Quail_Antwerp: Words from the Barnyard...

[Farmfresh]

I made sure before I bid I had sniffed them. Sounds funny, I know, but I wanted to make sure their noses/heads didn't smell. One had a bit of a dirty butt, but it looked like a stress poo to me.

Don't laugh about that smelling stuff. My D1 the vet tech does some of her best work with her nose! She can even identify WHICH disease an animal has by how they smell to her!

So keep on sniffing those birds!

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

I made sure before I bid I had sniffed them. Sounds funny, I know, but I wanted to make sure their noses/heads didn't smell. One had a bit of a dirty butt, but it looked like a stress poo to me.

Don't laugh about that smelling stuff. My D1 the vet tech does some of her best work with her nose! She can even identify WHICH disease an animal has by how they smell to her!

So keep on sniffing those birds!

Well that's interesting! I'd like to have that skill!

I collected 3 Welsummer eggs today!!!!!!!! I was quite pleased!!

 

[Farmfresh]

I think she inherited the nose skill from my grandma, Nettie. She used to cook entirely by nose - never a timer. She could smell when her baking was done! She had such a good sniffer we used to tease her about getting a part-time job as a dope dog!

 

[jenlyn9483]

Aly, I just wanted to tell you. Our well pump broke this weekend and we were out of water for two days (yeah it decided to do that on a holiday). I can surely appreciate how you can take care of all those animals on a daily basis with no running water. We had to luck 5 gallon bucket of water from my neighbors pump house. It was a chore. I sure hope you have come up with a easier way. Thats alot of work!

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Aly, I just wanted to tell you. Our well pump broke this weekend and we were out of water for two days (yeah it decided to do that on a holiday). I can surely appreciate how you can take care of all those animals on a daily basis with no running water. We had to luck 5 gallon bucket of water from my neighbors pump house. It was a chore. I sure hope you have come up with a easier way. Thats alot of work!

An easier way?

We drive 11 miles, 1-2 times a week (sometimes more), to a fresh spring. The water there is delicious!!!!!!!

We fill 8 five gallon food grade containers plus about 30 or more 1 gallon containers. It takes 3 of the 8 five gallon containers to do 1 load of laundry, so it's more cost effective to go to the laundromat 5 miles away and do a load of laundry for $1.25 when we need it. We bring the laundry home to dry.

We've put up spouting on two chicken coops and the "barn" and placed 50 gallon drums under the spouting to catch rain water (this water is used for the animals). When it hasn't rained in awhile, then we're using water out of the 5 gallon containers to water, and when we have to do that it means more trips each week to the spring.

It takes 3 gallons of water to wash dishes (a gallon and a half to wash, and a gallon and a half to rinse). That 3 gallons of water is then used to flush the toilet.

We use the five gallon containers for baths, if we haven't run to my mom's or our friend's for showers that is. Before we drain the tub, we dip out as much water as we can, and flush the toilet.

The easiest way, hopefully, will be we have a well soon!

Honestly, after 7 years of hauling, though, you get used to it. I complained A LOT the first two years, though. Even threatened a divorce I've over it, used to it, and will think we've struck gold when we do have a well.

We did have it easier until January of this year. We used to go next door to FIL's to get water, but he cut us off.

 

[keljonma]

I can barely stand using the stuff that comes out of the faucets for dishes and bathing is is so smelly! We buy drinking/cooking water. It costs 25 cents a gallon from the reverse osmosis machine in J'town. We used to have a PUR filter on the faucet at the farm (plus a Culligan water conditioning system). But the filter attachment won't fit on our current kitchen faucet.

We're paying $2.00/wash load at the local laundry.

How is the well supply gathering going?

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

How is the well supply gathering going?

We're not discussing that.

 

[jenlyn9483]

Wow! 7 years you are a trooper! When I was born we lived on a houseboat on the river and had no electricity. We lived there til I was two. My mom and dad were raising 5 kids under the age of 10 and 12 those two years. Then when my mom finally bought a piece of property we lived on it til I was 7 or 8 with no electricity, just Huricane lamps, gas stove, gas and kerosene heat. We did have a well tho with a hand pump. I remember washing clothes on a wash board with my mom all the time. We even had a one of those old timey roller press things that ring them out. I know its still pretty common for people to live like that Up north in Ohio, Idaho, Iowa etc, especially in the late 80s but its not common here. I can still remember how in aw I was when my uncle finally hooked up electricity to our trailor and flicke on the light switch in our room and the light came on! LOLOLOL. Even tho we have a brand new 1150.00 well I still try and conserve the water as much as possible and also collect rainwater for my garden.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Whew, I'm whipped.

Ernie and I just finished stretching and stapling up the last bit of woven wire for the pasture! We still have some barbed wire to put up, but that won't take near as long as the woven wire took.

I'm in now to cook dinner and Ernie and oldest DS is outside putting up the barbed wire. Should be done in the next hour or so, and then the cows will be turned out!

After dinner I'm probably going to head over to Becca's and pick up her Welsummers. Plus, I needed another waterer and her mom was kind enough to pick it up for me while she was already in town today, so I need to go make good on that with them. Wonderful to have thoughtful friends like Becca and her mom!

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

FENCE IS DONE!

We got up early and were finished by 11 AM and opened up the fence between the smaller pasture to the one we just finished and Oh boy are the calves happy! They just stepped through and sunk their noses into the bright green grass! They haven't even moved from that spot yet

Emmy on the other hand took off, ran the whole perimeter of the fence, and then picked herself a spot alone to eat on the back side. She's been running and kicking up her heels. Gorgeous to watch!



Ernie says now we can work on more chicken housing!



I can't wait!!