MTD/YTD Egg Count

MTD egg count is 273.  YTD, that puts us at 892 eggs!

Re-breeding D2

D2 is our rabbit doe #2.  We bred her a month ago and patiently awaited bunnies, but none came.  So, we re-bred her in hopes that she'll take this time and isn't sterile.  Now we wait 30 days to see.

Egg count

The girls production is really starting to pick up!  23 large eggs and 61 smaller eggs = 84 this week! 

Bunnies - 1 week old

Here are the bunnies at one week old.  All 8 survived and seem to be growing nicely.  They like to sleep a lot and their eyes should start opening in a few days..

Here is a close up of one bunny sleeping.  As soon as I picked him up, Momma came over to inspect the others to see what I was doing!...

The ole swimmin' hole

Yesterday was blazing hot.  I checked on the pigs a few times and noticed they were intentionally splashing water out of their waterer and laying in it.  I suggested to Dan that we dig a hole and fill it with water for them to splash around in.  Last night he did just that and they seemed to enjoy themselves. 

Today the swimming hole was dry so I filled it up with water again.  The piglets came running when they saw what I was doing.  I lightened up the stream from the hose so it was more of a mist and the piggies loved it!  Picture kids running through a sprinkler in the summer.  All 5 pigs ran through the mist and once they were all to the other side, they ran back though again.  Over and over and over.  It was pretty darn cute!  Then they decided to check out the recently filled swimming hole and got themselves covered in mud!  The Chester White pigs, which started out mostly white, were two-toned white and brown by the end.  But they're happy and enjoyed their day and that's what matters.

Piglets

We finally located a livestock auction that sells feeder meat pigs.  I had no idea this would be so difficult in the area we live.  Growing up just 40 minutes south of where we currently live, everyone had pigs.  There were a few commercial pig farms too.  Now that we want some of our own, you'd think we were trying to purchase something illegal.

But lo and behold, we found them.  The auction house sell pigs on the 4th Tuesday of each month.  So in preparation for the bid day, Dan built a frame to go around his pickup bed to contain the pigs for the journey home.  Of all days, I had to go into the office on auction day, so Danny went with Dan to make the purchase.  They headed out around 9am to make the hour and fifteen minute trek south.  After getting setup with his number at the auction house, they proceeded in for the showing.  They watched a few sales trying to figure out how the process worked then they brought out a lot of 5 pigs - 4 gilts and 1 barrow.  The auction started and after a little bit of no bids the auctioneer lowered the price.  Again, no bids so the auctioneer lowered the price again.  Dan decided to bid.  Within seconds, the auctioneer deemed Dan the winner.  We had our pigs!  They drove to the back of the building, loaded up the pigs and started making their way back home. 

Dan and Danny arrived home around 1pm.  They setup the electric fencing, got feed and water setup and started unloading the piglets.  When Dan set them down they appeared to have never seen the green stuff they were on.  After a just a little bit they realized the green stuff (aka grass, weeds, etc) was edible.  We can only guess that the first few weeks of their lives were on a commercial farm and were fed from a feed lot.  It's such a good feeling knowing that we took them from that and brought them to an environment where they can run and play, eat greens and whatever else their snouts find.  They immediately seemed happy and very sociable.  They come up to us to be scratched, eat out of our hands and romp around us.

Here are a few picture shortly after their arrival...

And here is Dan watching the piglets and you can see the enclosure he made for the truck...

Sliced meats

More than once the words "I wish we had a meat slicer" have been muttered by Dan. We long ago stopped buying grocery store lunch meat since most of it is some type of 'loaf' and chock-full of nitrates, chemicals and other artificial additives, and way too much salt. Unfortunately, we both really love meat sandwiches. Now that we're raising broilers and pigs it seemed to make sense to go ahead and purchase a slicer. Dan set out to find the perfect one. We didn't want a home-grade kitchen slicer as none of the reviews make them out to be quality appliances. We (Dan especially) does not purchase items made in China for a variety of reasons. This drastically reduced our options. After much research, Dan decided on a restaurant-grade Bertel brand made in Italy. The downside is that Bertel's run about $1400 new. So, he's been watching eBay for a used model and lo and behold, a Bertel finally appeared. On the last day there were still no bids. He waited until the last few minutes (yes, he's a sniper!) and placed his bid. The slicer was ours for a fraction of the cost of a new one!

Today we cooked two broilers on the rotisserie of our grill. One for dinner and one to slice for sandwiches. As for dinner, we all agreed it was the best chicken we've ever eaten. Ever. Period. After dinner he brought out the new toy, er I mean slicer. He started slicing beautiful pieces of chicken breast. Next he scoured the fridge for a block of cheese to slice. It sliced up beautifully as well. I foresee lots of sandwiches this coming week.

Here is our behemoth slicer in action....

Egg count

28 large eggs and 31 smaller eggs = 59

Baby bunnies!!!

We've been expecting doe #1 to kindle her babies any day now.  Yesterday she started pulling fur in preparation of her delivery.  However, this morning we still had no babies.  I went back out to check around 9:30 and we had little, pink, fuzzy balls in the nest box. 

I ran back in the house and grabbed my Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits book to see if there was anything I needed to do.  The book said now is the time to give momma a treat.  I ran inside and grabbed a carrot and gave it to her.  She immediately started munching.  The book says while momma is preoccupied with her snack, you can move the box to see how many babies you have (but don't touch them with your fingers so you don't leave your scent on them).  I nudged around and counted 8 babies, which is perfect because that's how many teats momma has.  Then the book said if momma didn't cover the babies with the fur she pulled to do it for her so the babies stay warm. She didn't very well, so I covered them up. Lastly, it says momma needs lots of peace and quiet, so I'm trying to stay away to give them some privacy.  I've checked on them a few times today and each time momma is laying outside the box.  I'm afraid she hasn't nursed them, or isn't sure what to do.  The little babies are active though.  Eyes closed, they are crawling over each other.  It's nearly 100 degrees heat index outside, so Dan thinks momma might be staying out to keep them from getting too hot.  We'll just have to let nature take it's course.

Momma preoccupied with her carrot...

Close-up of babies...

Mmm... blueberries

Last year we planted a few blueberry bushes.  Most have withered away, but this one is not only healthy, but is producing fruit for us this year.  Now, if we only had about 20 more plants like this!

Chicken processing day

Today we processed 18 Cornish Crosses we started raising just 7 weeks ago. Cornish Crosses are your typical American chicken you find in the grocery store. I'm truly amazed at how fast these birds grow. With that said, I don't think we're going to raise them again. We had no issue with the birds, only an internal struggle as to how humane it is to raise them. These birds are bred to put on weight quickly. Which they do. But, by about 4-5 weeks we noticed they had a hard time walking. It's because their bodies are growing at a faster rate than their legs, muscles, heart, etc. can keep up with. It's really kind of sad that the desire to free range has been bred out of them in order to give us those beautiful big breasts and legs we desire. We've found another breed that grows at a slower, more natural rate. We're looking forward to experimenting with this breed next.

However, these birds are raised and we are quite sure they will indeed be tasty! The last time on butchering day, we went to the coop and grabbed two birds at a time, which put stress on the birds not being processed and wasted time. So, Dan built some transport crates to load up all the birds at once and carry them over to the processing site. This worked really well:

I should also mention that we processed one turkey that had leg issues. He was healthy as could be, but he was born with splayed legs (they grow out instead of down) and we just couldn't bear to watch him grow like that. And the other turkeys were starting to peck at him. Poor little fella!

We also processed our rooster, Big Boy. After deciding to keep one of the Barred Rock cockerels, we read they can be very aggressive. And indeed he was! The Ladies particularly didn't like him and the Girls that were raised with him only tolerated him. We decided to process him while he was still fairly young. We're going to replace him with a more docile breed that will be raised amongst all the hens, so hopefully they will all get along.

Egg count

Ladies: 24
Girls: 16
Total this week: 40

Green eggs and ham

Well, not really the ham part, but we do have a green egg!  We recently got our first egg from one of our new Ameraucana layers.  They are nicknamed an Easter Egg chicken because they naturally lay eggs with a green and/or blue hue.  I'm not entirely sure how nature does it, but it's pretty amazing looking.  Here are three little eggs from our new layers, all with distinctive hues.

Our first harvest

Here is our first harvest from the garden this year...

Egg count

Our new girls started laying this week.  The eggs are little bitty, so I can tell who is laying what.  Of course the Ameraucana's are blue and green, so we'll always know who is laying those.  As long as I can tell the difference, I'll log them here seperately.  I'll get a picture up soon to show you.

Ladies: 22
Girls: 3
Total this week: 25

Mmm... yogurt!

A little while back you may recall I made a huge batch of yogurt.  Considerably more than two people can eat.  Fortunately, chickens LOVE yogurt and the bacteria in it is really good for them.  As it started to get a bit sour, we decided to give the new layers their first taste of yogurt.  It didn't take them long to discover they couldn't get enough of it...

Of course, I didn't want the Ladies to be jealous, so they got a little yogurt too.  Check out the milk-moustache they're sporting...

Small vs. Large

Here is a tiny egg from our new layers next to one of the Ladies eggs.  We can't wait until the new layers are laying full steam ahead.

Nest boxes

In preparation for our newest batch of layers, Dan is building a new set nest boxes.  And the timing is perfect because I found a tiny brown egg on the coop floor today!  We thought we were going to have it ready in plenty of time since the layers are only 19 weeks old.  We figured we had at least another week or two, but like with most of our animals, we're continually amazed.

Finally, some rain

After nearly two weeks of weather forecasts saying we should get some rain, I think we finally have some on the way.

Completed brooder

It's a thing of beauty!  And the turkeys seem to love it.  I love being able to lift the roof to feed and water them.  It's the simple things in life that make me happy.