Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[~gd]

Good deal on the eggs! I'm getting nada...buying Amish eggs at the moment. Wish my duckies would get to laying again, that'd be great in all the baked goods and save my chicken eggs for breakfast and snacks. DH has been bingeing on boiled eggs lately, sometimes 5 or 6 a day

Ducks are more light sensitive than chickens, They can often be 'fooled' into laying by slowly increasing the 'day length' right now the natural day length is getting shorter about 12/21 or22 the days start getting longer if I remember right when the lights 'days' get to 14 hours or so they will be laying at full production This is a trick I was taught by Showmen. They want their eggs to hatch in early janurary because a duck hatched then shows better than a duck hatched at the normal time. The drakes get the same treatment so they will be ready to service the hens so if you just want eating eggs without peeps don't light treat the drakes. Let them ripen normally and you can get peeps at the normal [warmer] time~gd

Cool, thanks for the info. I only have one drake though. He can just suffer I WILL be hatching some soon anyway.

Oh he wom't suffer he just will be shooting blanks until he gets enough light to start produceing viable sperm.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Well.... Merry Christmas to us... The big screen has arrived. I guess I can get used to it, lol. I'm actually more excited cuz we moved the other tv up to our bedroom. The one we had up there was a small tv that we bought at a garage sale for $10 about 10 years ago - I'd say we got our money's worth outta that one! It was pretty small and I had a hard time laying in bed and being able to see it without my glasses and I hate to lay in bed with my glasses on. I have a habit of falling asleep like that and it's not fun to wake up with my glasses all askew on my head and poking into me at odd angles.... So, tonight that all ends!

Our office staff went to the memorial service for our student's mom who passed a couple weeks ago. It was sad, but on the upside I think DH and I have found a new church. We've been 'without' for about a year when our old pastor left the church we were going to. We loved him and just couldn't get 'into' the new pastor. Mostly because he kind of 'pushed' Pastor Paul out in a power play and we didn't like that at all. It fractured that little church and we just weren't comfortable there anymore. I felt right at home at the new church today and really liked the Pastor who spoke. So, YAY! We'll proably go tomorrow.

Stupid feed store gave me the wrong quail food today and they aren't open tomorrow. I always feed starter feed that has 30% protein.. I get good growth and lotsa eggs. The feed they gave me today is a 'maintenance' feed and only has 20% protein. This company puts all it's game bird feed in the same sack - the only way you can tell the difference is to look at the little tag sewn on to the sack.... it's so annoying! AND, this is not the first time this has happened....sigh...

Still stinkin' cold outside - but no freeze yet. I'm sooo happy about that! Hope the rest of ya'll are stayin' warm!

 

[Wannabefree]

Warm here! No ice last night for us

 

[Denim Deb]

And we have several inches of snow instead of the less than 1 they were calling for.

 

[Wannabefree]

Ewwww, white junk

 

[Denim Deb]

And we could get more tomorrow.

 

[Wannabefree]

We have ice now.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

UGH! I don't know how ya'll do it... ice, snow... geeze. I complain when it's below 60, lol!

I plugged the incubator in this morning and if nobody stops me I'll be setting a batch of quail eggs tonight. I'm not looking forward to the work of raising em for 6ish weeks, but man oh man, what good stuff they are. And, the dogs love 'em too - so it's a win-win. But - I've gotta build more cages since my breeder cages are full now. I'm gonna let the new guys grow out and then be super picky about harvesting. I want to start breeding for bigger and bigger birds, if possible. I'll prolly start butchering the males at 6 weeks, but maybe keep a couple of the biggest ones. I'm gonna keep the gals around for maybe 8 weeks and see if I can get any that are bigger than my layers now - and if so - I'll keep the biggest ones of them and harvest the others.

Finally got my grandbabies Christmas shopping done. Spent more than I should but that happens everytime I'm around 'em so I don't know why Christmas shopping would be any different! We'll be going to Dallas to spend time with my DD and the crew over Christmas. I can't wait! Hope they thaw out up there before I have to drive that direction.

Still talking about cutting down on the herd and the flock - but still haven't done nuttin' about it. It's too cold to be out trying to sell any critters or trying to butcher any critters. I just wanna hibernate until March or April. Don't think it's gonna happen, but it sounds good.

Really feel bad for you folks that are dealing with the white stuff - be it ice or snow. Be safe!

 

[Denim Deb]

I still have 3 roos that need to go to freezer camp. Was going to do it this week, but it's too cold out there! I'm seriously thinking of getting the green house cleaned out and setting up something in there.

 

[Wannabefree]

Ugh I still gotta FIX my greenhouse. Big storm, ripped the heckado out of the plastic and thar she hangs a blowin in the wind like a drunk seagull :/ And I have 3 roos to slaughter too, as soon as the world thaws out! They have lived thusly due to their finest of abilities to clean up spilled crap from my ding dong quail...who wouldn't be wasting cept for my ding dong kid a loosing me lids to me ice cream buckets...er I mean quail feeders!

That's right sister, feel sorry for me, somebody besides me needs to take that job for a minute or ten! It's downright exhausting

I spent too much on above mentioned ding dong too They're only underage for 18 years. She'll be 17 this coming year. Then one more year till she gets NOTHING mwahaha...not really, she just won't get as much cause she'll be all adult like and stuff She's gonna be so HAPPY to be grown up Bless it! If they only knew...we'd never get shed of them!!!