Yoooo-hoooo.... Haaah aaaarm aaaa neeeeee?
What are you Hatching/Planting or Planning for this spring?
The chickens know they're nasty too! lol!
ok, since my last posting on this thread, I have gone over the top. I now have 2 dozen rumpless araucanas, 18 black copper marans from the Jeane line, 8 giant blue cochins + the Sebastopols (first candling 3 babies out of the 4 eggs) 6 salmon and 6 blue faverolles. HAAAAAAA, I have gone made I tell you MAD!! I have 2 bators going. Where am I going to put all these new babie? Guess I will just have to expand!
Who else out there is loosing their minds? anyone?hum?
I lost mine years ago. but over other things.
Well, the guy at the feed store told me the other day that I had lost my mind for wanting to raise turkeys! So does it count when others think you've gone mad?!
No as long as you are happy that is the only thing that is important.
I never quite buy what the guys at the feed store say... sometimes they have some good info, other times it's just very weird silly stuff. I'd say this falls in the latter category. =0)
I raised turkeys, enjoyed the birds, and had several fine suppers.
He giggled and said they are the smelliest birds around. But he did say this was a good time of year to be getting them as the feed is cheaper now then in the late summer. There are more people raising them at that time so the turkeys would be ready for Thanksgiving so the demand for the grain is higher=higher grain price. I'm not looking for Thansgiving dinner but to have them in the freezer throughout the year.
They have 28 percent turkey starter, then he said to place them on turkey grower and then the last 3 weeks on finisher. The poultry catalogs indicated that in 20 weeks they would be 20-25 pounds but he said it wouldn't take that long. How long have you all kept your turkeys?
My turkeys were multi-function... I used 'em for grasshopper and garden bug control. So I bought poults in the spring, raised them with the chickens, fed them with the chickens, let them range with the chickens, and butchered in the fall when the garden was done.
Mine were Bourbon Reds, a single breasted bird, but oh! were they tasty. =0)
Jay
Are you planning to raise something in those bales you have used as edging?
I'll be growing lots of different veggies this year thanks to some good trades and especially to the generosity of Antoinine. She is a garden angel. Looking forward to some late season pumpkins thanks to Jay. I am going to try lots of new tomatoes this year. Planting some seeds tonight for the cold weather stuff that needs to go out first.
Got a hen setting on 5 eggs. Need to get an incubator.
Aw, you don't really need an incubator... you just wanna join the chicken heads... LOL Woot, woot... goggles at the ready!
No, the hay bales are just a retention wall. The process of haystem breakdown would probably deprive rapidly growing veg plants of needed nitrogen, and the mineral balance probably isn't right.
Eventually those haybales will go into the compost and complete their journey. =0)
I've got friends that thought they were clever last year, planted their veggies in raised beds filled with well rotted manure/compost from the barn, no soil. They were proud of them, but my plants were 3x the size, with much better production, growing in compost-enriched soil. And they were the same varieties of plants, 'cause I grew the seedlings for them. I'm a big fan of dirt. =o)
The most beautiful and productive tomatoes I have ever grown were in hay bales. The breakdown gives the plants the nitrogen they need. Check out the bale gardening forum. You shouldn't waste that great space and opportunity. My egg plants and squash also grew like gangbusters in the bales.
Did they get a lot of water?
Cajun, I have 6 eggs in the incubator, so far one hatched. I put two under a broody girls and two hatched!!! Stick with the broody!!!! hehehe
You can still be a chicken head, Cajun... get a big, gorgeous cochin and drive 'em wild! LOL
And two broody chicks!! Woot, woot. Atta grlll, sewin!
Going to bed with warm, fluffy thoughts...
=0) Jay
This message was edited Jan 29, 2009 9:23 PM
I am growing, 6 baby chicks, I think I was told they were americana's the feed store lady said she thinks they are hens since that is what they ordered. ( I personally dont know until they are older how you would tell, but that is my chicken inexperience)
Watered the bales a few times a week.
Cute chicks. Hope they are hens. The last hatch I had was 3 pullets and 4 roos. Gave 3 of the roos away. Kept Trey. My little hen is doing fine on her nest in the dog box. They should hatch in another week or so. Hope they are all pullets this time. I'm do a break. LOL
I have planted 5 eggplants, 10 broccoli and 10 green peas. Should have waited on the eggplants but i read that too late. Oh well. Live and learn. I got me a book at TSC called "Gardening in Ky". It's a really easy book to use and I am going to be able to have a lot better garden with it's help.
Wow growing in bales of hay, I got to check that out...
Oh I cant find the bale gardening forum....
This message was edited Feb 2, 2009 3:12 PM
It's the easiest gardening you'll ever do. No weeding, no hoeing, no bending. Can't beat that with a stick!
I got a bale of straw just sitting out in the front of the house, wonder if that would work?
Oh I finally found it in the Strawbale gardening section... That is a cool Idea, I think I will try some tomato's in a bale that I have just hanging around. That should look pretty as well.
This message was edited Feb 2, 2009 3:40 PM
Lots of people use straw but I like hay. Check out the Bale Gardening forum. It's very interesting stuff.