div>
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Use your favorite potting mix and let the pot dry out slightly between waterings. It my take a month or two for you to notice the change, but if you cut back the leaf tips with shears you will notice the new whole leaves easier.</div>
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When you see roots peeking out the drain holes, transplant into an outside bed for best results. Grown indoors, it is a spiky and belligerent plant if you brush by it or get too close, but the satisfaction of growing your own tropical treat is well worth the occasional poke. </div>
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Here is a better picture, a little closer to show that it is a miniature of the supermarket fruits. Once they get to this stage, its hard to resist tearing them off and eating them, but these are worth the wait. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbx0mDTru4fhQPQSOT3ETMeHgrEKIXcOUo9kDyU7bbk6KKHjvfdxCdvfTZeN7HJP8fmydajxHzhX14JNLB2oFdfxq7zQIruVQHHdkNKKmHbn2bwDOYDN90AdJDxpcdrtn9BG0AkKdHBg8/s1600/IMG_3727.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbx0mDTru4fhQPQSOT3ETMeHgrEKIXcOUo9kDyU7bbk6KKHjvfdxCdvfTZeN7HJP8fmydajxHzhX14JNLB2oFdfxq7zQIruVQHHdkNKKmHbn2bwDOYDN90AdJDxpcdrtn9BG0AkKdHBg8/s320/IMG_3727.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yummy treats, just waiting to happen</td></tr>
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Here is my bed of 14, transplanted into just 8" of mulch over a cinder base. This was a bare spot between the Aloe plant on the left and the Areca palms on the right. There is a little space for four more to be transplanted as the others grow up. Hopefully the rotation of old and new plants will continue to yield new fruits so we can start our journey into self sustainability. </div>
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Chocolate trees next! </div>
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superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com016-359 Railroad Ave, Keaau, HI 96749, USA19.637413945596258 -155.033569335937519.158033945596259 -155.67901633593749 20.116793945596257 -154.38812233593751tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-29197839165830714282017-08-04T14:39:00.001-07:002017-08-04T14:39:25.793-07:00Some Weeks Are Just....<h2>
Bad News</h2>
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Personal choices can have a far reaching effect on people that we just cannot comprehend.</h3>
While the following information would be best discussed in a different forum, this very personal news is shared here only to point out that my past few weeks<br />
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started on a less than stellar note. Two weeks ago, I got a call from a family member that my sister was in the hospital and would most likely not go home. Turns out that though she has been getting treatment for multiple myeloma, a specific form of leukemia, for 3 years she has known about the disease for 6. I and my siblings found out this info only last Tuesday. Of course I got on a plane the next day on the first flight out of Hilo and stayed the next week. She stabilized and seemed to be doing well enough that she went home. Most of my other siblings including me (we are 5 strong), started to head home one by one. That was bad news #1<br />
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JoAnn met me at the airport and on the way home she mentioned that the turkeys all had sores on their heads. The sores were just on their heads and neck areas that weren't covered with feathers. Once home a quick check on the internet confirmed the diagnosis of Fowl Pox. Both the turkeys and the new hatchlings had it. The adult chickens had varying degrees of involvement but not nearly as bad as the turkeys. Bad news #2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn9EQjpbtq3jvG79q2bgoVXF8HimRuYTOi4SPQvZumN3KjTaq4PHuXnqwdM05tuXoYm4hOfNh9shSW7ioI46RoOBurG_cVm0n0ddb4_84nbU0ctFYvlCoOCrAPGw3vul74S14QSF01J1k/s1600/DSC01896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn9EQjpbtq3jvG79q2bgoVXF8HimRuYTOi4SPQvZumN3KjTaq4PHuXnqwdM05tuXoYm4hOfNh9shSW7ioI46RoOBurG_cVm0n0ddb4_84nbU0ctFYvlCoOCrAPGw3vul74S14QSF01J1k/s200/DSC01896.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXfqwbNJAi-A516wBJnU7LV2K9MdNGS4A8rMTdj-itZl-1m5uzz3FB1SG83jDQz9DCkiTQAm4x3VA2hWhdKYW0gAOyIjMVicPZTfcF50YvQ0_eR-Gw4_ZRewMvcW92hVUSi7JP57-f6zs/s1600/DSC01911.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXfqwbNJAi-A516wBJnU7LV2K9MdNGS4A8rMTdj-itZl-1m5uzz3FB1SG83jDQz9DCkiTQAm4x3VA2hWhdKYW0gAOyIjMVicPZTfcF50YvQ0_eR-Gw4_ZRewMvcW92hVUSi7JP57-f6zs/s200/DSC01911.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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The following day, my sister relapsed and needed to be re-admitted to the hospital. This time it was total organ failure secondary to the leukemia. 2 weeks after I got the first phone call, I got the second, informing me that my sister passed away. Bad news #3</div>
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Not having any thing I could do to help my sister, I instead plowed into finding out more about how I can care for the birds I thought I can do something about.<br />Bad news #4- Fowl Pox is viral and there is nothing but palliative care that I can do for the birds. </div>
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We haven't dealt with this before so we called on a friend from </div>
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Turkey Talker Farm to come over and tell us what we need to do. Batina was quick to say yes, and set to work. She showed us how to remove the scabs that needed to be removed, clean out the ears that needed to be and showed us how to identify which ones that could be left alone. A dab of triple antibiotic and the turkeys were marked with a zip tie and let go. </div>
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We marked them for a couple of reasons, first, we'd know which ones were done and which needed to be checked, and second, any birds unmarked were free of visible pox so we would be able to tell if there was another outbreak. There have been cases of a flock getting the fowl pox, but skipping a few birds. It could be that they actually got the virus, but didn't show outward symptoms.<br /></div>
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Thankfully, once these birds get the pox, they are going to be immune to the next exposure. Not so for their offspring, so we know now that we need to immunize any future chicks. Its a two part medication, adding half of the blue liquid into dry powder, mixing until powder is incorporated, then adding the remaining liquid into the medication to complete the mixing. Using the scratcher supplied, you dip into the liquid and poke the bird through the web portion of one of the wings to inoculate. Check a week later for signs of a small blister or scab and that's it. </div>
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<br />It's been a few days and the birds are already showing fewer signs that they had the pox. 8 of the 10 turkeys are clear, two are lumpy, none of the chickens are showing signs except the babies. This pox can turn 'wet', meaning it can turn inward, in the respiratory tract and cause a pseudo pneumonia.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One of the chicks was suffering unduly and we culled it out of the mini flock both to prevent other chicks from getting this and to ease its pain. We dispatched it as humanely as possible, we wanted no more suffering for the little one. Each bird at our farm is a valuable asset, whether for eggs, meat or company so even the little ones are a big loss. </div>
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Everyone gets bad news, and occasionally we can tend to get it in great lumps. The adage, "Time heals all things" is woefully inadequate, but pretty much the only thing we can cling to in these times. </div>
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Next Post : Expansion and updates<br /> </div>
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superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-79855603299591043572017-07-17T08:48:00.000-07:002017-07-17T12:37:19.679-07:00The Chicks have Hatched!<h2>
Our Second Brood</h2>
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We recently purchased a commercial version of a home incubator. A fancy way of saying a nice styrofoam box to hatch out chickens. We picked this up our local Del's Tractor Supply (no they don't sell tractors.) This one was the top of the line they had in stock. The Farm Innovator's Digital Circulated Air Incubator with Egg Turner. <br />
It has a thermostatically controlled heater, a circulating fan to reduce hot and <br />
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cool spots, a tray with room for 41 eggs, a motorized egg turner so we wouldn't have to, a lower set of water channels for maintaining the proper humidity, and small weave hardware cloth to keep the chicks out of the channels and the water once they'd hatched. It also has a large viewing window for watching the process, and a control module that keeps track on monitoring/ displaying the temperature, humidity % and the number of days left for incubation. Temp of the heater is preset, but you can change it to whatever you want in 1/2 degrees from, I believe, 98.5-101. You can also set the egg hatch time for using this for turkey, quail, geese or any other bird's eggs.<br />
This product did all it said it would, turned the eggs, though initially this mechanism was a bit loud, I was able to get it whisper quiet by applying a touch of Vaseline to the gear tracks. Didn't make a sound after that. </div>
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We loaded up 41 fertilized eggs in to the unit and set it to work. After a week we candled the eggs, BTW- they provide a Candler! - and found that of the 41, 40 had embryos! We kept the 41st to check again at the next candling date, just in case. Second check same as the first. 40 developing embryos one clear egg. Third candling showed us only dark forms in the shell, and the outline of a very clear air spot. We could see movement, but no real definition through the brown shells. </div>
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We were a bit surprised on the the first two chicks arrival since they hatched out a day early. Along with the new incubator, we tried setting eggs the commercial way. That is, chilling a number of eggs for a number of days to try to get them all to hatch out on the same single day. Whoops- didn't work so well at first. </div>
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The next day was busy for the chicks- most of them hatched out this day- we had 12 eggs not hatching. We did get two more from this group to hatch out after midnight, so a total of 31 of the 41 we set actually hatched. We had one pip out that later died, but over all a hatch rate of 73.1 % or a 50% increase over our first time! Lightening is getting better at this the older he gets. </div>
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We did get three chicks with Splay. This is a ligament stretching that leaves the chicks with their feet "splayed" out hence the name. They have a hard time standing since the ligaments are out of place. Most people with these chicks cull them out, but we are trying to fix this so we can keep the chicks in the flock. So far it is promising. we should only have to treat these little ones for another day or so. They are already up and walking, even hobbled as they are with the soft band-aid 'brace".<br />
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We are starting a Korean Farming Method of raising our chickens. We've been attending classes at the Hawaiian Sanctuary and per their instructions, we started them off by feeding them Brown Rice for the first three days. We start the boiled egg yolks for them tomorrow. And finally, we are moving them into their new home today, the red brooder in the coop, to get used to the hens they will eventually be flock mates with.<br />
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We have another new item to keep them warm; a brooder heating plate. </div>
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Rather than a light that can burn out or worse, start a fire, we have a new flat plate heater that we can adjust the height as the chicks grow. They are under it now, so I thin they'll be fine using it one we set it in the coop. This should comfortably fit all 30 of the new chicks and I will post an up date soon! </div>
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Next: Growing chicks and prepping the new runs.</div>
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superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-53768522759283874322017-07-09T03:50:00.000-07:002017-07-09T03:50:45.182-07:00Whats happening here<h2>
Something other than Chickens</h2>
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What do you mean,"other than chickens?"</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDRZvbejUwavE_AibcExJ17xGuAzseAE9QG5SbVwDHpuyEw3hb2OGkYX0OrnjVZ80hNHSFkFopmp2-Ndk1ZSh-VfUNkDev66T6oGgQlf6y4yW_aFlcvHXkDTaWvfJSf_bqQO6TJIKAQk4/s1600/rainbow+eucalyptus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDRZvbejUwavE_AibcExJ17xGuAzseAE9QG5SbVwDHpuyEw3hb2OGkYX0OrnjVZ80hNHSFkFopmp2-Ndk1ZSh-VfUNkDev66T6oGgQlf6y4yW_aFlcvHXkDTaWvfJSf_bqQO6TJIKAQk4/s200/rainbow+eucalyptus.jpg" width="150" /></a> Yeah, there is life other than chickens at our little one acre farm. Today, JoAnn and I got the log moving system perfected. Let me go flashback a bit to explain and get you up to speed on this. One of our good friends, Julia introduced us to couple that had just gotten their Rainbow Eucalyptus cut down, but the tree guys left it laying in their driveway. Our friends knew I had a chainsaw and thought, how nice it would be if we could go over and cut up the tree and haul it off for them. If you've never seen one, the Rainbow variety of the eucalyptus is stunning while alive, sporting an exterior set of reds, greens, some yellows and a few shade of the above. The inner wood is a rich set of browns, and pale off whites when dry. This photo is not me, nor my friends but it was the best non-"enhanced" picture of the tree I am speaking of. It can grow quite large, 'ours being 30" and the base to about an 18-20" diameter for the smallest segment. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWjsfyjOWgT4kJR2-uUt6cZ_o3J23riQL31b_UrRH8VZwv0zEhfHF_boZo2kLw_8UXCzFwrxca514g_nxV4c4wfUhu5GVYWLPVI5w_HD0pDsrfRryqdTGUIFsmEG6CK5jIfhqFknCM718/s1600/Cranelike+machines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1268" data-original-width="1600" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWjsfyjOWgT4kJR2-uUt6cZ_o3J23riQL31b_UrRH8VZwv0zEhfHF_boZo2kLw_8UXCzFwrxca514g_nxV4c4wfUhu5GVYWLPVI5w_HD0pDsrfRryqdTGUIFsmEG6CK5jIfhqFknCM718/s200/Cranelike+machines.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The things we didn't have</td></tr>
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We cut the trees (there were two) into 8' lengths that I would estimate at about a ton each. There were a total of 6 pieces at this length, with a single one of about 5' being cut up into 6" stepping "stone" slices for our friends. The last of that log went to Glenn and Julia for their garden as a bench project. We then had the fun of figuring out how we were going to get these things off the ground and onto my puny pick up truck. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP8_KqHQd42icRyUe4EHHZyLM8nAG_97sc8w8mBrP0OYOGsvfBMjgbIZGkKMV7jWXUtTQGgafVvxtcfZJeGc0bPijkfjdRu_v2jXyoroJba32HO0OX0GKjhE7JQ-l4vsjyWa2s7i8Uu7g/s1600/Eucalyptus+1+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1091" data-original-width="818" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP8_KqHQd42icRyUe4EHHZyLM8nAG_97sc8w8mBrP0OYOGsvfBMjgbIZGkKMV7jWXUtTQGgafVvxtcfZJeGc0bPijkfjdRu_v2jXyoroJba32HO0OX0GKjhE7JQ-l4vsjyWa2s7i8Uu7g/s200/Eucalyptus+1+%25282%2529.jpg" width="149" /></a></div>
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I had a chainsaw, a tow chain, an O'o Bar which is a large prying lever, some rope, and a come-along. I like to think that I can sometimes be a bit smarter that a log, so I thought, "what would an ancient do?" I came up with this: </div>
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Enlarge the photo to see a tripod made of 2) 4" x 4" x 96" wood and one 2" x 4" x 96" bracing leg held together with a 5?8" galvanized bolt. With this contraption we are now able to get the log up off the ground, one end at a time, Balance it in the air, drive the truck under it to wedge it on the bed, where we then use the O'o bar to hold it in place as we re set the chain to the rear of the log still on the ground. Lifting this last end up, we can then pressure the log to slide on the plastic bed liner. It is working so well that we actually got two logs today! It's been a week of building the a frame, testing it, lifting the logs, cutting the stepping stones, delivering them. Then working out the lifting procedure for logs that weight way more than my truck, let alone what it is supposed to handle carrying. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsl5HqubGPqGuIp6o9JMu_NhzY7cQtj80pn1w9kfKXCG1c7lqfQBwim8AtJE-PkBohERsCg89tOpy3s687ZAip9lLBu5wsq_18mWPmI6IsO1SFbSj9jFqzHbFw9_pu5b1b0ejmzN3V86w/s1600/Eucalyptus+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="864" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsl5HqubGPqGuIp6o9JMu_NhzY7cQtj80pn1w9kfKXCG1c7lqfQBwim8AtJE-PkBohERsCg89tOpy3s687ZAip9lLBu5wsq_18mWPmI6IsO1SFbSj9jFqzHbFw9_pu5b1b0ejmzN3V86w/s200/Eucalyptus+3.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
JoAnn is standing by the truck here with the last log we hauled today still inside the bed. We attached the log to a stump I had left for this reason, and I simply drove out from under the log. It bounced a bit but it was easily put into place next to the others.</div>
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SO what am I going to do with 8 ft logs? Ahh- the 64$ question. I am going to mill them into dimensional lumber and build some furniture out of them. I have plans for a behind the couch table, and a custom door to name just 2. Stay tuned for that adventure!</div>
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superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325133057058462037.post-91471436132190908252017-07-04T13:14:00.000-07:002017-07-04T13:14:05.931-07:0013 Mile Farm Tour<h2>
Our Tour </h2>
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Smell Free is possible!</h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTXJ7Sj1ToXFeeUYQ8_O02684gedM-IuyMDgL0DWa7qLa7qfDm-nKa70znmf0OckLr2Owg7cSbjHr3xtZvB3CYdEqb6kFNvsz2DES4xXWpRwH3XhChhIJoVc3qq2IxiBn5lrY4yFTJnu4/s1600/Hawaiian+Sanctuary+Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="81" data-original-width="243" height="66" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTXJ7Sj1ToXFeeUYQ8_O02684gedM-IuyMDgL0DWa7qLa7qfDm-nKa70znmf0OckLr2Owg7cSbjHr3xtZvB3CYdEqb6kFNvsz2DES4xXWpRwH3XhChhIJoVc3qq2IxiBn5lrY4yFTJnu4/s200/Hawaiian+Sanctuary+Logo.jpg" title="Hawaiian Sanctuary Logo" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Farm Classes every Thursday Morning</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">JoAnn and I signed up and attended a two part class at Hawaiian Sanctuary "<span style="background: rgb(255 , 255 , 255); border: 0px; color: #545454; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Starting a Poultry Flock" </span><span style="background: rgb(255 , 255 , 255); border: 0px; color: #545454; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">by Chris Hardenbrook, Owner of 13-Mile Farm. During the class he mentioned that his farm was smell and fly free and neither of us really believed that statement. We have been fighting flies since we got the chickens and we don't want to be bad neighbors so we were eager to talk to him more about this. We waited after class to talk about arranging a farm tour and a few anxious days later </span>we were very excited to meet up with Chris. After getting lost once on the way, (it turns out that 13 mile road isn't really on any of the Hawaii maps), but we got there after a few clear directions by phone.</span> </div>
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A little history: I grew up in an area that raised chickens for the some of the big commercial brands, Zacky and Foster Farms were the biggest, and the ranchers that raised the birds would muck out their barns once a year with a backhoe / loader. Their idea of manure management at the time was to raise a full year of chickens then clean the barns out once a year.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDR3hUJIN7KxR5wyo6jd-C9DcYS4wuvtvh0b2o99aX2R57zuYuLKnwrJqjImPMG48r41NlERoskEktC9xZ9LbJYgiHmMFVlhbNzK1_RPTFnPgSlbkBbkx6rGm44KJ-OV8jr6rxblQTwwQ/s1600/tractor+cleaning+pens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDR3hUJIN7KxR5wyo6jd-C9DcYS4wuvtvh0b2o99aX2R57zuYuLKnwrJqjImPMG48r41NlERoskEktC9xZ9LbJYgiHmMFVlhbNzK1_RPTFnPgSlbkBbkx6rGm44KJ-OV8jr6rxblQTwwQ/s200/tractor+cleaning+pens.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Though we were miles away, we always knew when they were mucking out to reload the barns with chicks because of the odor after the tractors pulled the knee deep refuse out. You really couldn't get away from it and even miles upwind wasn't safe. Needless to say, I had my doubts about a smell free, fly free system of any kind working at all.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-AIUtHd1NCqhvd4MNc7grw9-7xDsXzeCOW9r3e6avUVm1ecUUnRfoavh7ZFlxZ9cypmDuRKKCMcevZqyQhDDVhi1dD22JMvSoFl1mvFiqP1rxfToEVfVjL81ZSb0iIC7GjAeEu_2DY5Y/s1600/Smelly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="203" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-AIUtHd1NCqhvd4MNc7grw9-7xDsXzeCOW9r3e6avUVm1ecUUnRfoavh7ZFlxZ9cypmDuRKKCMcevZqyQhDDVhi1dD22JMvSoFl1mvFiqP1rxfToEVfVjL81ZSb0iIC7GjAeEu_2DY5Y/s200/Smelly.jpg" width="163" /></a>Walking up to the pens, Chris told us he had 200 chickens in a converted greenhouse that he divides up based on age. He keeps the young chicks and poults separate from the laying hens, both having separate grassy pasture areas for themselves. <br />
Based on my youthful experience, 200 chickens should smell pretty ripe especially since he maintains a 'deep litter' system. In my head that means lots of uncleaned out poop that = smelly. </div>
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Wow, what a deal. I didn't smell anything but jungle foliage and earth until I was in the pen standing among the birds. The smell of chickens was there, but not of chicken manure. I couldn't believe that that many birds smelled like a small fraction of them. It was amazing! The floor was indeed thick with bedding- straw, dirt and mulch to about 6". <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6If_R1M7z7EEyHtN0QTkODnNjoKlLLx6afP-IyIlKqK_5ZQqCoXMA33xwnlzyfzyuvgMmN4QgLZMqoVdf0CQhcYk7yTL9kY-YbOt_mdddQLk0Rvr-UbtGNacoxqvIKBI7Vm2WSBb21KY/s1600/cropped-cgnf-harmony-300x300.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6If_R1M7z7EEyHtN0QTkODnNjoKlLLx6afP-IyIlKqK_5ZQqCoXMA33xwnlzyfzyuvgMmN4QgLZMqoVdf0CQhcYk7yTL9kY-YbOt_mdddQLk0Rvr-UbtGNacoxqvIKBI7Vm2WSBb21KY/s200/cropped-cgnf-harmony-300x300.png" width="200" /></a>He stated that he adds a bit of straw as needed which worked out for him about once a month; a little handful here and there and that was it. I really can't tell you how clean this smelled, and it would be folly to try since there is now such thing as smell-a-vision for your proof. All I can say is if you are wanting to go smell free to call and visit someone's farm in person that <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHqek7VeqqdHY4oViRklUHkF-GY-YhX23Kale2c0X-N9T2kk0T9YgwQ8MGvuaf7IQWaz9bMjTUv2fMgdjyzBxEvMQX_n0h-BDSwfDIxnHree4hw46TSS3Ueh7O9VdsJt3kB3SEDkkF4sY/s1600/bacteria+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHqek7VeqqdHY4oViRklUHkF-GY-YhX23Kale2c0X-N9T2kk0T9YgwQ8MGvuaf7IQWaz9bMjTUv2fMgdjyzBxEvMQX_n0h-BDSwfDIxnHree4hw46TSS3Ueh7O9VdsJt3kB3SEDkkF4sY/s200/bacteria+1.png" width="200" /></a>employs the KNF [Korean Natural Farming] method of Deep Litter husbandry. It is not just about letting the floor accumulate bedding material and feces, but the carefully controlled micro-organism soup application in KNF that makes the magic possible. Cleaning out the pens is done quarterly, with 2/3rd's of the litter going directly on the garden or into the mulch piles making a valuable resource out of used chicken feed! the remaining 1/3rd charges up the litter with the beneficial bacteria.<br />
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You must / need to experience this for yourself! Yes, there were a few flies, but with the smell so unobtrusive they weren't nearly as numerous as they should have or could have been for the number of chickens!<br />
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I am sold. I will be using this method on our chicken run expansion for day one, and I am convinced that we can be as smell and fly free as a chicken pen can be. I'll keep you posted on this one. </div>
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superkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758526303927624868noreply@blogger.com0