Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Pictures










Seeya

New Meat Chickens

So, Caleb and I decided to raise a few meat chickens over the summer. Actually over the next like two months.

That's how long they take to get to butcher size.

We went to our local Tractor Supply and bought ten Cornish Rock chicks. We would have gotten a Red Ranger to put in with the others but they did not have any. We where planning on getting one because of this YouTube video which says that the Cornish Rocks may be more active foragers when they are with Red Rangers than if they aren't.

Anyway, when we got home we put them in the big black tub with bedding, feed, water, and a light. We did not have a heat bulb so we used a normal one that only put off a little bit of heat. Not optimal but it was not very cold outside anyway.

The next day when we went out to check on them one was dead. I think that it got too cold.

Two days after we got them one was missing, bringing our total down to eight.

We thought that it ether got out and died in the cold or something small had gotten it.

Now before we go any farther let me explain something. Caleb and I had decided to only let them have feed during the day. Several YouTube videos said that if you only give them feed half of the time that their legs will be able to keep up with their weight gain and not have as many leg problems.

So we put their feeder in the pen all day and take it out at night.

Anyway, the later on we counted and there were nine again.

I think that it somehow got under the feeder and was there when we counted the first time and we thought there where only eight.

I will try to post some pics soon. Until then...
Seeya

Thursday, March 24, 2016

A Couple more pics of MacGyver



Seeya

MacGyver the Rooster

This little guy was given to me the other day.



He is some kind of bantam breed. Not sure what kind though. If anybody has any idea please let me know in the comments.

We named him MacGyver.

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Also I bought one of Laura's rabbits. She is due to kindle on the 3-31. I moved her up to the house and put her into one of my chicken tractors. The one with the built in nest box. Here are some pics.







Seeya

Monday, March 21, 2016

Deer

Now, first of all let me say that there are lots of deer in and around the woods near our house but you can't get close enough to them to get a good picture. (I have tried unsuccessfully for a long time)

Well, these three deer came right into our yard! Normally Jack would chase them off but this time he was inside.

Deer in the yard is nice to look at but when we have a garden we don't want them to destroy everything. Right now though, we don't have anything growing in the garden so we let them be.

Anyway, here's the pics...




Seeya

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Mealworms!

So, I ordered 1000 mealworms and they came today.

"Why would I order 1000 worms?" you might ask.

Well, I am going to try to feed them until they turn into beetles and then the beetles will lay eggs. From there on the eggs turn to worms and the worms get bigger and bigger until they eventually turn to beetles again. You can feed the worms to chickens, fish, ducks, turkeys, and basically anything that eats bugs in the wild.

They will not completely substitute chicken pellets but they will supplement it. Reducing the cost of the feed dramatically.

(Hopefully)

We shall see.

Anyway here's the video.
https://youtu.be/rL4z9b3jrHY
Seeya

Monday, March 14, 2016

A Chicken Growing in an Egg

Nobody could design such a complex and intricate thing as an egg but God. He is truly amazing!

Free Ranging Chickens

I have wanted to free range for a long time but Jack(our dog) would kill and eat them. Well, he has gotten a lot older, slower, and lazier over winter because he just ignores them now. Here is a video of me letting them out in the morning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYKVtvHjiNw

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Pictures (Mostly Goats)


Most of the pictures where taken by Zach, my 7 year old bro.

Laura named her two new goats Ruff and Tuff.

The brown doe is Ruff and the black buck is Tuff.





We have been getting lots of eggs.

Zach holding Ruff





Tuff found a feed trough.




The old bathtub that we use for a watering trough







Tuff and Ruff resting after there tiering journey around the stall.
Seeya