Moving to the Farm

[Larro Darro]

Nice job of turning that pasture into a workable venue for a rodeo. I agree with you about the bathroom in a camper. It is just one more thing to worry about. If you are in the real woods, a hole in the ground will work just fine. If not, there will be a public bathroom about somewhere.

It doesn't take long for the chickens to eat the grass right down to bare dirt. My BIL has built a smaller tractor for his flock of black and white chickens. If I can think of taking my camera the next time I'm over there, I will post a picture.

Larro

 

[Tororider]

Thanks Larro, that would be great. I always love seeing what other people come up with song can incorporate it into my next project.

It's so nice finding an egg in the egg box.

 

[Tororider]

Cockadoodle doo, we got our rooster last night and he is a handsome boy.

 

[Tororider]

http://homesteaddad.com/2014/09/08/big-red-and-minor-miracles/

 

[dave1949]

Big Red looks healthy and handsome. To keep him look'n real purty for his hens, watch out for frost bite on that ornate comb this winter. They can get nipped. It's not fatal, the frozen edge turns black and falls off.

Your bumblebees remind me of hauling home bags of raked leaves from friends in town to use for compost. I guess I let them set too long because one bag had a nest in it. Since the bags were getting fragile I was hugging it to my chest while carrying it. Three stings.

 

[farmer2009]

Nice flock. How many are lying right now. Think I remember you saying 1 earlier.

 

[Tororider]

Big Red looks healthy and handsome. To keep him look'n real purty for his hens, watch out for frost bite on that ornate comb this winter. They can get nipped. It's not fatal, the frozen edge turns black and falls off. Your bumblebees remind me of hauling home bags of raked leaves from friends in town to use for compost. I guess I let them set too long because one bag had a nest in it. Since the bags were getting fragile I was hugging it to my chest while carrying it. Three stings.

Thanks Dave. I will keep a look out for frost bite, especially if we have a winter like last. I have heard layering Vaseline on them will help.

No fun on the bee sting department. I was very happy I didn't get stung.

 

[Tororider]

Nice flock. How many are lying right now. Think I remember you saying 1 earlier.

Still only the one. I think it will be a couple weeks before the others start laying. Although the kids are still hoping to open the nest box and see a bunch of eggs.

 

[Tororider]

I am looking for suggestions. Our power goes out often enough that I am looking to get a bigger generator. The one that I have now is just big enough to run the refrigerator and freezer. Running the AC is not a necessity but if I could be fit in within reasonable price it would be considered. Costco has a generator with the Honda engine made by power stroke that has 6800 running amps with a surge of 8500 Amps for $999. I've also looked at Generac generators with 15,000 running amps with the search up to 22,500 for $2400. Thoughts?

 

[dave1949]

What do want to run from the generator? You begin by totaling up the needed wattage.

Well pump, microwave oven, coffee maker, frig & freezer, water heater, toaster, basic lighting -- those are my loads I like to be able to use while on the generator. We have propane for the stove cooktop. A furnace or other heat would normally be needed too for winter outages but we can get along with the wood stove.

The well pump and water heater are the big loads for me. Those are manually operated using the circuit breakers so they never run at the same time. Our water heater really loads our 6500 watt, 30 amp generator.