Are we living our dreams?

[frustratedearthmother]

Ahhhh, sorry! I have a little Murderess Westie that now lives in "doggy prison". Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I love my little dog, but can't have her out creating he** and havoc with my livestock....

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I've been keeping things really cheap, as far as feed costs go....I turn everything loose in the morning and let them eat whatever they want.
I ran out of grain (mostly) this morning, so had to make a trip to the river to pick up more. That always sets me back a bit, but I have 18 sacks of 70Lb whole grains, so it will last me a long time, esp if I keep everything on free range.
While I was feeding everything, I noticed a little fuzzy butt baby peking, walking all alone. I guess that was his/her mom being jumped on by 2 drakes, so I kidnapped him and raided the rest of the nest he came from and put everything in the incubator. I had to put other duck eggs in lockdown anyway, so hopefully I gave them a chance. When I told a friend of mine about it, she couldn't believe I had a peking duck set.
Well, that same friend wanted to order some chicks, which no one down our bayou has and I have been wanting a few other things, so we got together to place an order. I'll be paying for it because I owe her money on the buck, which I guess I'll be keeping. I ordered 10 silkies SR, 5 white leghorn pullets, 5 white leghorns SR, 5 cockoo maran pullets, 5 cockoo marans SR, 10 white slow cornish and 30 assorted cornish bantams. My friend has a buff orphington hen and I have a rooster, so I left with her. She isn't as silly as the woman with the maran roo, so I don't anticipate a problem. In 2 weeks, I will start picking up her eggs for incubation. I'm hoping her girls will help the silkies with my hard to hatch eggs. I'm doing so-so with duck hatchings, and fair to terrible with goose eggs, so hoping a regular broody will do me some good.
I'm on this kick, where I'm being more careful with what I eat. I'm too scared to step up on a scale, but I haven't been starching myself out, since Friday. I managed to bring some South Beach food to the nursing home for my weekend and never visited the vending machine once. Even got on the Power House (weight machine), while watching Game of Thrones with my older kids. Its late, but I think I'll go for a walk with a big bottle of water, to keep me company. Trying to put some strength into this old body. Somethings gotta give. Oh, and I forgot....lots of grapefruit juice with ACV too. My poor body must be in some kinda shock.
Well, the street awaits.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Congrats on getting the feed - but 70 lb bags!?! I'm good up to 50 lbs, but 70 pounders would be a challenge for me to move. I unloaded 12 bags yesterday and felt every one of 'em.

Congrats on the health improvement plan! It's hard, but I think small steps can eventually lead to big changes Good luck!

 

[rhoda_bruce]

They are very heavy. They not in paper sacks, like at the ag store, but in those plastic woven deals, tied with wire at the top. The old man I deal with weighed a sack for me a few years back. We can give or take a Lb or 2, but they still much heavier than the sacks I get when I have to buy prepared feed at the ag store. Lasts me a long time too. If I get a good variety, I can compete with people that use layer's mash, but egg for egg, mine are cheaper to produce. I still sell mine for $3/dozen though, because its me that takes the road trip, makes the sale and stores all that grain and I do it to have a profitable project, not to give all my eggs away. Thats why I don't worry when I hear about someone selling their eggs for $2/dozen. They think they gonna get more sales than me, but they paying a fortune for their feed and underselling themselves. It never takes too long before they decide not to sell and only keep enough hens for themselves. Fools, really.
Well, I just set up the brooder and placed the baby peking and 5 newly hatched chicks. Going to get the shipments of chicks from Privett, which leave on the 14th and 15th, so I have to make sure I have both brooders available at that time, unless I decide to do one of them inside the house for a few days. Thats always fun, but smelly.
I feel kinda good today. I feel like I can work a day, without it killing me.
(this is really the next day....one of my kids logged me off, without me realizing I hadn't posted). How the days fly by when I'm off. Crazy how some newly hatched chicks can do fine in a brooder, with just a light, water and feed and others are too sensitive and fall prey to hypothermia and need to be put back in the hatcher (ICU) for another 12 hours or so. Well, I had to put 2 back in, with their weird looking 'brother', a duckling, that is probably a peking/rouen mix. Hoping to get any hatchlings out of the hatcher today to put with the brood.
I hate to hear the dogs barking before I'm dressed for the day.....Grrr

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Good Friday......
Well, DON has asked me to work from 6:00am to 10:00pm Saturday and then come back Easter Sunday at 2:00pm and leave at 6:00am on Easter Monday morning. So I have spoken to DH and I plan on sleeping on the sofa, so I can be there when the kids wake up Sunday morning. I'm going buy the little ones each an outfit today.
I have 2 orders for Rouens, equaling 30, so I need to see what all has hatched and hopefully I can get most of the 20 order out of my way. I know I already have 7 + 3 that are obviously mixed with peking, so hoping to see some rouen ducklings with black bills and feet in just a minute.
Would love to open all the gates, but DS complained that I had some of my animals half way up the street yesterday afternoon, so until the whole fence is up, maybe I can take it easy.
Dogs barking at the leaves falling from the trees, I guess. One of these days, I really gotta get out of here and move in the real boonies.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Wow - that's a lot of hours in just a couple days.... Hope all your ducks hatch for you!

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I'm full-time, weekend special, so I work 32 hours every weekend. The only thing different about this one, is I'm getting 16 hours off between my 2 shifts, instead of 8. I don't like working nights anymore because its too hard and I lose half the next day.
Well, I tried getting a quick nap, but my godchild called. Seemed my doe was in my sister's yard and trying to get at the olliander bush. She is getting big and her teats look fuller....would be really sad to loose her now. I have her tied to my shed, cleaning up. I should probably get a nephew to tend my animals this weekend, cuz DS and I will both be gone. Her origional owner has offered to come check on her. She is concerned that she might kid, with me being gone. How I would hate that.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

So today was wild....well, Athena gets loose and eats whatever she wants and apparently has been sleeping on my sister's front porch, then I get a visit from another neighbor this morning, bringing her home, claiming her boyfriend kicked my doe because it was in their yard, eating grass....which I neither believe or disbelieve. So I tell the woman that she is about to have a baby....hoping if she was really kicked that it gets back home. So I steaked her out in a problem area of my yard for her to stay on weed control.
Well, I have been thinking about how no one is showing up to help me start working on the fence, so when I picked up DD 18 after her babysitting job, we went buy some ready mix concrete, so I can begin to frame up my fence and when I got back home, I drank a glass of Madeira to give me the courage I needed to tackle a job, then I headed out with a pry bar, a hammer and another glass of Madeira....go into a pen, that I had a deck, I wanted to dismantle to frame up that fence I want so bad and I catch sight of Athena, licking on 2 kids, she had just dropped. One of them was still very messy and the other was trying so hard to reach her teats. She was near a ditch and was licking them so much, that they were about to fall into the ditch, so I took them furthur into the yard and dried them off with towels. Then I took that BO out of the stall I had her in and threw her with the other chickens and put hay down and fresh grain for Athena. When I took the 2 doelings, she followed me and all seems to be fine with them as of about half hour ago, when I checked on them. Only a human can reach them, so they should be fine.
Anyway, the deck is apparently screwed together, so I picked up the pry bar and hammer. I'll get proper tools to dismantle tomorrow and begin digging holes. My fence will begin to be constructed.......Amen. And now, I have 2 new reasons to construct it.
DS came home from work and found out about the 2 kids. I told him one is blue/black and the other is grey, so he says,"I call the blue/black one." Then I tell him they are both doelings and he gets all, "Aughhhhh.....so I guess you not gonna kill them." No....I'm not killing them. And I'm so glad for how I found them....being licked by their momma, alive, rather than how I had to pull the last one, dead, from its mother's body. Now that was sad, but I'm so glad I'm capable of doing it, if necessary.
So my neighbor just left with her girls....she helped me finish that bottle of Madeira. Girl talk. We were exchanging horror stories, funny stories and such.
Probably taking a short trip to pick up 5 buff silky chicks that one of my contacts has for sale. I'm doing so so on my ducking sales. I must see to it that my pekings and rouens stay apart because its obvious that some of the ducklings are mixed......bet they will taste good regardless. I'm fine.
All in all, it was a good day and I plan on being productive tomorrow. If I can begin a fence, with junk in my yard, that will make my yard cleaner, safer and that the neighbors won't be able to see every move I make.......hey, I'm on it.

 

[Denim Deb]

We need pics of those babies!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Woo hoo - congrats on the babies. That is the BEST kind of kidding to have - the kind you find when it's alll finished!

You can do the fence...the fear is a lot worse than the actual work, lol. Just jump in with both feet and don't be afraid to make a mistake. That's how you learn!