Bee~ Journal of then...

[FarmerChick]

one bit of advice I can give is go slow.
Tony and I had full time jobs and jumped into real farming for income. WOW what a drain. We did things wrong....went too fast. Had to re-design coops, re-fence things, etc. etc. cause we jumped fast.

When starting a project, research. I learned all this by researching. And doing it thoughfully and right the first time...(well after I changed the wrong things..lol)

Now any new projects on the farm are thought out. How much work, true labor, what do I want out of it, can I supply customers, can I make income from it, etc. etc. I do a small business plan on every new project before it ever might happen.

Not saying you here, but worse thing anyone can do is go out and buy like 500 chickens and then say, oh I will sell the eggs now. LOL....nah, doesn't work that way. Markets need to be set up first and all that.



well you get my drift.....enjoy it, don't let it overwhelm you like it did us, have fun with it and take it in the direction you want it to go. Your little land is your heaven on earth...as my little piece of dirt is to me.



I have a big white "rooster" on a long pole that I use at the farmers market....and I have a big white round pink pig face on a pole too. I put these up at the stand and all my customers know these signs. Any new customer might say---my friend said to look for the big white chicken and the big pink pig signs...hey I found you--I want to buy....." those 2 stupid signs are great advertising..LOL

 

[Beekissed]

Markets need to be set up first

Hey, that's what Mr. Salatin says also!

Nah, FC, I'm not getting into chicks big time, as I don't have the space here. I just filled the coop~28 hens and 3 roos~ and plan to sell enough eggs to recoup feed costs and use the chicks to keep my orchard pest free....plus eat all the healthy eggs and culled chickens that I want, for free!

Free, I've been alternating with the crimped oats, some laying mash, BOSS, etc. and now I'm adding the alfalfa pellets for good measure. Since I free range, the gals get a good variety but I'm always looking for ways to avoid feeding corn. We are so limited here for feed....I asked both feed stores for brown kelp the other day and they looked at me like I had a third eye! They don't have much variety and the local farmers don't grow much but corn and hay.

I fed shelled corn this winter when I thought they weren't laying(dog eating my eggs!)and, for the first time, I got messy eggs. The corn made their stool so runny and nasty! Back to the mixed grains and the stool is dry and formed and my eggs are clean again. Just goes to show you how hard corn is on an animal's digestive tract!

 

[freemotion]

I am feeding whole corn, whole oats, and whole barley mixed together with no ill effects. Mixed in about equal proportions, the proportions depend on what I can get, here in the Northeast, not much is grown. But I visit my folks in Northern Maine a couple or more times a year and fill my trunk with barley and oats from the farmer. I hope to get some buckwheat next time, but you have to get there the right time of year, as there is not much demand for it.

Last trip, the guy loaded my car, and when I mentioned feeding it to my hens, he quickly told me I would kill them if I fed them whole grains! I said, well, it must take a few years for that to happen....

When I have less than three grains to mix, I soak the grain for a day with acv or whey and water and feed it on the ground. Removes the phytic acid and makes it more digestible.

Harvey feeds field peas, too, and sprouts everything. I can't find peas here, but I almost got some on craigslist from a grower who had leftovers, but he isn't interested in selling smaller lots. Oh, well.

 

[Beekissed]

I plan to silage all my bean vines and left over beans this year and store them instead of composting them. Same with pumpkins and squash fruits....I want to store them in the cellar for later use for the chicks and sheep. I also want to plant the mangels this year and store them as well. I will probably grind them up and dry them for meal or just get them out of storage and cut them up, which ever way is more accepted by the animals.

After reading in Farmer Boy what they fed their cattle and horses in the winter, I'm saving everything! Even my corn stalks.

I have a great cellar with cool storage bins~6 of them! and plenty of shelving. I want to get some sand in the bottom of those bins, I've heard that this is a good way to store things and to prevent rot from moisture. I was thinking of using straw but I think the sand would do better.

 

[Farmfresh]

Don't you just LOVE "Farmer Boy"!

That book always made me SO hungry. All she does is talk about good food.

When my kids were little (really little like 3-7), I used to read those Laura Ingles Wilder books to them aloud. They wanted them over and over. I probably read the whole series to them a dozen times. We even tried to cook or do a lot of the things mentioned in the books.

There was a sort of funny fall out to it too.

We live in an old neighborhood, full of unusual people. Some medieval reinactors, a blacksmith, a furniture maker, and two old ladies who spent their days grooming a huge Victorian flower garden. We live in a very history rich area as well. Lots of museums, a living history town, lots of restored mansions that tour and a Civil War battle site and hospital that are now museums.

I of course was always busy gardening, raising rabbits, canning. We had horses and I was breaking one of the to drive. Some of my other friends drive oxen, and have pulling teams.

All of these things came together in my oldest daughter. Several years ago she admitted to me that she thought Laura and Almonzo Wilder were people that had been alive until just recently. I ... without a problem ... raised my oldest daughter to believe the year was about 1800 instead of 1990! Kids are funny!

 

[Farmfresh]

One more note ... about the cornstalks.

My cousin lives in a small west Missouri town and she and her husband commercially raise beef. We do not see eye to eye on this. They regularly winter beef cattle on a weird mixture of chopped cornstalks and straw, rejected peanut butter that does not make people grade, and turkey poop and litter from a local commercial farm. If you are what you eat ... what kind of meat is this? Modern Commercial BEEF is what!! YUCK!!

 

[freemotion]

There is some great info online about root cellar food storage. I had one saved to my favorites and just went to get the address for you and it was gone! This is why I have started to copy/paste a lot of info to my documents, great stuff disappears when the site is not maintained or it changes. I will send you a file, Bee, with a chart on temps and humidity for different veggies. I got a thermometer with a humidity thingy and placed it around my cellar and found my spot for my pumpkins that way, and it is working great. I sort them every week or so and feed any that are developing spots. Only had to toss one so far.

I agree about feeding what is considered "waste" to some of my critters. Much that is thrown out is good, valuable food for some animals. When I asked on BYC how to fatten up my skinny rescued goat, someone suggested peanut hay. Can't get it here, but I will be looking at my garden next season and drying some stuff that might've gone into the compost heap. In the long, cold winter, my goats might like something more leafy than the timothy hay I can get here. Everyone grows hay for horses here, that is where the money is. I think I will plant more peas and save the plants for winter.

Turkey poop, however, is another matter altogether! This is why I want to buy a quarter of grass fed beef next fall! And a quarter pig!

 

[Beekissed]

Yeah, I had read somewhere that chickens kept on deep litter could derive 100% of their protein needs from the litter. When I researched to find out just how this is accomplished, I found that commercial ag biz is feeding the chicken litter to cows and pigs for a protein source....in effect, fattening them on another animal's feces! YUM! Think about the potential for disease and parasite transmission with this type of feeding!

Thanks, free, I would appreciate that info indeed! I was thinking of storing some of the winter gourds in the attic where it is dry and not too warm. I have plenty of storage space there as well.

Farmfresh...that book made me hungry too...and it started me really looking into alternatives to modern animal feeds, becoming more self-sufficient by living by the seasons, and seeing just how much food, clothing, wood, etc. can be made from home. I loved that book so much!

 

[Farmfresh]

My point Exactly!

When my cousin starts talking about the high protein content of the turkey litter, feces, feathers and who knows what else..(dead animals?) and how it is a protein source that just goes to waste.... YUCK!

Why not compost that litter and spread it on a pasture to improve the grass for some nice grass fed beef? That seems so much more healthy.

We do waste a lot in the garden that could be put to good use for animal food or bedding.

At my daughters house I use her dock weeds to provide green for my broiler chickens. It is a pasture weed but the chickens simply LOVE it.

 

[freemotion]

Yup, I'll be out scavenging weeds in my bucket when I walk the dog or do other work outside. Lotsa dock here! I'll be reading up on what is not poisonous, too. The goats and hens will get quite the variety in their hay next winter.

I have an urge to see if I can feed my animals completely from my own hands. What I can grow and scavenge locally. I don't think my current work schedule will allow me to do it 100%, but until that day, I will be more creative with their food and offer them more variety in their diet while lowering my feed bills.

And if I ever HAVE to, I will know how to feed them without spending a dime. Just knowing makes me feel better about the uncertainty out there!