Coffee's ready...

[rancher hicks]

Good morning chicken wranglers
Q, I have not had to try that but I suppose it would work ,pity when people drink up their pay like that. Where in
New York are you? I have some friend s that just moved to a place 1 hour north of the city. Jim says that there are bears everywhere in this place . he has seen 4 or five since moving. So is this the case where you and your wife go for these walks?
Rancher you should brood some birds and sell them and at least profit enough to cover your feed.
Right now the local walmart is selling eggs for $.39 a dozen. No way you can produce them for that and profit at those prices ,I wonder who they are trying to put out of business? Same with milk $.94 a gallon? What is up ?
Well have to work God Bless!

I have purchased eggs from Walmart long ago. The shells for like coarse sandpaper. Never bought eggs there again. Walmart sells a lot of imported produce and other things so I rarely shop there.

I'm sure Walmart is taking a loss on those eggs but making it up elsewhere in the store. Not everything is cheaper.

My tip for the day is to look for the Reviews of products you are considering buying. Mine of late is a food chopper sold by Sears. $5.99, but previously sold for in the $20 range. Reviews were not good of course, but you get the idea.

Sun is shining and school is opened so it's business as usual.

As for Broody hens. I sold my incubator, so I expect to save money not running that anymore. Hens can hatch enough to replace those that need replacing. And I don't have to run heat lights for the brooders. I don't have to bother filling special feeders and waterers. Too I get a better hatch rate.

My Delawares are pretty good with chicks. Even the roosters don't seem to bother them. Can't say the same for all the breeds. Some are much nicer than others.

I lost a couple of young hens to the Black Orpington roos. Those buggers would jump on them and injure them so bad they had to be put down. The Del rooster are not so agreesive. I've since gotten rid of the Orpingtons.

 

[karl E lutz]

Rancher,
It is cool that you are doing it the old fashioned way, letting the hens raise the chicks, right now I have no roosters because they tear the hens up too much and I got sick of it. Leg horns can be mean also .

 

[karl E lutz]

Good morning chicken wranglers
My men are at it early this morning starting at 5;00 am. . We are reworking some large molds. Each section weighs 11,00 #'s each.
We have to have these done at a blistering pace ,but the guys are up to the challenge. My chickens are doing fine ,I wish I had had time to butcher last week end but it did not happen, we had too many family functions. My wife's uncle from Okinawa is here for a limited time visiting ,and brought his grandson. The boy is the same age as my youngest,and they get on famously. Today my boy gets out of school at noon and it will be his last day with his cousin before the boy goes home to the far east . He and his mother live on one of the bases on the Island.
He goes to a school where all the children speak English ,and are forbidden to speak Japanese . He knows a smattering of the language but his primary is English.
Signing off
God Bless!

 

[quercus21]

Morning people,
I am just about dancing with delight, my nemesis is just about done, just clean up left........

@karl E lutz - I am a little bit further north, maybe a 1 1/2 - 2 hrs north of NYC. I'm up by Bard College outside of a college town called Tivoli. Yep, we have seen bears on our hikes. They more or less don't want to interact with you. You just have to respect them and remeber they can eat you. We have freinds that live in a sleepy town out in the middle of no where, they refer to them as large racoons. For me, I have a couple of rules, don't get between a male and female during....., don't get between mom and her cubs, they aren't the cute cuddle smokey the bear, and you never ever take your eyes off the your kids or leave them alone just for that minute. We came across a eviscerated deer one time, just after winter thaw, very fresh. The blood wasn't congeal, eyes still clear. I was a bit nerous then, but I figured I could out run the better half.....( just joking).

It seemed liked I had a harder time with the ground personal then with the climbers. Being a climber, you wanted someone with a clear head supporting you.

@rancher hicks - My nephew is just starting doing that with his meaties, raising his own. The rooster we have, is a dandy. The hens pick on him all the time, but he gets the job done.

Enjoy your day

Kaj

 

[rancher hicks]

Morning people,
I am just about dancing with delight, my nemesis is just about done, just clean up left........

@karl E lutz - I am a little bit further north, maybe a 1 1/2 - 2 hrs north of NYC. I'm up by Bard College outside of a college town called Tivoli. Yep, we have seen bears on our hikes. They more or less don't want to interact with you. You just have to respect them and remeber they can eat you. We have freinds that live in a sleepy town out in the middle of no where, they refer to them as large racoons. For me, I have a couple of rules, don't get between a male and female during....., don't get between mom and her cubs, they aren't the cute cuddle smokey the bear, and you never ever take your eyes off the your kids or leave them alone just for that minute. We came across a eviscerated deer one time, just after winter thaw, very fresh. The blood wasn't congeal, eyes still clear. I was a bit nerous then, but I figured I could out run the better half.....( just joking).

It seemed liked I had a harder time with the ground personal then with the climbers. Being a climber, you wanted someone with a clear head supporting you.

@rancher hicks - My nephew is just starting doing that with his meaties, raising his own. The rooster we have, is a dandy. The hens pick on him all the time, but he gets the job done.

Enjoy your day

Kaj

If I had gone into processing I would have hung on to my C.Rocks. Those roosters were very big. The hens a nice size too.

I'm a big nature show watcher so I know not to mess with bears, or moose or much of anything else. I don't know why I would want to.

This mother showed little interest in us. She sniffed the air but after a time went into the woods.

 

[quercus21]

@rancher hicks - He's using those freedom rangers. They are also pretty good layers I guess. Some people just like to show off their prowess and both parties pay for it. One time, I made my better half a bit nervous, we ran into smack dab rock wall that was about 60' tall, tried going around it and came across some bear tracks, and followed them up the wall. Never saw the bear just a pile of scant. I figured, the animals knows the woods better then I do.

Enjoy you evening

Kaj

 

[quercus21]

Morning People,
Suns just popping through the trees and it looks mean today. Both decks are finished and started mowing the lawn again. Now to start on the firewood. I girdlded some trees last spring, so they shouold be ready for harvest and processing.The better half's b-day is tomorrow, so she wants to go for a walk in the woods. I am going to try freezing some green tomatoes and see how they keep. It's a shame to toss them, I need the bed for some early winter food. The string beans are flowering. I had to set up irrigation for our peach trees yesterday. It's been dry here, it may pour, but doesn't seem to be soaking into the ground. Our daughter gave me this ever fruit alpine strawberry plant a few years back, poor thing went through...... Any ways, fianlly planted in a half wooded barrel. It is one of the best tasting stawberrys I have ever had. You ever have a orange creamsicle, these stawberries taste like a stawberry creamsicle and it fruits all summer long. The stawberries aren't big, little bigger then the wild stawberries.
Enough of this rambling.
Enjoy your day and the people you are with,
Kaj

 

[quercus21]

Morning People,
I finally found this picture of a mama bear and her cub. This was shot from our campsite that we kayak out to. I could also bore you with pictures of a bald eagle that was fishing in the area.

 

[rancher hicks]

Nice picture Q, I'm never bored by nature. I've watched lots of shows and learned lots too. I expect I'd survive if lost. Fact is I was dreaming of eating wild plants last night. We'd talked about food that naturally grows. Most folks don't know much about them.

Take care follks it's Saturday. I expect many folks to be busy.

TTFN,

 

[quercus21]

Nice picture Q, I'm never bored by nature. I've watched lots of shows and learned lots too. I expect I'd survive if lost. Fact is I was dreaming of eating wild plants last night. We'd talked about food that naturally grows. Most folks don't know much about them.

Take care follks it's Saturday. I expect many folks to be busy.

TTFN,

Morning people,

Thanks @rancher hicks . There is a lot to eat out there. it's berry season now. Sometimes in our wandering, we'll stumble upon an old apple orchard, hard, small sour fruit. There was a growing problem this year with a plant that tasted like onions that grows wild, name starts with a "R", has like lily of the valley foliage. It was this years fashionable veggie to eat. Problem was people were harvesting it from the woods to sell in markets. They weren't cutting the foliage off, but pulling up the whole plant, more or less weeding the woods.
I've notice lately with more and more people hiking, the woods are getting abused. It's a shame, you really only have a few basic rules and yet, they can't be followed. No camping above 3500', no camping within 150' of a trail or water, carry out what you carry in, don't go to the bath on the trail and bury it when you do go.
You wont believe how many people hike with out maps, proper foot wear and sufficient water. I use to give out my map to misplaced people, now I have them take a picture with their phone. Anyways, so much for my rant.......

The deck past the inspection....party time!!!! Vacation starts in a few days....Pulling up the beans, planting spinach and beets...

Enjoy your day
Kaj