Colorado

[Ashdoes]

Ashdoes - so what other critters are you planning to get?  W/3 little and 1 big boy, we might need to move to your neck of the woods just to be able to feed everyone before the littles are teenagers b/c I don't think I can convince my neighbors a mini cow is just a large dog nor do I think I can teach a mini cow to bark!  LOL  

I would love a mini cow! I did a little research, and think they're the cutest things. That of course is the problem, I can't kill something I think is cute and lovable.
We're looking at getting miniature fainting goats, hopefully next year. We thought about getting a pig, but I really need to find someone out here that'll butcher and package for us.

 

[maggiemo]

There are lots of processors for pigs. Don't let that stop you. I wish there were processors for chickens.

Mel, I think Meyer's guarantees 90% accuracy. Their website says they send 4% more chicks and that makes up for losses and wrong sexing...It doesn't for me.
I ordered 20 and one meal maker, zero extras. I got 21 and one was dead. Now with at least 4 roos, maybe 6 roos, and the two you got I have maybe 12 pullets...Those are some expensive birds.
I won't use Meyer again.

,
oh well...you have to try these things once. I'll buy local from now on.

 

[samsr]

I would love a mini cow! I did a little research, and think they're the cutest things. That of course is the problem, I can't kill something I think is cute and lovable.
We're looking at getting miniature fainting goats, hopefully next year. We thought about getting a pig, but I really need to find someone out here that'll butcher and package for us.

I have a processor for pigs that lives right down the road from me. He is just south of fountain. I would say if you want one. Get one

 

[Ashdoes]

I have a processor for pigs that lives right down the road from me. He is just south of fountain. I would say if you want one. Get one

Wow! I had no idea. I'll have to tell my husband. Anyone know about how much it costs to package the whole thing?

 

[samsr]

I will ask him the next time i see him. I am putting a head gasket in his car at the moment so it shouldnt take too long. There is also a processor in peyton. Baker processing. Hes a pretty noce guy.

 

[Euarto Gullible]

More progress today. We hatched 21, 14 pullets and 7 cockerels. Sold three pullets today.Got some help and did some more work on phase 3.

 

[samsr]

I have a pip in a goose egg! This should be interesting as i have never raised a goose before. Do they imprint? I think it would be cute if they followed my wife around everywhere. Lol

 

[jime]

On the geese, I had 4 denies, but have to get rid of them turn out 3 males and 1 girl and they were the friendliest things except for mating season, the problem is they imprint so much with me that will fallow me al the way to the main door and stay there until I will get out (talked about a dirty main entrance) mating season came and i could not get out of my house with out been attack and then if I went to the barn because they will fallow me I could not get out of the barn neither.So I don't know how much you really want them to imprint on you.With e did not work that good and my husband and kids (boys) could not come close to me neither, finally they attack my 2 year old and that was it.
I think you will need a medium, you want them friendly but to clingy.
That is my opinion.

 

[jime]

I don't know if somebody in here will be interested but I am selling my Dickey's incubator , is the 2 by2. 2 incubator trays and two hatcher trays.This incubator and me don't get along. It has the waterer system as well.If anybody is interested please send me a PM, I to it last year (August) and have only use it once.

 

[trsturself]

All this talk of fruit trees is music to my ears!!!

We just planted 22 fruit trees and about 35 fruiting bushes. I am so excited about having a mini orchard. We have all of this in our front yard across from our 3 bee hives. Yesterday we seeded the front yard area ground in clover. I am hoping all of this moisture we got today will get the clover going well.
We used white dutch clover as our ground cover in our backyard last year. I also put in purple prairie, strawberry, and crimson clover around my chicken run, garden, green house, and fence line. I figured it was an incredibly hardy and easy landscaping flower. This spring it has come up in gangbusters. Without watering it at all, my backyard looks 80% green already. Last summer we had to water quite a bit to get it going, but now I think the roots are deep and it coming up without any help at all. We intentionally used clover as our ground cover because it uses 1/10 th the amount of water as grass. We could choose to mow it or not (about once a month if I wanted the backyard to look more manicured) and in the fall I let it all go to flower as a food source for my bees.
I can't wait for the front to have some green. Right now it is all brown dirt.

That's a great idea with the clover. I have a vague memory of reading somewhere that clover wasn't good for chickens. Am I totally misremembering that? I wouldn't be surprised.

If we get the property we're looking at I need to find something that will grow with pine trees and that horses like.

We plan to get some fruit trees and bees too. Just gotta see where we end up and figure out where we can plant them. Might need to do a little clear cutting to make room for an orchard - and protect it from the deer.

Ashdoes, I tried to find photos of our bird netting, but it so hard to see.. If you zoom in you can see the little lines in the sky. W

I love it. We plan to do something similar and it's great to see an example.

I would love a mini cow! I did a little research, and think they're the cutest things. That of course is the problem, I can't kill something I think is cute and lovable.
We're looking at getting miniature fainting goats, hopefully next year. We thought about getting a pig, but I really need to find someone out here that'll butcher and package for us.

I want to get a Dexter cow. They are small but good dairy AND meat cows. The boys are ready for processing in just 18 mo so any male babies born can put you in meat pretty quick. I wasn't thinking of a pig originally but after hearing of all the pork problems I'm considering it. I think I'm going to try to convince my friend that I'll raise the cow and she raises the pig and we'll share.

There are lots of processors for pigs. Don't let that stop you. I wish there were processors for chickens.

Mel, I think Meyer's guarantees 90% accuracy. Their website says they send 4% more chicks and that makes up for losses and wrong sexing...It doesn't for me.
I ordered 20 and one meal maker, zero extras. I got 21 and one was dead. Now with at least 4 roos, maybe 6 roos, and the two you got I have maybe 12 pullets...Those are some expensive birds.
I won't use Meyer again.

,
oh well...you have to try these things once. I'll buy local from now on.

Wow, I'm surprised you had such problems. I'm on the Meyer thread and someone else was saying something similar. I wonder if they had a new employee that is making mistakes? I have thought I had roos before when they were young but they all turned out to be pullets after all. I hope that happens with you. I think they will refund the price between the roos and pullets. Not that that helps much.

My last 4 chicks that we want to sell now are gone or leaving. We will have 1 silkie to get rid of eventually that I'm hoping my friend will take when she takes the other one.

We are planning to put our house on the market this friday. We're going to make an offer on a property on wed. I really hope we get it. A friend of a friend listed their house down the street from us yesterday and had 3 offers by today. If our house sells and we don't get the other place we'll be screwed. No where to go with 3 dogs, a cat, and lots of chickens. lol

I took some updated pics of the chicks we hatched. I'll post them next.