Lorihadams-- hi guys...been busy!

[lorihadams]

Hehehehe.....it's fun watching them convert, isn't it?

I showed Chad the homemade incubators on BYC last night and he really liked the cabinet style ones. I hope we'll be able to get it done. I have saved up money from selling birds and I also have some from a catering job so I can pay cash for all the supplies. I am hoping that I can have a test hatch started next week.

Oh, and yes, BLRW are blue laced red wyandottes.....I might see if I can tear QA away from the well drilling long enough to send me some fertile eggs.......

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Oh, and yes, BLRW are blue laced red wyandottes.....I might see if I can tear QA away from the well drilling long enough to send me some fertile eggs.......

lol I think that can be arrangedd.

As for good layers, they are slow to come around, but once they do, the eggs just don't stop!

 

[lorihadams]

I'll let you know when I need them!

We have a chicken swap tomorrow so I'm gonna go see what everyone has. I would love to get some turkeys but hubby says no.....think I could sneak them in with some chicks???

I think we are going to put up the fencing around the pasture next weekend. My uncle has an auger for his tractor and he's going to let us borrow it. Praise God, cause digging 165 holes would be a royal nightmare! I think I will build the raised beds while they dig the fence posts. Chad wants to use 2x12s so that we can plant carrots and beets and maybe potatoes or sweet potatoes. It will mean more dirt upfront but at least we'll only have to do it once, right?

We have been working on school stuff this morning and I have declared it a no tv day. We practiced telling time, shapes, numbers, handwriting, dot to dots, picking out what doesn't belong, coin values, tongue twisters and reading practice on www.starfall.com and we made a tally chart using our homemade flash cards to see how many fruit pics and how many vegetable pics we had and then practiced writing the numbers and seeing which was greater. We also found a cool website this morning, www.kidsbiology.com , and talked about the circulatory system and the nervous system. I told Tyler that the next time we killed a deer we would let him see the brain and the heart/lungs.

We're taking a break now.....every now and then I get nervous about the homeschooling stuff but then I see how much fun Tyler has with it and how much he is learning and then I don't feel so anxious. Keeping Maddie occupied is the worst part. At least now she is getting into coloring and drawing so I can keep her occupied with art projects and workbooks for a little while if I need to help Tyler.

Oh, Maddie got her first real haircut yesterday! My aunt Gail is a hairdresser and cut it off to her shoulders. Granny said when she was done styling it maddie looked in the mirror and said "I wuv it!!!"
I can't wait to see her!

 

[lorihadams]

Well, met the neighbors yesterday and they are getting bees!!! Sooooo excited! Their 12yo is VERY excited about having a petting zoo next door Her mother is VERY excited about her living vicariously through us!

We had a great visit yesterday and they have a 5yo DD that Tyler is smitten with already so I think we'll be good. Gonna go today and see if anyone shows up at the chicken swap, it's drizzly here this morning so it may be slim pickins.

Hubby turns over his road association duties this morning, yay! This afternoon we can get the supplies for the incubator and this evening we are supposed to go over to my BF's house for dinner....bbq chicken, yum!

 

[lorihadams]

Monday

The incubator is almost complete!!! It currently has the capacity to hold 48 eggs (chicken or duck) with enough room to add one more shelf if needed for a total of 72 eggs!!!! I have to go get the thermostat today....forgot it when we went to Lowes the other day

The grand total is around $140. Would have been cheaper if we had a sheet of plywood but we bought some precut hardwood that actually ended up being cheaper than a sheet of plywood. It looks really good, like a piece of furniture! I'll get pics later but I am so excited! Hubby installed a dowel rod attached to the shelves for me so that I don't have to open the cabinet to turn the eggs, all I have to do is push and pull the dowel.

He is so excited, once we move he wants to start making coops and incubators and furniture...he really loves woodworking. I see tools for xmas already.....

On a sad note, I lost a quail last night, think the cats got it. Also, dumb me, didn't shut the door to the rabbit hutch all the way yesterday and Bambi #2 got out. I haven't been able to catch her but the dog sure has been trying. I found a little tuft of fur this morning where Charlie nipped her yesterday. As much as I hate to say it, I'm not really worried about it, she is evil. She bites and scratches something awful and goes after my other buns so no love lost there.

Had a good night at my BF's last night....we had our own chicken, bbqed on the grill, cole slaw, baked beans, and oatmeal raisin cookies. Once we move we want to do dinner once a week....we'll be much closer to one another and that will be so nice for us. I'm the kind of person that has a few close friends and that's about it, she is little miss social butterfly and has tons of casual friends so it's fun to hear about all of her adventures. She is a teacher so we can also talk shop too. I'm so grateful to have a good friend like her.

She has got a garden going and we are taking a canning class together in a couple of weeks so that should be fun. She was planting raspberry bushes when I got there yesterday....yummmmmmm!

I'll post pics of the incubator later!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

My uncle has an auger for his tractor and he's going to let us borrow it.

man do we need this! wow.. lucky you!

cant wait for the incubator pix


sorry about your quail
:-(

is the canning class part offered by your extension office??

happy wednesday!

 

[lorihadams]

well, busy busy busy.

We went yesterday and bought a trailer so that we can haul goats, hay, the lawnmower, garbage to the dump, etc. We have been borrowing a friends trailer every time we needed one for the last 2 years and we were both starting to get fed up. We got our VDOT refund (1000 dollars for the driveway permit) so we took that and got a 6'x10' trailer.

We also priced fencing yesterday and walked the property again to see how much we can really afford to do now.
We also found another contractor to give us an estimate on the barn.

Found Bambi #2, darn rabbit, and got her back in the hutch---she honestly seemed pissed about it. I just need to toughen up and eat her.

Got 3 loads of laundry on the line...then it rained while we were out.....grrrr.

Went to Lowes and got a hot water heater thermostat for the incubator and got it up and running. Put eggs in this morning.....(48 of them )
We have enough room in the bator for one more shelf so we could feasibly do 72 eggs. Hubby is seriously thinking of selling these things once we get moved now that he has gotten the kinks worked out. He wants to build chicken coops too. He's so cute!

OFG--I don't know who is doing the canning class, I think I remember reading on the flyer that it is the local gardening club but don't quote me on that. May be something to look into in your area if you are looking for one.

Just hanging out today, Chad took off work today after throwing up all of his dinner last night. I made omelets with duck eggs and I don't think they agreed with him. He seems to be okay with them when they are in something like bread or cake but to eat them "straight up" seems to not work. Needless to say he doesn't want to eat eggs for a very long time. Or sausage....

 

[lorihadams]

Okay, say a little prayer for me.....the eggs are in!

Here are the pics.

here's one of the shelves....there are two, room for a third if this works out

here's the setup inside

Total cost....one week of aggravation and about $140. We want to stain it to match our furniture but Tyler wants to paint it blue

 

[justusnak]

Beautifull!!! Wont be long till you have little fuzzies popping all over the place! GREAT work!

 

[Henrietta23]

Go eggies!!! Nice work!