So, I've got the blog set up, now what?
I'm still reading. I want to know before I start posting. I may have married a farmer who reads instructions only if all else fails or the hammer isn't big enough. I, however, prefer not to fail. Oh, and he quit farming 11 years ago and still doesn't read the instructions.
Okay, not farming, why the name? We live on 13 acres, have chickens, turkeys, pheasants, cats and a friend keeps his llamas here. DH's pigs are down the road living in the hog lot and barn at his parents.
Why chickens? I wanted a few eggs. How many chickens does it take to get a few eggs? Less than what I have.
Last year we got a nice number of chicks, 15. As they were straight run, I knew there would be some roosters. That's okay. All is good.
DH wanted some turkeys. You know, birds for the holidays. Wait, Thanksgiving is seven months away. Just how big a bird do you want? Too big for the oven it turns out. One got butchered for our daughter to fix. It didn't fit in her pan, barely made it in the oven. That is the only one that was eaten. He still has three in the barn, one tom, two hens. At least we get some turkey eggs. I give them away, I don't bake angel food cakes or meringue anything. (By the way, we knew they should have been butchered earlier than November, but DH didn't ever have "the time" do them.)
DH goes to the farm store, they are wanting to close out their birds. He comes home with 11 pheasants and 7 more chicks. Wait a minute, the chicken house isn't built yet. Where are you putting these birds?
Daughter #1 had a racoon get to her chickens, so we give her several of ours. This works. Ended up with too many roosters, dealt with that. Sister buys chicks for her boys. One ends up being a rooster, he comes here to live. Wait, I thought I got rid of roosters. He will free range with a couple of hens. That works, until he decides he likes to be on the back porch. I don't like stepping out onto chicken poop. DH thinks it's funny. Rooster decides he is an attack bird. DH thinks that is funny, too; rooster doesn't bother him. One night some critter got the rooster and hens. I feel bad about the hens, the rooster not so much.
Pheasants I like. Back in the 'olden days' they were all around, now I rarely see any. I like the pheasant's call so we bought some. We let all but one rooster loose and kept the hens.
This year I decided to get some replacement birds so I would be ready for next years slowing down of production. 16 seemed like a good number, so far I think there are three roosters.
A friend woke up Easter morning to find a neighbor had given every household in the neighborhood a chick. DH helps her out and brings it home. It is smaller than my 16 birds. The farm store is again wanting to close out the chicks. DH comes home with 24 more so the one can have friends. What am I going to do with 25 plus my 16 new birds? Have lots of eggs, I guess.
I'll talk about pigs another day. Anyone's guess as to when that will be! I'm still reading the instructions.
Do you still wonder about the funny farm?
