A new journey into homesteading "pic heavy"

[Chic Rustler]

 

[Chic Rustler]

 

[Chic Rustler]

In other news, one of the hens i marked decided to lay an egg this morning. I guess she knew what was coming.

Just dressed out 12 bunnies and 3 cockerels. Its been a productive day

 

[Beekissed]

That chip is looking good!

Do you can or freeze your rabbit and chicken?

 

[Chic Rustler]

Freeze. We need a pressure canner. And soon!

 

[Mini Horses]

YES, yes, yes --- I'm with BeeKissed on separating the broody hens. Eliminates issues with all things mentioned. Do it at night for best results.

Free ranging even a few hours a day helps with feed and health of birds, if possible to do. A couple hrs after you get home from work -- especially since they will then put themselves back into the coop with dusk. Nice habit. LOL

Rabbit may be THE most productive as to quantity, quality, feed conversion and speed -- for meat raising. I just hate the bucher part. Cuteness rules.

 

[Chic Rustler]

Free ranging is not gonna happen. I have a pit bull that loves killing chickens and my chickens prefer my neighbors horse pasture, who also has a pack of dogs.

I dont really need any more chicks so im just going to pull the eggs from under the broody until she moves on. I was gonna let her do her thing to get it out of her system if it wasnt a pita. But building a new pen is in the pita category when i have a million other things i need to work and spend money on. Not mention i have an incubator and chick set up in the shed if i need to hatch some more. I have hatched 42 chicks to date.

I also wont be fermenting feed. I tried it in the past an all of the grain got moldy after a few days of doing it. I know i must of done something wrong, (surprise) but i dont care to try it again. Its an extra step i dont need when im trying to get a 10 year old to feed the chickens.


I dont measure feed for the rabbits and i wont start anytime soon. I have been buying calf manna to help put wieght back on the does. I breed them a week after kindling for max production. (I know it seems harsh but i need to get meat in the freezer, they aren't pets) So i free feed them all- does, bunnies and bucks. If the bucks get too fat to do the job i will back them down on the food. But that hasnt been an issue yet.

I have however sourced a seasonal source for grain. Milo, cracked corn, wheat, and soy beans in large amounts for free after harvest. The farmers always drop a few hundred pounds on the ground when they are auging tons into the silo and i get it for free because it has some dirt in it. That will help


Evidently the internet has failed me in judging when a hen is laying. I keep researching and every method has failed short of putting my fingure up the chickens vent daily. So im going to sell or butcher all hens at 2 years and be done with it. Maybe ill figure something else out later but its a keep it simple solution for now.

Rabbit and chicken tractors: i kinda like the idea of it, but worry about parasites in the rabbits. As of now they never touch dirt so i dont have to worry about worms at all. And i really like all my rabbit maure being in nice little piles under the cages for composting purposes., i may give it a shot if i can throw something together cheap enough for a test run.

I have started deep litter in the coop. They do scratch it alot so maybe they are finding bugs? Not sure. I did it more for compost reasons. All the pine shavings and munure will be good for the garden


Rabbits not only grow faster they are much easier to clean. One day i might make a plucker tho. That would be nice! Cleaning chickens isnt fun. But i may get faster at it with practice


And as far as the money goes, im a few thousand into this deal already(all things outside the home). I didnt have the luxury or reusing anything or recycling because i started with nothing six months ago. I just scratched up what i could for cheap when i could and bought new stuff too. But the idea is that once everything is going at full capacity ill be able to make sales and the food will actually be profit. Seems i already have some friends who like buying eggs and others who like buying frozen rabbits and i have sold a few bunnies too. That should cover feed, seed and then some and i should have enough eggs and meat to keep us fed too once they all get to laying. I know u guys say not to count all the costs into the food, but i do. I call it an investment. And soon i expect to start seeing returns. The goal is that i will end up with free food. Meat, eggs, and vegetables to feed the family. All three areas depend on each other in a symbiotic relationship. My hope is that in 10 years we will have eaten more than the costs of getting it all up and going. Not counting labor tho! Thats a free exercise program that saves me money instead of going to a gym and teaches the kids character.

 

[Chic Rustler]

I also fed alot of the slaughter waste (and some things that weren't) to the dogs today. My great pyrenees puppy loves livers, hearts, kidneys, etc and that stuff is good for a growing puppy. They also got the scraps left over from quartering the chickens. The dogs are fat and happy tonight.

The other none usuable stuff like furs, guts and heads got buried deep in an unused portion of garden. Its my attempt at trench composting. Hopefully it will bring the worms in and nothing jumps the fence to dig it up.

All of the feathers went into the compost pile. I have read its a good nitrogen source. We will see.

 

[Chic Rustler]

Got another double yolk this morning. That makes 4 in two weeks. I wonder if it has anything to do with the light egg production.

 

[baymule]

Double yolks are fun! Sometimes I put them in our egg customer's cartons. Most have never seen one, so it's a BIG deal!