looking forward to farming

[offbeatbassist]

Hey it's Ray from Maine

I have come across this website multiple times and finally decided to join, as I found a post I wanted to reply to, and there's just so many knowledgeable/helpful/great people on here!

I'm a truck driver, married with 2 small children (2.5 years and 5 months). My wife is a stay at home mom. We're looking to purchase a property with 15+ acres to start a small hobby farm and maybe expand into an income providing farm (would love to get off the road, but gotta pay the bills).

Honestly, typical livestock critters are less of an interest for me. I like less common livestock. I always thought chickens would be my gateway animal, but I an picking up a pencilled palm Tom turkey and a "heritage wide breasted hen turkey" this afternoon, and a royal palm hen tomorrow. In a couple of weeks I expect to pickup some coturnix quail (someone offered to hatch then out for me) and I hope to add emu chicks this summer if we are able to secure our own property. In the future, I'd like to pursue ostrich and possibly bison and/or elk.


My brother will be hosting the adult turkeys until we are ready to relocate them, and the quail will be in our apt. I'm looking to breed both, hopefully will raise turkey chicks up for thanksgiving and Christmas, and the quail will probably only start as supplemental egg production for my own family consumption.

I'm new to farming these animals, mostly just helped keep the family garden when I was young, and helped with chickens for a short time when I was real little(maybe 5-7 years old?)

Things I need to learn about and acquire in the near future:
Egg incubators- need something that can handle coturnix quail, turkey, emu, and ostrich eggs (hoping maybe I can manage those 4 sizes with 2 incubators). Emu/ostrich egg incubators seem difficult to find.
Egg scales- again something to specifically handle ratite eggs looks difficult
Brooding- knowledge and equipment (thinking of starting with a plastic storage bin from Wal-Mart, and putting a brood lamp into a hole cut from the cover)
And of course, property and fencing/housing equipment/supplies for setting up my farm

I am a MSB member@ TSP, and a founding member with PermaEthos, tho I am still slowly working through the class due to my work schedule.

Ray

 

[Chicken Girl1]

Hello

and Welcome to BYC!

Glad to have you join! Feel free to make yourself at home! Here are some helpful links!
Where am I? Where are you!

Quail

Turkeys

Ostriches, Emu, Rheas

Everything Else

What Breed Or Gender is This?

Coop & Run - Design, Construction, & Maintenance

Incubating & Hatching Eggs

Raising Baby Chicks

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi Ray

Glad you could join the flock! You have some great plans there for your farm. The links Chicken girl1 has left for you will be a great place for you to start ator all the info you need. Be sure to ask any questions you have the forum is very diverse with a section for everything.

Wishing you the very best of luck with your new adventure and home. Enjoy BYC

 

[sunflour]

Glad you joined us.

Sounds like quite an undertaking with Emu, Bison and poultry.

I do have a question/comment on the brooder from a plastic bin with a hole in lid for the light. I am visualizing a box with a light sized hole? This would be an oven. A wire top with something above that to suspend the light would be best, so you can raise the light weekly, allow ventilation in the brooder. Hope this is what you meant.

I only brooded 6 chicks in the largest plastic bin I could find and they outgrew it in just 2 weeks, and had to buy something a lot larger. But some folks use multiple plastic bins, cutting doors and joining those for more space.

Good luck on your plans.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Welcome!

I'm glad you joined our community.

Definitely check out the links that Chicken Girl1 left you with. If you still can't find answers to your questions, just ask! We'll be happy to help.

 

[offbeatbassist]

  Glad you joined us.

Sounds like quite an undertaking with Emu, Bison and poultry.

I do have a question/comment on the brooder from a plastic bin with a hole in lid for the light.   I am visualizing a box with a light sized hole?   This would be an oven.   A wire top with something above that to suspend the light would be best, so you can raise the light weekly, allow ventilation in the brooder.  Hope this is what you meant.

I only brooded 6 chicks in the largest plastic bin I could find and they outgrew it in just 2 weeks, and had to buy something a lot larger.  But some folks use multiple plastic bins, cutting doors and joining those for more space.

Good luck on your plans.

The plastic bin thing was something my brother suggested, as he used this for his ducks last year. I haven't asked specifics but he sounded like he used it the way you say. I'll have to ask. In his case tho, he lived in a yurt in Maine, so maybe the room temp was low enough to offset. I know he did say it was a longer box with the light on one end so they could choose how close to get to the light. I'll ask him about it before I hatch out any chicks

 

[offbeatbassist]

Thanks for the responses! I'll definitely check out the links and get going learning and socializing

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined!

 

[drumstick diva]

The Sheriff who started Stella's Social Club hatched emu's- I don't know what she used as an incubator. I recall they took 55 days or so to hatch. Mainly she had to keep weighing eggs because they are supposed to lose a certain amount of weight at set times. Also emus are very fragile for the first year of life. Problems with feet at birth can lead to necessary culling. It takes strong, healthy legs to hold up a bird of that size.

Wish I could remember more, she kept us all very well informed. Unless she deleted them - most of her emu reports would be on her previous thread - Icelandics (chickens)

The emu threads on BYC are very informative, I used to follow them even though never had an emu..

 

[offbeatbassist]

I will look up her threads, thanks! I have been in contact with a local Emu breeder, he had 13 birds when we visited but was expanding his flock regularly. He talked a little bit about the egg hatching, I think he said his average was about 52 days. I've done some reading online as well and have come across the weighing of the eggs. I will be looking around for scales, and will probably ask the local breeder what he uses, but most the egg scales I find don't go anywhere high enough for emu or ostrich eggs. I hadn't encountered anything talking about needing to cull them due to leg issues, but that does make sense.