Ema
Power Conserver
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2011
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- 24
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Its been a couple months since my last journal entry, in fact the last one I wrote was about how i quit my job, and since then a lot has changed. I was adamant I was not going back to work, but my workplace worked out my issues, got rid of the problem and persistently asked me to come back until I agreed. they made me shift supervisor, got keys to the shop and the safe, and was given a raise. Things on the work front look good thus far.
At home things are, for lack of better words..hectic...Dh is still laid off, so much for a mid June call back to work...we have no real idea what is happening and the last couple times my Dh called his boss he gave him the run around. We are coming to terms that he may not be getting a call back this year.
As for the farm, we had all the best plans laid out, the barn that was getting finished, new coops to be built, and a small list of animals making their way to a permanent home here, but like many other things in life, things change. I did order 45 new chickens, mixed, and of different varieties, in my order form I had asked the hatchery to not add a description of what I got, mainly I wanted it to be a surprise, I also got 11 white turkeys, also mixed.
My dh was left in charge of building me the new chicken coop, I left it with a well described vision of what I wanted it to look like, where the vents needed to be and he added a few things I forgot, like a window and paint, but the process was painstaking. After buying a couple hundred dollars of wood and other supplies, I made sure to tell him, to really pay attention to the building process, knowing how he likes to throw things together and not really pay attention to detail, I told him he couldn't leave gaps and that he couldn't just leave nails and screws sticking out everywhere because well the chickens could get hurt.
I went to work the next day and when I came home, in a fowl mood I might add (no pun intended) I was presented with his new chicken coop design, already built. The roof was crooked and had an 8 inch gap between the wood and the outside wall of the barn, also the inside of the roof had no support beams at all!!!! the roof had an overhang on the back and the front of about 2 feet, and with a light wind I could see the wood lifting up. lets just say everything was as crooked as it could get. and the Inside, was a nightmare, nails and screws sticking out everywhere!!!!
Hard as it was I had to be honest with him and tell him it needed to be taken down, and put back together all over again properly.
It sat like that for a week or so, but he finally went back and took ti down and tried again. It was more or less another failed attempt, and this time I didn't even get to see it, he told me himself.
the third time around, was a week before the new chicks were due to arrive, with barely anytime left, I knew there was no way he was getting around to building a turkey brooder and the new pig pen. SO I asked him to focus on the chicken coop only, and on the design I left him with, nothing else.
so after a hot, long, 8 hour work day at the shop, I came home to a properly build chicken coop, that was straight and painted. He even went out and bought framing wood to frame the outside so it looked nicer.
The outside looked real good, and he even built an enclosed run for the chicks to be out in when we can't be home. The inside still had a few nails and screws sticking out and it came down to the last day, the day when the chicks arrived for him to correct those issues.
for whatever reason, the night before the chicks were due to arrive I couldn't help but feel anxious, the temperature was rapidly dipping, it had been hot for several weeks and now we were looking at possible snow, again, on the first week of June. So I was worried the chicks were not going to be warm enough. On top of that, I was due at work for 12 noon and by 9 am I still had not received a phone call from the ranch. I took a chance and by 10 am I was there looking to see if they had arrived. Lucky for me they had just gotten off the truck.
I was anxious to see them and see what the hatchery had sent me. When I opened the box I found the most amazing and cutest little chicks and turkey poults. I had some yellow babies, 2 very reddish brown ones, many black ones, and a few orangy gold ones, I got 2 black ones with yellow stripes on their heads, the turkeys of course are all the same colour, an off white yellow.
I have no clue what breeds the chicks are, but time will tell. I am not super anxious to find out what is what and who is who yet.
So now I had to brood these little guys, but with no time left I had to leave my dh to try to do his best and get them settled in their new coop, which had a space sectioned off with bales of hay to brood them under the heat lamp.
By the time I got off work on the 8th, it was quite chilly, and I rushed home, knowing there was no possible way the brooder in their new coop could keep them warm. and I was worried about the turkeys.
you see, since day one everyone has told me how aggressive turkeys are, and how they are dumb and tend to forget where their feed and water is and how fragile they are. I was also given mixed ideas of reasons why chicks and turkeys should be brooded together, or why they should not be.
When I got home to check on them, I had a turkey poult run right to me, and he literally placed his little head on my hand. I picked him up and realized his little legs were very cold. I decided it was time for plan B.
Plan B, had been decided upon because last year it was a very cool summer in fact, and so much so that I only had the air conditioner running for 2 weeks, one week was in the spring, and the second was a heat wave in july. the rest of the time, we saw loads of rain, and chilly temps were sweaters and long pants were required. I knew from brooding my girls last year that the temps were and could be all over the place this year too.
so plan B was a plastic kiddie pool that fits on my kitchen table, with a hard wire mesh on top and the brooding lamp. and the chicks came inside for warmth.
during the week they have been inside I have come to see and be surprised at the turkeys behaviour. the chicks are quick to peck my hand, my turkeys have been gentle, and I got one poult that always comes to see me, or calls for me when I walk away. I have named him Louie, now he could be a girl or a boy, I really do not know, but he or she will be one of three that will make the cut and have a permanent home here. You see I only ordered 45 chicks and 10 turkeys, but I received 49 chicks and 11 turkeys, 20 chicks will become layers and stay on permanently, 2 turkey hens and one turkey male will also remain. the rest will fulfill their duties on this farm at the end of the fall.
I think it will be hard to choose one from the other when the time comes, but honestly speaking they will all have the same life. a good one!!
Today they all returned to their coop, its been a constant 29C here, pretty warm if you ask me and they really needed more room to run around. My dh and I are seriously in love with the turkey poults, primarily Louie, we have a nanny cam set up to watch them, just so we can be sure they are alright, after all they are only just over a week old!!.
The turkeys are not dumb, they are the first ones to run to the food, when we fill it, and even if its moved they know where it is, and the same with the water. Brooding them together I was a little confused as to what to feed them, but I made a mistake when buying feed and bought a bag of chicks starter, instead of turkey starter, knowing I couldn't bring it back after opening it and placing it in its storage cylinder I decided to buy buy a bag of turkey starter as well, which I placed in a different storage cylinder.
So I then took a clean, small coffee can and mixed 3 parts chick feed to 5 parts turkey feed, and that is what they are eating. So far they all look real good and thriving!!
Ema
At home things are, for lack of better words..hectic...Dh is still laid off, so much for a mid June call back to work...we have no real idea what is happening and the last couple times my Dh called his boss he gave him the run around. We are coming to terms that he may not be getting a call back this year.
As for the farm, we had all the best plans laid out, the barn that was getting finished, new coops to be built, and a small list of animals making their way to a permanent home here, but like many other things in life, things change. I did order 45 new chickens, mixed, and of different varieties, in my order form I had asked the hatchery to not add a description of what I got, mainly I wanted it to be a surprise, I also got 11 white turkeys, also mixed.
My dh was left in charge of building me the new chicken coop, I left it with a well described vision of what I wanted it to look like, where the vents needed to be and he added a few things I forgot, like a window and paint, but the process was painstaking. After buying a couple hundred dollars of wood and other supplies, I made sure to tell him, to really pay attention to the building process, knowing how he likes to throw things together and not really pay attention to detail, I told him he couldn't leave gaps and that he couldn't just leave nails and screws sticking out everywhere because well the chickens could get hurt.
I went to work the next day and when I came home, in a fowl mood I might add (no pun intended) I was presented with his new chicken coop design, already built. The roof was crooked and had an 8 inch gap between the wood and the outside wall of the barn, also the inside of the roof had no support beams at all!!!! the roof had an overhang on the back and the front of about 2 feet, and with a light wind I could see the wood lifting up. lets just say everything was as crooked as it could get. and the Inside, was a nightmare, nails and screws sticking out everywhere!!!!
Hard as it was I had to be honest with him and tell him it needed to be taken down, and put back together all over again properly.
It sat like that for a week or so, but he finally went back and took ti down and tried again. It was more or less another failed attempt, and this time I didn't even get to see it, he told me himself.
the third time around, was a week before the new chicks were due to arrive, with barely anytime left, I knew there was no way he was getting around to building a turkey brooder and the new pig pen. SO I asked him to focus on the chicken coop only, and on the design I left him with, nothing else.
so after a hot, long, 8 hour work day at the shop, I came home to a properly build chicken coop, that was straight and painted. He even went out and bought framing wood to frame the outside so it looked nicer.
The outside looked real good, and he even built an enclosed run for the chicks to be out in when we can't be home. The inside still had a few nails and screws sticking out and it came down to the last day, the day when the chicks arrived for him to correct those issues.
for whatever reason, the night before the chicks were due to arrive I couldn't help but feel anxious, the temperature was rapidly dipping, it had been hot for several weeks and now we were looking at possible snow, again, on the first week of June. So I was worried the chicks were not going to be warm enough. On top of that, I was due at work for 12 noon and by 9 am I still had not received a phone call from the ranch. I took a chance and by 10 am I was there looking to see if they had arrived. Lucky for me they had just gotten off the truck.
I was anxious to see them and see what the hatchery had sent me. When I opened the box I found the most amazing and cutest little chicks and turkey poults. I had some yellow babies, 2 very reddish brown ones, many black ones, and a few orangy gold ones, I got 2 black ones with yellow stripes on their heads, the turkeys of course are all the same colour, an off white yellow.
I have no clue what breeds the chicks are, but time will tell. I am not super anxious to find out what is what and who is who yet.
So now I had to brood these little guys, but with no time left I had to leave my dh to try to do his best and get them settled in their new coop, which had a space sectioned off with bales of hay to brood them under the heat lamp.
By the time I got off work on the 8th, it was quite chilly, and I rushed home, knowing there was no possible way the brooder in their new coop could keep them warm. and I was worried about the turkeys.
you see, since day one everyone has told me how aggressive turkeys are, and how they are dumb and tend to forget where their feed and water is and how fragile they are. I was also given mixed ideas of reasons why chicks and turkeys should be brooded together, or why they should not be.
When I got home to check on them, I had a turkey poult run right to me, and he literally placed his little head on my hand. I picked him up and realized his little legs were very cold. I decided it was time for plan B.
Plan B, had been decided upon because last year it was a very cool summer in fact, and so much so that I only had the air conditioner running for 2 weeks, one week was in the spring, and the second was a heat wave in july. the rest of the time, we saw loads of rain, and chilly temps were sweaters and long pants were required. I knew from brooding my girls last year that the temps were and could be all over the place this year too.
so plan B was a plastic kiddie pool that fits on my kitchen table, with a hard wire mesh on top and the brooding lamp. and the chicks came inside for warmth.
during the week they have been inside I have come to see and be surprised at the turkeys behaviour. the chicks are quick to peck my hand, my turkeys have been gentle, and I got one poult that always comes to see me, or calls for me when I walk away. I have named him Louie, now he could be a girl or a boy, I really do not know, but he or she will be one of three that will make the cut and have a permanent home here. You see I only ordered 45 chicks and 10 turkeys, but I received 49 chicks and 11 turkeys, 20 chicks will become layers and stay on permanently, 2 turkey hens and one turkey male will also remain. the rest will fulfill their duties on this farm at the end of the fall.
I think it will be hard to choose one from the other when the time comes, but honestly speaking they will all have the same life. a good one!!
Today they all returned to their coop, its been a constant 29C here, pretty warm if you ask me and they really needed more room to run around. My dh and I are seriously in love with the turkey poults, primarily Louie, we have a nanny cam set up to watch them, just so we can be sure they are alright, after all they are only just over a week old!!.
The turkeys are not dumb, they are the first ones to run to the food, when we fill it, and even if its moved they know where it is, and the same with the water. Brooding them together I was a little confused as to what to feed them, but I made a mistake when buying feed and bought a bag of chicks starter, instead of turkey starter, knowing I couldn't bring it back after opening it and placing it in its storage cylinder I decided to buy buy a bag of turkey starter as well, which I placed in a different storage cylinder.
So I then took a clean, small coffee can and mixed 3 parts chick feed to 5 parts turkey feed, and that is what they are eating. So far they all look real good and thriving!!
Ema
The coop. My hubby is just the opposite...he will "plan" on the building for 3 or 4 weeks, before even picking up a hammer. Drives me NUTS! 
