Building a Hobby Farm- from woods to eggs

[tony123]

Originally Posted by Tororider

Where did you get it from?

Lowes.

[tony123]

John, thanks for the link on the book. I'll have to check it out. Would like to thumb through it at a local bookstore before buying....I'll be keeping my eyes peeled.

Got all of the roof on the chicken tractor now. I think we'll have the girls in their new home by tomorrow evening! None too soon, as the garage smells of chickens! I have now learned through experience, these two things about raising six chickens. One, they only last the first week in the house before the smell hits, and five weeks in the garage is one week too many!

[Tororider]

Try adding some Diatomaceous Earth, food grade of course, to their food. It helps to absorb the moisture and makes the smell go away, you can also dust it in their litter. Before the run went to the backside of the garage the thought of the wife telling me they smell too much and they had to go was enough for me to make sure the chickens got DE, now that they are back there I am not as diligent about it. I need to be though.

[pitt_md]

Originally Posted by highplanesdrifter

Tony123

I didn't read all 41 pages of this forum, but I read a few, and I saw your kids holding the chickens etc., and I thought of a book that you would love to read with your whole family (it includes just such chicken scenes). I've searched the entire Tractorbynet.com site, and it's never been mentioned ...

The book is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver ... it is funny, it's informative, your whole family would love it ... here's the Amazon ref:

Amazon.com: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (P.S.): Barbara Kingsolver,Camille Kingsolver,Steven L. Hopp: Books

Have a look at the Editorial Reviews on that page.

Because of this book, which supports small self-sufficient farming (like you're doing) over large industrial farms, she made it to #79 on the Bush administration list of the 100 Most Dangerous Americans to America (peanut farmer Jimmy Carter made #6!).

Happy Farming!

John
...

I was not aware that Bernard Goldberg was on the Bush administration.

[AD18]

Tony you just keep making us slackers, or maybe just me even more determined to accomplish things on our own homesteads! Thanks. For smell abatement in my shop which is downstairs from my living quarters, I used fir chips from a local sawmill. It is cool to cold here and have been using a heat lamp. All that my wife can smell is the firs chips. The price was right just a dozen eggs for a pickup load. I'm using it in my coop as well so that the other chicken "product" can be added to the garden w/o being too hot.

Michael

[tony123]

I looked up that Diamatic......earth stuff, as I had never heard of it. Neat stuff, although a bit pricey. The smell was only an issue when the brooder was in the garage. Now that they are out in the tractor it shouldn't be a concern. Yes, I said...."out in the tractor"! We moved them out today! I could tell they were really enjoying themselves. Until this evening, they basically cried wanting to come back in the garage and stayed huddled in the corner closest to it. I suppose it will take a night or two before the tractor becomes "home". Tonights low is 48, I wonder if I sould be concerned? They are feathered out pretty well.




I was really happy with how the small coop door came out. It slides up and down in a track by pulling a string at the top. Again, craftsmanship is a bit rough, but I think a coat of paint will do wonders.

Here's a shot of the cool season crops this evening. We've been eating spinach every night for a week with this much still left. You can see the beets on the right then onions and beyond those are the carrots.




The summer crops are coming up already! Corn, squash, watermelon and cantelope are all an inch or two tall.

Here's a shot of my wife doing her evening weeding. It's theraputic for her. Gives her a moment away from the chaos that is our house! Everything is so much prettier with all the leaves out! Remember, we haven't been in the house through a summer yet, so this is our first time experiencing spring here.

AD18, have you thought, maybe I don't do any more work than you, I just photograph everything!

[tony123]

I'm going to be a mechanic yet I tell ya! I got on the tractor today for some bush hogging and click....click......nothing. Now my regulator is bad, so I'm used to putting it on a charge once every several weeks, but usually have a warning. Today...dead. I checked the battery with my voltmeter and got 12.35volts...yet my dash lights were very dim...checked voltage at the harness going to the dash and got 2 volts? checked at the battery cables near the battery and got 5 volts....hmmmm problem must be at the connection to the battery. Sure enough, the negative post was loose.

Now I know for most of you this is some pretty basic stuff. But I'm an office geek by day, and the voltmeter is something new to me. I actually used it to do some troubleshooting and solved the problem! Go me!

The chickens are now on their third night out in the tractor. Still pitching a hissy fit at dusk. They want back in the garage something awful.

We're expecting some rain tomorrow, which is a good thing, as my fescue seed is starting to come up pretty reasonably. This extra boost of rain can't hurt.

So anyway, when bush hogging today, the PTO shaft and ORC came right off the tractor! Nothing and noone got hurt. I just sat until it quit spinning and then got off. The ORC is held on with two allen set screws, that aparantly worked themselves loose.

[Tororider]

I think whenever you work with larger machinery on a regular basis you almost have to learn how to diagnose and fix stuff, otherwise you can spend a lot of money and wait a long time for your stuff. Congrats on fixing it.

My chickens are fine with being outside, probably since they weren't inside long to start with, outside is more room for them.

[tony123]

I've discovered why my ORC slipped off the other day....I don't know how it works!

I thought that the two set screws on the sides were meant to hold the ORC on the PTO. Apparantly not. They have something to do with locking the clutch, but not holding it to the PTO.

So what does hold this on the PTO?

[philbuilt]

Tony that looks like an extension for the PTO shaft on the tractor. I would think the set screws would lock into the holes on the shaft. Do you need this extension? if not just connect direct to the shaft on the tractor.
BTW your farm is looking great.
Phil