Dixie Chicks

[BriardChickens]

Good Morning , getting colder here , temps dropping to the minus's , daytime temps still good , a lot of sun and finally no more rain . Piggy's are gaining weight so we'll see what they look like in December , might just butcher them all , less hassle ? Butchered my four white turkeys ...43 KG or 95lbs so a lot of meat , but costly to raise and process so doubtful that I'll do that again . But getting ready for the cold to come , firewood is home for the most part , should be good to go there , got about three to four cords to cut up on the mill for timbers so there will be slabs coming yet .

That's a lot of turkey, makes me want to put mine on a scale (live weight) LOL. He's so big now, he doesn't make it up onto the roosts anymore.

We cut 25+ trees down in the spring. Still have to do the wood splitting, but at least they are cut to size already. Hope they'll be dry enough to burn this winter. I think we'll have enough. What kind of mill do you have? DH and I have been looking into that...

 

[vehve]

We still haven't dipped below freezing, but today it's clearly been a lot colder, and we should reach 0C this week.

Sam, I saw a few pics on facebook, looking good!

 

[BriardChickens]

We've had more then one killing frost so far, still don't expect the white stuff for at least another 2 weeks according to the forecast.

 

[hennible]

Probably 2 weeks before we get snow but it won't stay or at least it usually doesn't. Lots of hard frosts but somehow my out door garden is still alive... Weird
Thanks Felix
Nesting boxes go up today and then to instal the human door and I can move my ducks.
Then we will move the pen...

 

[Cold Canadian]

That's a lot of turkey, makes me want to put mine on a scale (live weight) LOL. He's so big now, he doesn't make it up onto the roosts anymore.

We cut 25+ trees down in the spring. Still have to do the wood splitting, but at least they are cut to size already. Hope they'll be dry enough to burn this winter. I think we'll have enough. What kind of mill do you have? DH and I have been looking into that...

Yea a lot of turkey , and that is dressed weight , to big for us so they will be cut into quarters , more manageable .I bought a LumberLite 24 a few years back , a band saw mill , I have enough track to cut up to 16 feet , can add on , but as I man handle all the logs out of the bush as well as onto the mill I have to watch what I cut .....longest has been 14 feet which gave me a 8x8 timber ......that one had weight , still does . My mill is a walk through so you can feel all the harder areas , they do sell bigger models but I wasn't going to spend that much so ? I do like it though as I have plans on building a timber steam sauna .......I have cut mostly pine , some cedar , poplar and just recently my neighbour brought a 20 inch oak that he wanted ripped into slabs as he turns bowls as a hobby

 

[BriardChickens]

Do you mind if I ask how much you paid for yours @Cold Canadian ? Hubby and I are shopping, probably won't buy for another year, but we are starting our research... How big of a tree will it cut? The property we are trying to purchase has some BIG cedars on it.. we'll get a professional to cut them down, but we'd love to mill them

I looked at some of the hydraulic mills, but honestly, they are just out of price range...

 

[vehve]

@Cold Canadian Timber sauna sounds cool, I'd love to hear more about it. I was just talking to the neighbor about different saunas last week, he told me about his friend who built a sauna with sort of an open floor, just 2*4:s standing on their side, with about 1" spacing. He said it was the best sauna he's ever been in. Super easy to keep clean, no worrying about water or dirt, and you get a wonderful steam as the air is so oxygenated.

 

[Beer can]

My neighbor has a ceder hot tub, heated with a wood fire, pretty cool.

 

[Beer can]

Hey @vehve welcome back!
I know how you are with the #s, did you do any break down on how much the rabbits cost per pound? ( or whatever it is in metric Lol)

 

[vehve]

Beer, nah, I really don't wanna do that But I think so far, when we process the rest of these, well have had 13 bunnies, with a mean processed weight of about 3-3½ lbs (with bones), totaling about 45 lbs of meat + bones from two litters. The bunny pen was about 400 I think, and if I were to venture a guess on feed, I'd say we've sunk about 100 euros in their feed. Actually less because we've gotten some of the stuff for free, but that's an okay guestimate. We're gonna have two more litters this year, as the plan is looking, so I'd say we'll have of had broken even by the end of the year comparing to store bought (20 euros per bunny). That would mean the bunnies are going to start actually making fiscal sense sometime next summer, right around the time I'd say the chicken coop will start to break even.

Of course, if you factor in the improvement of life quality these things have given us, we've been in the black for a long time.