Ok slight rant here....
I adore my hubby, he is the best, but sometimes...
I talked him into chickens, I talked him into an incubator (over MUCH protesting), I talked him into building me more coops (not as much protesting, he likes to build stuff) - all along he says "I'm doing this cause it makes you happy, dear, They are YOUR chickens, I just build the coops."
Ok, so tell me why then, can I not get rid of THAT chicken, because she's his Mowing Buddy. And I can get rid of THAT chicken, because she is pretty. Oh, and that Big Rooster down in the lower coop (I have four coops, at this point) well, he's a great roo, and a good breeder, you need that one.
He can keep his mowing buddy and the pretty chicken who flirts with him, but... he needs to stop!! Seriously, I have 4 incubators now - one is just for hatching, so we can do staggered hatches.
Great!!! Yeah!! Ok, now when do we get to turn that darn things off??!!
I have 180+ chicks at the moment - all of them around three weeks old, and I have 5 who just hatched today and probably another 40 eggs to go yet (hatching as we speak).
Yes, we sell chicks and chickens, and we sell eating eggs... But, I need to downsize. I also need to convince the man that winter is gonna be here, people are not gonna buy as many chickens then, and I'm gonna be stuck with over 150 extra chickens that I will have to feed and house all winter long. Add in the ones he wants to hatch this winter from my breeder flocks - to get a jump start on spring sales (not a bad idea, but they will have to live inside with us a lot longer than summer chicks) and I am wondering where I'm gonna put all these chickens.
I want to downsize to the "yard candy flock", and my three breeder flocks, and the chicks that I have NOW for selling chickens. I don't need to hatch anymore chicks right now. (did I mention I also have 60 quail babies and 130 more quail eggs in the incubator?). I also have 5 bottle baby calves - so you know that takes some time doing chores.
Meri needs a break.
I finally get him to agree that I am making sense and we need to downsize for winter. I tell him that I do not want to build any more coops - I want to make do with what coops I have and work within that space frame. He agrees, "great idea, Hon." so, last night, after I relax and get all happy figuring out how to move everyone around, he gets this look on his face...
Well, you don't want to get rid of any chickens yet, you might want that big rooster to breed some more, for eggs, when you run out of chicks (umm, over 250 by the time they all hatch, I won't run out that fast). He says he'd be hard to replace - and he is right, that rooster is lovely and big and a great breeding roo - but if I get rid of his hens, who am I gonna breed him with? What do I need with a rooster who is all alone?
I would put him with the yard candy flock, but I already have a roo in there, a fantastic rooster, who is not going anywhere. The two roos do not get along at all - so he can't go there.
I honestly believe that he intends to keep those incubators all filled and running all year round without a break.
I am ready to hide the things at this point.
eta to add more ranting....
I want to get down to my breeder flocks because I want to concentrate on making those flocks GOOD flocks, perhaps even Fantastic flocks - not just hatching whatever pops out of an egg. Is that a Bad thing???
meri
I adore my hubby, he is the best, but sometimes...
I talked him into chickens, I talked him into an incubator (over MUCH protesting), I talked him into building me more coops (not as much protesting, he likes to build stuff) - all along he says "I'm doing this cause it makes you happy, dear, They are YOUR chickens, I just build the coops."
Ok, so tell me why then, can I not get rid of THAT chicken, because she's his Mowing Buddy. And I can get rid of THAT chicken, because she is pretty. Oh, and that Big Rooster down in the lower coop (I have four coops, at this point) well, he's a great roo, and a good breeder, you need that one.
He can keep his mowing buddy and the pretty chicken who flirts with him, but... he needs to stop!! Seriously, I have 4 incubators now - one is just for hatching, so we can do staggered hatches.
Great!!! Yeah!! Ok, now when do we get to turn that darn things off??!!
I have 180+ chicks at the moment - all of them around three weeks old, and I have 5 who just hatched today and probably another 40 eggs to go yet (hatching as we speak).
Yes, we sell chicks and chickens, and we sell eating eggs... But, I need to downsize. I also need to convince the man that winter is gonna be here, people are not gonna buy as many chickens then, and I'm gonna be stuck with over 150 extra chickens that I will have to feed and house all winter long. Add in the ones he wants to hatch this winter from my breeder flocks - to get a jump start on spring sales (not a bad idea, but they will have to live inside with us a lot longer than summer chicks) and I am wondering where I'm gonna put all these chickens.
I want to downsize to the "yard candy flock", and my three breeder flocks, and the chicks that I have NOW for selling chickens. I don't need to hatch anymore chicks right now. (did I mention I also have 60 quail babies and 130 more quail eggs in the incubator?). I also have 5 bottle baby calves - so you know that takes some time doing chores.
Meri needs a break.
I finally get him to agree that I am making sense and we need to downsize for winter. I tell him that I do not want to build any more coops - I want to make do with what coops I have and work within that space frame. He agrees, "great idea, Hon." so, last night, after I relax and get all happy figuring out how to move everyone around, he gets this look on his face...
Well, you don't want to get rid of any chickens yet, you might want that big rooster to breed some more, for eggs, when you run out of chicks (umm, over 250 by the time they all hatch, I won't run out that fast). He says he'd be hard to replace - and he is right, that rooster is lovely and big and a great breeding roo - but if I get rid of his hens, who am I gonna breed him with? What do I need with a rooster who is all alone?
I would put him with the yard candy flock, but I already have a roo in there, a fantastic rooster, who is not going anywhere. The two roos do not get along at all - so he can't go there.
I honestly believe that he intends to keep those incubators all filled and running all year round without a break.
I am ready to hide the things at this point.
eta to add more ranting....
I want to get down to my breeder flocks because I want to concentrate on making those flocks GOOD flocks, perhaps even Fantastic flocks - not just hatching whatever pops out of an egg. Is that a Bad thing???
meri
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