Getting the flock out of here - a diary of a crazy chicken man

Date sort Score sort
The final doe gave up the goat so to speak. She gave birth to a large female kid that required assistance in delivery.

Caprino did very well with his x chromosome sperm.

We now have 3 adult mothers with 50% Nubian doelings, a eight month old doe that is the daughter of our original goat and feta the part boer doe that miscarried on her first pregnancy to caprino.

I called the Goatery I bought caprino from and he is discounting a new buck for me that is 97% Nubian and 10 months old. I will pick it up in 2 months when we sell more copra as its a solid 8 hour round trip and I want to make the drive worth it.

The second set of 3 gilts will receive their AI in 10 or 11 days. these are the spotted girls. They are going to get landrace x large white "boar in a bottle".

I am very comfortable letting Dominic handle the procedure.

The roof is 30% completed. Rain killed work at half a day both yesterday and today. The guy we have doing it is reliable. He did not show up the first day because he actually works for my father in law and was getting a ride out with him. Dad has a habit of stopping a lot on the way. He should finish the roof in 6 working days with Dominic and Dondon helping between their duties.

One and a half days to go.
 
Dominic finally had a day of today. We have set up a strict schedule of alternating Saturdays and Sundays off for Dom and Don. Previously the helper was getting Sundays off and Dominic was feeling obliged to do the chores around his time off.

Tomorrow will be sorting the final chickens to leave our place till the chicken mission in September. We will tag a doz cockerals for Dominic and co to eat and install an industrial pressure washer in the ceiling of the piggery. Then its the final tweaks of the new bator and my work is done.

The multi level Ohio brooders will have to wait for next trip.

I have drawn a design for a quarter ton at a time feed mixer to mechanize the process. It will use a 150 gallon plastic water tank that we no longer use and a 1770 rpm motor geared down with 2 sets of V belts each with a 20:2 ratio. I will have it made in Bacolod while I am away.

Mixing 2 ton of feed a month by hand is too time consuming and encourages short cuts
 
Wow. So much getting done an so much potential for the future.

I just got back into chickens and I got a mix of different birds I will need for breeding to get Easter Eggers, and Olive Eggers sometime next spring. I will hopefully also have French Black Copper Marans, Ameruacana, Colombian Rock, and possibly Guinea Fowl.

Chicken Math is dangerous. I started out only planning on having a few egg layers for pets for my daughter and a few eggs for the table. I now have all the breeds listed above plus a bunch of Easter Eggers, and a pair of Rhode Island Reds, those breeds I got this year as chicks.

Then I got a flock of Plymouth Barred Rock hens that I bought who are a year old already and laying and are providing eggs for me, my mother in law, and one of our neighbours.....

I am honestly not sure how I got to this point from a plan to buy 4-6 hens....

But I need me so broody birds like silkies to hatch eggs for me in the spring.
 
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Amazing Oz! I had thought about the coconut oil thing.. that stuff is getting to be really popular. Here in the US people fork over INSANE amounts for organic virgin coconut oil.
 
The price of virgin organic coconut oil is ridiculously high yet 99% of coconuts are organic. The don't really need fertilizer and if they do a pound or two of chicken poop goes a long way.

I need to get a press based on a 20 ton hydraulic jack with a stainless steel component to press the copra. Its probably a 500 dollar investment. The oil is perfect for selling to the cottage soap making industry.

There is not a copra mill for four hours drive so most people sell their copra at farm gate price which is 20% less than mill price. Mill price is heavily manipulated. Even with 20% of all coconut trees in the country destroyed by typhoon Yolanda, the price of copra is decreasing while world demand is increasing.
 
Thank you Scott..I had a wonderful time.
smile.png
 

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