You have been keeping busy! Glad things are going well for you. I've never considered raising a lamb before for meat. Hmmm...I have the room. How to you get it processed? Steaks, ground, etc.?Well, I have finally finished reading about 100 pages of from this thread. I surely missed a lot. With the Holidays and trying to prepare for this and that, I have not been on as much. I hope that everyone had a great Holiday and I know that everyone is looking forward to a productive 2014.
Well, to update everyone on what's been going on with me................ Here goes..............
My 100 broilers will arrive on tomorrow and I will be picking them up. Their brooder, for the 1st week, has been built. We used shelves from in the garage and turned it in to a brooder. The size of their initial brooder is 8 ft long x 2.2 ft wide by 2.2 ft tall. I will put them in to see if they will have enough room. If so, they will be in there for a week or so. If not, some will be taken out and place in my kiddie pools. I have 4 kiddie pools set up with heat lamps hanging down. I will get a call tomorrow (who knows what time) telling me to go and pick up my 100 broilers. I'm nervous and scared. I"m thinking about placing the liner down on the floor along with a little bit of hay. I"m not looking forward to all of the poop.
Here are pics of the inside brooder/shelf. I have 3 heat lamps in it. I have tested out the temps and it's holding a steady 99 degrees. I will put the feeders and waterers in this evening. Everything was from recycled stuff. The doors were from a wooden cabinet that an old fish tank sat on.
I have also started their fermented feed. Will have to add more water to this batch. I will start another batch of FF tonight.
I will post pics of them as soon as I get them.
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I took a lamb to the slaughter house last week. I wasn't pleased with the weight but it was enough to start off with. He dressed out only 42 lbs. Total cost to process and have the meat cost was only $37.00. Can't beat that price.
He was 100% grass fed & hay - no commercial feed. I am doing an experiment to compare the difference in the taste of the grass fed vs feed fed and also to compare weight - grass fed weight/vs feed-grain fed weight. Grass fed weight is not looking too good right now but I do know grass fed is healthier and tastier. I shared the meat with my "builder". He builds so much stuff for me, it was only fair to allow him to reap the benefits of helping me out.
I have a couple people who have requested lamb but I"m not happy with the weight, so I may not sell them at such a low weight. I have had lamb that weighed 100+ lbs at 1 year old. This particular lamb was only 8 months though.Perhaps I should wait until 1 year to slaughter.
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Duck laying season has arrived. A lot of fighting and breeding going on.I can expect to find hidden nests and babies waiting at the gate for me when I return to work. FUN FUN FUN. NOT !!!!!!
Someone came over this weekend wanting to buy ducks and we started talking about other animals and he began telling me that he processed a hog last weekend and he showed me a pic of the 80 lb/2 month hog that he processed. I have been looking to buy a piglet and raise to butcher but after talking to him, he has a LSU feeding program that he uses on the hogs and is able to grow a fine looking hog. So, I asked him if he wanted to barter ducks for a hog and he said yes. So, I have a hog on reserve. I told him that I would love to get a 80lb hog like the one he raised and processed. He also told me that he processed a 700 lb hog and the skin alone weighed 100 lbs and they made cracklins. He showed me a pic of ALL of those delicious cracklins.I can feel the weight creeping up on me this year.
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I received my 1st turkey egg on last week. Not sure how I feel about that.Turkey laying and hatching season is HERE !!!!!!!More hidden nests are the way and unplanned babies.
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The geese are stirring trouble with all of the males fighting. Not sure if I will sell goose eggs or hatch this year.I"m tired of satan's army. I just want peace.
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The pea boys are getting their long tails again. They are making noises. The girls won't start laying until April, so I still have time to prepare. I have a couple other girls that will start laying this season. Not sure what my plans are for peas.
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Waiting on my chicken plucker to be built. I have a lot male ducks to process for the freezer.
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Finally got my new camera surveillance system installed. LOVE IT! I can access it remotely when I am at work or away from home. I can also see what's going on on my phone. So next time, I get someone to feed the animals, I will see if they are actually going to my house to actually feed them. I can now pull do a search and pull up the activity going on in my yard.
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Got my fire pit up and going.Y'all know how much I love fire.
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Terri, I wanted to call you to give you a heads up to let you know that we were going to make a feed run to Petrus this weekend but I got side tracked and wasn't able to. Would have loved to say hello. We hurried on back. Maybe next time.
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My pineapple wine is looking great. I tasted a sample this weekend and it is delicious.I will start a batch of apple wine this weekend. I burned my juicer up, so I need another one of those but I'll have to save my pennies.I want an omega juicer but I don't have $250.00 just laying around.
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Next project is the soap. Not sure when I will start that.
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Someone that I know had an extra pressure washer just laying around and I inquired about it and he gave it to me.Chicken coop and chicken house cleaning here I come this weekend.
That thing works like a beast. I pressure washed my driveway and it looked like a brand new drive way. Thank God for things that people bless me with. I'm so grateful.
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I stocked up on 20 bales of hay for the sheep and goat. The guy that sells the hay was so nice . He offered to deliver what I need in the future. I was surprised when he offered. And he only charges $4.00 per hale.
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I think that's all as far as what I've been up to.
Y'all please pray that these broilers don't kill me.
Almost forgot. My New Year's Resolution is to keep on being the fiesty person that I have always been. No need to change now.
I love the idea of a camera system. I have one that I set up in the stall for birthing. I didn't set it up this year because I will only have three and it seemed like more work than it was worth. But, with the operation you have set up it would be well worth it.
It's great how it worked out with the pig. Great barter!
I love hearing about Satan's army!!!
Good luck tomorrow...we'll be thinking about you!!
EASY EASY Setup. Each camera has 60 ft and you can buy more cable to add if needed. Samsung Technical Support is EXCELLENT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
