Farm News 04-27-08

Sunday morning, after chores, 64°

Weight: 208, no progress

Barn News

The black rabbit that escaped several weeks ago decided that freedom was just too much trouble. Monday morning he was waiting at the door to the rabbitry and was quite happy to be picked up and put back into his cage.

One of Jesse's geese hatched a gosling Sunday. Jesse stole her baby from her, hoping that she will begin laying again if she doesn't have a baby. He asked me to keep it in my brooder and I agreed, of course. We named it 'Bobby', figuring that could apply to either sex. Sexing an adult goose is difficult, and impossible with the young.

Bobby went to school on Wednesday and Thursday to meet the little kids. On Wednesday he was friendly, but by Thursday he was objecting to being held. Mainly, though, he was interested in picking the crumbs off the rug where the children sat in a circle.

Sally has a nest box full of fur and bunnies. They arrived Saturday and I'll wait a few days before I disturb them, but there are more than three in there, I think.

Bebe goose is sitting on a nest with about a dozen eggs. The eggs, however, are all duck eggs. It will be interesting to see how baby ducks respond to a mother who is gigantic and speaks a different language.

The peach trees are in peak bloom. Lovely pink clouds on the landscape.

Starting with Chickens

Dr. M. had some questions about starting with chickens. Here is my reply.

The eggs you buy in the store are produced by chickens who have about one square foot each. Chickens need about four square feet each to not look crowded. That's indoor space, not outdoor space. They need a house that can keep out the winter winds but still be well ventilated. They will also produce more if there is a light in the house that keeps adult chickens on a fourteen hour day. Baby chicks will grow rapidly on a twenty four hour day.

They need about the same amount of space outside that they have in their house. Their outdoor run can be your compost pre-processor, also. I put about four big round bales of cheap hay in our chicken yard each year and five chickens can reduce a bale to little pieces of leaf in about two months. The bales are the great big ones that can be moved only with a tractor. All the garbage goes into the chicken yard, also.

Inside, I use shredded paper for floor litter, spreading it 12" to 18" deep. Outside I use old hay, straw, garbage, grass clippings, leaves, and just about anything else organic I can find, and I try to keep the bedding 18" to 24" deep. Covered cat litter boxes make excellent nest boxes. A dozen chickens can use two or three nest boxes.

They need access to green grass at least once per week if you want eggs with nice orange, high carotene, yolks. You can give them the grass by trading eggs for lawn clippings, perhaps. Chickens generally love to eat Styrofoam. It doesn't seem to hurt them but I doubt if it provides much in the way of nutrients.

We are sold on the virtues of Golden Sex Links and Red Sex Links. Are those hot names? They're heavy brown-egg layers who will earn their keep for several years before their laying drops off. For us, the cheapest place to buy them is the weekly farmer's auction in Perry, but we usually end up buying one day chicks from the local feed store. (I recommend locally owned feed stores over Farmers' Co-op stores, Co-ops tend to serve commercial farms, not home flocks.)

Baby chicks are usually sold in groups of twenty five, either pullets, cockerels, or 'straight run', i.e. mixed sexes. I prefer to buy pullets. Hens do not need a rooster to lay, only to be laid. Some people say fertile eggs are more nutritious, but I don't think there is much data to support this. There does to be some data to support the notion that feeding hens seaweed helps reduce the cholesterol in the eggs.

Starting day old chicks is easy. Give them food and water. They will need baby chick grit (a pound will last for years). Sprinkle a tiny bit of food on the water to attract their attention, and you might have to dip their beaks in water to get them started drinking. Once one chick figures it out the rest will imitate it quickly. Hang a 150 watt light bulb in a reflector in one corner. Watch the chicks, if they are huddled together under the light they need more heat, if they are scattered around the outside edges they need less. Warm, happy chicks are quiet. Cold, unhappy chicks tell you about it loudly.

I say, "Chick, chick, chick," every time I give food or garbage to the chickens. They soon learn to come when called, which is very handy when they start finding ways to escape from their pen.

Music

One of my favorite stations, which I thought was gone, is just under another name. Camera Portocalie is now Radio Alternativ, www.radioalternativ.ro. There seems to be a lot of interesting music coming through Romania.

Save Your Children

Again, a horrible cult-like danger is threatening our children. It's called Emo and this is what a TV station in Utah had to say about it: http://www.abc4.com/content/community/events/default.aspx. If you wish a more precise definition of Emo then go to the Urban Dictionary: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=emo, where you will find many things, including an album of 445 photos of Emos. After looking at 150 you will probably start getting the idea.

Totally irresponsible people have created a guide to becoming Emo: http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Emo. Read it to see if your child is in danger.

Books

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Golden only had one book published, and it spent a year on the New York Times best seller list. I've been wanting to read it for years and, after picking it up at the library book sale, have finally satisfied my desire to read it. I enjoyed it and found it hard to put down.