Covering Costs and Then Some....

Remember this post? I wrote this a couple of years ago - it's all about how to just get started slowly on the path to being able to provide your family with healthy, low cost food.

I love it when someone reads a post and then puts it into practice!

One of our followers, Rina put a post up on The Journey to Homesteading Forum all about what she gleaned from my post and how she put it into action.

Click on the link and take a read through her post. Now she is beginning to get more orders for meat birds. Good for you Rina, I'm really glad you took the words and put them into action!

Tomorrow, I'll be posting about Smoking Salmon. We are having Very busy days here, and it didn't help that we were away all day yesterday. It was fun though!  Sphere: Related Content

Experiments

For those who have read this blog for a couple years now, you've probably already realized that every year, I like to do a few "experiments".

Several years ago, the experiment was to grow rutabagas and Mangels for a food source for our pigs and chickens.

The following year, I experimented with using Buckwheat as chicken feed and a green manure. I needed to increase the fertility of the the Strawberry Bed.

Last year, the big experiment turned out to be keeping meat birds over Winter. I wasn't expecting to do that, but that is just what we ended up doing.

We kept 2 roosters and 6 hens, all Cornish Giants. Over the next few months, the pullets became hens when they started laying beautiful eggs. 

This Winter has been hard on our chicken population.  First what we think was a fox came calling and killed some of the Cornish Giant hens. They may have been targeted because they are larger and more cumbersome. My other laying hens can run pretty quick!

Then what we think may have been an owl got into the chicken coop and killed the remaining Cornish Giant Hen. Before that, the largest rooster kicked the bucket. Flat on his back, legs up in the air.

We are now down to 1 Cornish Giant rooster and 7 Red Sex Link laying hens.

Why am I telling you this? In the next day or so, I'll finally post about what the Experiment of 2011 seems to be.

What about you? Do you do experiments each year? Trials of certain veggies or flowers?

I usually try to find something to experiment that won't take a lot of my time - time becomes quite precious during the growing season around here. Sphere: Related Content

Christmas Dinner!

I know it's kind of early, but we do already have our Christmas bird picked out!

Here he is....we butchered him this morning.

I like using these needlenose pliers for getting those last pin feathers out....

8.4 pounds....he'll be great for Christmas Dinner with the kids!

He looks kinda of....well, mottled right now, doesn't he? That's normal....we will now chill him in the fridge for 24 hours. His colouring will even out and he will be ready to pop in the freezer.

We have 10 more birds to do and then we are all done for the year! We're going to get up early tomorrow and knock them off....

I figured I should mark the bag, just in case he should get pulled out and roasted by mistake!!!

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Ginger is spending part of her days hanging out down at the barn...I take her down with me when I go to feed and leave it up to her as to whether she wants to come back up to the house....

She won't go down there on her own, I carry her. But once down there, she often finds something to amuse herself (like chasing balls of fluff from the cottonwoods) and stays down there for awhile.

I have now got the temporary fencing up down there for the hens. In the afternoons after their egg laying is finished, I open up the runs and they can go out all around the barn and forage for some food. They are doing a good job of "weeding" down close to the barn!

In the evening I go down and put them back in their run and bring all the meat birds back into the meat bird room.

Busy hens laying lots of eggs now every day for us!

The meat birds are getting bigger!

They are now six weeks old....so in two weeks we can probably start butchering.

I've started scrambling eggs  daily to give to them which they love!

Greenhouse hot Peppers coming along nicely

The tomato plants are growing and flowering!

On the left are the peppers. Along the back is the Corn....this year we bought a Stihl with a blade attachment. I've been using it to clean up along side the upper driveway. It works awesome!

We also got the tiller attachment....it also works well but it is quite heavy for me to use. My arms will be Huge by the time I get all the tilling done around here!

My right arm does bother me after using it....it still gets sore.

We are harvesting Spinach, Lettuce Greens and Turnips now. The peas are growing wonderfully and are just now starting to flower. I did put them in a bit late this Year....

Today I am concentrating on getting more eggs Pickled....and I want to finish the Upper pathway in the Main Garden. I am putting down empty feed bags, then putting Straw on top of that. I'd rather not had to resort to the feed bags, but I have to do something to reduce the amount of weeding around here.

Next week, I think a bit of Fishing is in the plans! Fun....we love fishing here in the Cariboo, there are so many lakes to choose from! They stock most of the lakes around here so fishing is almost always good!

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An Outdoor Run for the Meat Birds

Soooooo....yesterday I was able to get started on the run for the meat birds, down at the barn. First I had to move a bunch of milled lumber we had stacked along the outside wall....trying to keep the wood out of the weather.

Got that all moved, then got the run as level as I could rake it. Then I spread out a bale of hay and started gathering T posts.

Gotta luv the Tposts! They make fencing pretty easy. I used 2inch chicken wire and threaded the posts thru the wire. Found the small sledgehammer to pound the posts in.

Then I moved the feeders and waterers outside in an attempt to entice the meat birds out into the fresh air....and you can see it worked! Those birds will Walk for Food, that is for sure.....

So, another major job on the To Do List that has now been crossed off....YEAH!!!!!! As long as the weather is good, the birds can go out during the day. We have two doors on that side of the room, for easy out and in's......

A tip: If you can, place your feeders and waterers close to the building. If it rains, they will be under the eaves so the feed doesn't get all wet and clumpy!

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Busy Weekend!

It was a very productive weekend here in the Valley! I'm tired...but glad so much got done....this time of year, it is so easy to feel overwhelmed with all the chores that need doing.

I was able to get one batch of Rhubarb Wine started....bop over here if you want the recipe and process. We're hoping this year's batch doesn't have quite as much "kick" to it...last year's was a little strong for our liking.

This time, I put in 10 pounds of sugar and there is probably 6 gallons of juice in the primary fermenter.

Uggghhhhh....the main Veggie Garden is FULL of weeds. I was finally able to get in there this weekend and get some weeding done. This is the Before pic...the After pic will just have to wait!

Horses in the neighbouring fields....it's so nice to watch them run!

Our manure piles are in the foreground...finished compost on the right hand side. I'll keep using this up as side and top dressing for the garden veggies.

Fresher pile on the left....you can see all the bedding from the meat bird brooder added to the pile. That stuff makes Excellent compost! It's simply wonderful!

And I mowed...and mowed....and mowed the lawn. Today I am hoping to get back in the Veggie Garden to keep weeding!

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Moved the Meat Birds

Yesterday, I managed to get the meat birds moved down to the barn. It took a few trips with them in one of those plastic totes to get them all down there. We don't like stressing our birds if we can help it, so I don't mind carrying them down instead of using the lil John Deere. I think the machinery noise would freak them out!

We've got 2 brooder lights and 3 large feeders down there, plus 2 large waterers....ample for every one of them to gather around.

You can see the homemade feeder that the Gman made.....if you want to know how he did it, come on over here....there is no point buying a feeder (up here they want $60 for the big ones!). Instead he made one for less than $10. Works great too!!

I've now got to get to work putting up the temporary fencing for their outdoor run!

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Question about Bedding for the Meat Birds

Mattias brought up a good question, which I neglected to mention in the original posts about the meat birds.

He asks:  Annie, do you keep adding wood chips after moving your birds to the shed, or do you muck out and replace wood chip bedding?

I figured I would do a post about the bedding...so here's what we do...

When the chicks are in the brooder, we use wood shavings. Now, I've read all about deep litter and how you can just stir the bedding and then add to it. For whatever reason, that never works for me. Within a couple of days the litter smells too much of ammonia, which cais NOT good for the chicks.

So everyday, I add a new layer of shavings on top of the old. Then, every few days (maybe twice a week) I take out all the bedding and start anew. To get the old bedding out, I just use a dustpan and scrape it along the bottom of the brooder. easy peasy.

We just use old paper feed bags, both for the fresh bedding from the sawmill, and also for the spent bedding being taken out of the brooder. Then the bags make their way down to the manure pile, where it gets added on....

Once we move the birds down to the meat bird room at the barn, we use hay spread out on the floor. You can use straw or hay, whatever you can get for cheap or free (cheap ol me.....)

Every day I add another layer of hay to keep the top of the bedding dry. Maybe twice during the last 5 weeks, we remove the old bedding. Because we have an outside run right off this room, we can kick the chicks out (not literally!) into the run.

That gives us time to lift off the old bedding and open up the double doors to let the room air out even more.

Pick a nice day to do it and the birds can stay outside the whole time....

Two other points:

Before we lay hay down, we go to the local gravel pit and get a load of sand (it is free for us, we just have to shovel it, no heavy machinery allowed!) By doing this, it makes is SOOOO much easier when it comes time to clean out the room. The hay lifts up and separates from the sand....

Second point...once the birds go down to the barn, we feed them inside for maybe a week. Then we move the feeding outdoors in the runs.

This has a couple of benefits...the first is that the birds get used to going outside. Fresh air and sunshine are as good for the birds as they are for you and I. Another benefit of course is that they do a pretty good amount of their pooping outside, which saves work on our behalf in the actual room.

If it starts raining fairly hard, we do have to go down there and let the birds back in to the room. We have found if we leave the doors open, the majority will just sit inside, when we want them outside. But you can't leave birds out in the pouring rain...well, you shouldn't!

Does this info help Mattias? Any more questions, please anyone.... just ask....

There's work involved in having meat birds! Don't think you can just order in meat birds and leave them to their own devices. Meat birds have been bred to gain weight FAST....they poop a LOT.

But I'll take those 8 weeks of work for the wonderful benefit of knowing exactly how my meat birds have been raised....and of course they taste delicious! Sphere: Related Content

The Meat Birds are Growing!

Here's a pic I took this morning of the meat birds....they are almost 3 weeks old.

They are actually kinda ugly at this point...but you can see how many feathers are coming in!

 In a couple of days, they will be feathered out enough that I will bring them down to the meat bird room at the barn. They'll stay there for the rest of their time here.....

In the next 5 weeks, they will grow and grow and grow and grow.....the average weight when finished should be about 7 pounds, dressed!

Hard to believe now by looking at them isn't it?

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Meat Bird Chicks

Here's our new chick brooder set up. The Gman had the base already built for another project.....so all he had to do was put up the side boards. This will work MUCH better for us than the cardboard brooders we have been building!

When the chicks are old enuf to move down to the barn, we will just stand this brooder on end and lean it up against one wall of the shop.

Looking at that pic, can u see what is wrong? With the chicks I mean?

See how most of them are piled up under the lights? That means they were too cold. They are trying to get warm by huddling together under the heat lamps.

To correct this, I dropped the lights down a bit, to get them closer to the chicks.

If you find most of your chicks huddled around the Perimeter of the brooder, this would mean the chicks are too hot and are trying to find the coolest place. In that case, you would move the lights up a bit.

It's all kind of finicky until you get the heat lamps at the right height. Watch your chicks carefully and check on them often. Adjust the lights as you need to.

You want it to be 95F under the lights.....

Once the lights are at the right height, you will find some of the chicks under the lights, some around the edges and some eating and drinking. This is a good thing!

I feel like I am running an Animal Day Care around this joint!

Between pigs, hens, a wolf, a kitten and now these chicks, it seems all I am doing is running around making sure everyone is ok, ha!

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How to Get Started on The Path to Providing For Your Family

Here's a link to a post I wrote almost a year ago (Wow! Has it been that long???)

There is lots of good info in there about getting started with laying hens, and then, as time and finances permit, moving up to raising meat birds. Most of you folks who are regular readers already know that we also raise weaner pigs during the Spring, Summer and Fall.

Success on the homestead is often a result of Starting Small, and Gradually Growing....check it out!

Comments? Questions? Please leave some! We like getting feedback about what we put on this blog - hopefully it helps a lot of folks out!

Know what you eat! And....Know what you grow! Sphere: Related Content

Processing the Last of the Meat Birds....and Drying Spinach

The Gman has handled the last of the meat birds for the last time this year...and boy, is he happy about that!

He parted out the last 4 birds....so we'll have lots of freezer packs of breasts, drumsticks, thighs and wings.

As well, we put the 4 carcasses in the freezer. When we have time, we'll turn them into chicken broth and can them up....

Beautiful size on the breasts....

The Spinach is really starting to bolt. We'll toss those in for the laying hens, they love da Spinach. I picked most of the leaves from the plants that haven't yet started to turn....

and here they sit, all over the house, lol. Figured we might as well dry them. After they are done, we'll store them in canning jars and use them in soups, stews and such over the wintertime....

ooops, excuse the pic, should have turned it around....

And....two orders yesterday for salad greens....1 lb bags each, plus some extra lettuce and broccoli.

Chard, beet greens, a wee bit of spinach, lettuce and collards here in the basket waiting for a quick rinse....

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Harvesting, Help Arrives and Finishing the Meat Birds

Yesterday's contribution to our dinner....a gorgeous head of lettuce and a nice zuccini, the first one to grace our dinner plates this year!

Yesterday morning, a friend arrived to help out for a bit....she worked in the Animal Garden, thinning rutabagas.....very nice of her to offer!!

And....the last of the Meat Birds! Can you hear the Gman yelling Yahooooooo? Well, he is!

And we're so glad it's over with...I was able to help him with the first couple of batches he butchered, but after that he was unfortunately on his own....and it's been a Big Job!!!!

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Animals On The Farm

Here piggy piggy....

They are getting bigger! They've carved out a nice area under the willows. They like to go there in the afternoon when it gets hot. There are lots of nice shady areas under the willows for them to hang out and cool down.

The Gman threw a bunch of bolting Spinach in the laying hens run the other day....boy do they love Spinach! I swear I could hear them hopping around in there muttering I Yam what I Yam, and that's all that I Yam...

Right after he threw in the spinach, I went down to the Animal garden, snapped about 5 pics and came back to their run. By then, all that was left of the spinach was a couple of stalks.

The Gman has been butchering meat birds....too bad I can't help him now, but I can't. They are getting to be a nice size....

It will likely take him 3 more days to get the rest of them done....oh well, the later they get butchered, the bigger they should be!

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Processing Meat Birds

We've been processing the meat birds the last few days....to see the steps involved, check this out..... warning, it's graphic, but all the info you need is right there in the link! Sphere: Related Content

Meat Birds

The meat birds are spending quite a bit of time outside. We leave the 2 doors open and they can go in or out, whatever they like.

We've been bringing their feeders and waterers outside during the day and feeding them out there. At night, we bring them back in the barn. The birds are getting used to going in and out of the doors, they move pretty quick!

Come Monday, they will be 5 weeks old. They'll start putting on a lot of growth over their next few weeks....

We can start telling then hens from the roos....the roos are already beginning to develop larger combs...

roo on the far left, the other is a hen...

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Moving the Meat Birds Outside

Finally! We got it done!!! The ditch, that is....the one down at the barn outside the meatbird room.

We've been shovelling pickup truckloads of sand for a few days now. There's a gravel pit down the road from us....for the folks who work on the roads. They don't mind if people come to get sand and gravel there....as long as you don't bring big machinery in.

For us to pay delivery fees to have a truck come way out here would be really expensive. Free is better right? So, yeah....it's over with, and we're glad we won't have to haul gravel again for that job.

So now the ditching is done on that side, and we should really be able to see the difference next year when the Big Melt happens again in late winter....

We closed off the two ends with chicken wire, threw down some hay and then opened the doors to the meat bird room.

Well, there are a couple of them out there. We'll give them their late afternoon feeding out here, so we can get them all out and then we'll give their room a good cleaning with the pitchfork.

Chickens really do lay around in the oddest positions! They are 4 weeks old today, halfway thru their short lives....

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Strawberries...and Animals

These are the Mother Strawberries....they should do really well this year!!! No flowers yet tho....

We picked up a mini tote of feed for the meat birds....this is how the Gman has it rigged up to hang in the breezeway of the barn (to discourage mice)....

Our girls working

Pretty, isn't she? And it's so green everywhere, I love Spring!!!

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Our Chicks

I took a few pics of the meat birds today....

They're growing, for sure! We're hoping on Monday we can move them down to the barn. The weather is supposed to be warm this week. They'll be 2 weeks old this coming Monday....

We've still got the brooder lights on...

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