Rebuilding my Farm

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Oh yes it is a big field, close to the woods...maybe all three will go after a coyote, our dogs needed the protection from our cows when they calved. Even though they were they to protect them! But I can see you wouldn't want anything to happen to her so young.
I was thinking of the red rooster that was given to you? I am liking red roos right now and keeping the ones that feather out so colorful. Most of mine started as orphan gifts, and I'm told they came from oegf , mixed breed though, I posted a picture of one and got comments that weren't so nice that they are mutts etc, so now I am starting a new breed of chicken and I'm calling them oagf, old Appalachian game fowl, one requirement will be either green or black legs only, and they must not fit 100% into any breed standard, but most closely resemble game birds. I wish they would stand still long enough for a picture, I have some from a better camera but don't know how to post it from there. Yet.
I wasn't sure how to do that get the milk and still keep the calf on mama...I want to get another milk cow this year maybe, something smaller than a Holstein, we had a Swiss Guernsey and she was sweet and calm, and smaller than most,yet she had alot of milk even with the calf on. I was lucky to grow up on a farm, it's the best way to live! Even if it's alot of work!
I am wondering if you have hatched out new chicks to rebuild your flock..I hope you're not giving up on it or maybe just too busy to post much. I have alot of time right now as I'm waiting to take the stitches out of my foot and can only walk just so much, but am wondering how it is going for you now, you had so many interesting birds? So i will check back occasionally for an update

 

[apostoliclady]

All I can say is...WOW!!! We were officially diagnosed today from the NC Dept of Agriculture with MG I appreciate all your posting! This kind of gives me an idea or a plan as to what to do next. Do you think I should continue to treat my birds with Duramycin and knock the infection back? The bulk of my birds are 4 months old. I can wait another month and collect their eggs. I'd be willing to do the dipping procedure with the eggs then get the chicks tested after they hatch. Then, as much as it HURTS my heart, I'd cull my original flock :'( Any advice would be great...

Michele

 

[Farmerboy16]

Hi ya'll,

I have been very busy with the farm, jobs.

Achickenwrangler#1- I agree about living on the farm is the best way! Although, I grew up in the country, not on farm. The only kind of farms close by was crop types, and where we live is right in the middle of the apple area. And I am the only person on our road of 18 homes that have chickens, cows, and pigs!

Michele- So sorry about your flock. Your plan sounds like mine. I waited until the pullets were laying well so I can save their eggs to rebuild my farm.

On Sunday, I sold over 30 birds as meat birds to a Asian lady. She did not want my buff orpingtons, for she did not like the taste of them. Now I have 6 chickens left, and after she left with the birds, I looked in my almost empty coop, I felt sad, about to cry. But I turned away and went to process my remaining 7 CX meaties.

My first time to process a chicken was a few weeks ago, when my 2 CX roosters had died of heart attack, they both weighed 7 or 8 pounds. Then the following week I did 4 in one day. 6 in the next week, 7 last Sunday. I did each bird in about 10 minutes each! I just skinned them, and gave the skins, guts, heads and feet to the pigs. The hogs ate everything except the feathers!! I had brought them as st. run, so I got total of 5 cockerals and 16 pullets, but I lost 3 of the pullets two weeks ago. Found them under the evergreen tree, all maggoty. The meaties were free ranging 24-7 with a coop, but refused to go in it. They slept under the stars. I did not lose any of them to preds, for they were sleeping under the cow fence which is hot. I was only able to sell 4 of them. No one on Craigslist wanted them!! :/ That was my goal, sell all the meaties, but I gave them away as gifts to my family members. They were happy with them, and surprised that I had killed the Chickens! For I am very well known to say that ''I will never ever kill a chicken'' and was never wanted to be around anyone that was gutting a fish, or a deer, etc. Well, look what got me here.

I dipped my eggs that I have been saving for the past 3 weeks today. Over 300 eggs!! Plus some that I got from ChickenStock. My sportsman is too full!! I will have to use my Little giant and the Hova too.


Let the rebuilding begin!!

 

[remuda1]

I'm going to subscribe to your thread..... I've been following it from the beginning.
I'm looking forward to hearing about your "mass incubation!". Good luck and best wishes for a fabulous batch rate

 

[Suzierd]

I was wondering if anybody has tried the new MG vaccine? It looks like it should be something to consider since you keep getting out breaks.
http://www.ibridgenetwork.org/ugarf...?search_term=MG+vaccine&utf8=✓&x=0&y=0
This new vaccine for MG is a virulent, immunogenic and stable.
Maybe their is hope for the future.

 

[Farmerboy16]

remuda1 Thanks for the best wishes for a fabulous batch rate, I will really need it as I had to toss out close to a 100 clear eggs and some of the eggs had blood rings. But on the bright side, the hogs had a feast on the eggs, so nothing was wasted.





Suzierd
MSU vet gave me the number of the vet company that sells MG vaccines, so I will call them on Monday. Thanks!


Pictures of my animals-

My Isa Browns drinking out of my homemade nipple waterer.





Here is the blue uggo.



The blue frizzle uggo.




I had let them out of the coop for the first time, for it was hot in the blue coop, had to force most of them out, for they have never been outside. It has been over a week since I got rid of my infected chickens, so its safe for the chicks to be in the pen. MG only only lastes 3 days outside, plus it has been so hot, that I am sure the the disease have been killed off, for they are very fragile.



Drum roll!

Maybelle!

She is 5 weeks old now. She has changed color!


When she was a week old.


I think that she will be reddish color cow when she grows up, what do you all think?

Hog time!

Cooling off.



Anybody want this cutie? I have 13 piglets total. 7 males, 6 females. They are old enough to be rehome now.




Oh, did I ever post here that I hatched out a pair of Emus? Oops, I guess not. Shame on me.

They took 52 days to incubate, and the best thing about Emus is that they do NOT get MG!








Three days old-




Nappy time






A month old



Griffin on the left. Little Ann on the right. Yep, got a pair! I had them DNA sexed, for that is the only way to know for sure.

 

[drdoolittle]

I just read your very first post of this thread and then your last----the first was so sad it brought tears to my eyes (especially about the last of your very first hens you had to cull). But I am totally impressed at how far you've come in rebuilding your farm! I love Maybelle and the guinea hogs (I raise PBPs). I am so completely jealous of your Emus! I was just looking at some today at a swap meet----but they were so expensive I had to pass. Where did you get your eggs from----or maybe you'll have some hatching eggs next spring that I can buy? Not sure how far north Sparta is----I'm in NE Indiana. Anyway, congrats on all you've accomplished!

 

[Suzierd]

I love the Emu's! So cute, I love those strips. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Farmerboy16]

Hi guys! It has been very busy here at the farm, and got a new full time job that is keeping me extra busy too.

drdoolittle- Thanks, at first I got the eggs from Ebay, and from a breeder's website in Kansas, out of 5 eggs got two, so I am happy with that. Sparta is about 30 minutes north of Grand Rapids.
Emus do not start breeding until they are 2 to 3 years old, so if you want eggs from my pair, you will be waiting awhile.


Lots of things have happened, some good, some bad, and some sad. I will list things in that order.
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The good- Got over 80 chicks to hatch from my former flock.

Got my turkey poult order in the mail! have 20 poults, will narrow down to the best breeder of about 10 turkeys.

My only Muscovy duckling that I was able to hatch from my pair-

Got more Muscovy eggs in the mail today from a fellow BYCer. yay

My Embden goslings, they are almost 2 months old! I can't believe how big that they have gotten!

These pictures are the Icelandics.
This one is mottled!

I have two dark ones.

She is mottled too! You can see three Icelandics in this picture.

I also have a silver chipmunk chick, and is a pullet too!
My Easter hatch pullet-

My Isa Browns are laying! Got 7 eggs out of 9 pullets, so 2 more girls will be laying soon! Plus my heritage breeds are not far behind!

Finally cleaned out the layer coop. One of my older brothers and I built in '07, using all the materials from the backyard. All it cost me was some hinges and the pulley, so about 80 dollars for the coop. Its 16 ft by 16 ft, and its 5 sided.

Emus-
At 11 weeks

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The bad- Had to toss about 200 eggs, most were clear, blood rings, etc.
It took me about 5 hours to clean out the layer coop and 18 wheelbarrel loads of bedding out of it. I am not going to use straw for the bedding again and never going to let it go so long between cleaning the coop.
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The sad- Lost one of the hogs to pregnancy issues, she was for meat for our family this fall, but it was unexpected pregnancy, and I know that she must got bred before the hogs came to our farm. She was way too young and was too small to deliver her babies, even though we tried to help her.

I am dropping a few breeds off my breeding list to save time and feed cost. The Marans are dropped, Araucanas, and Light Brahmas.

Here is the updated list on my breed list-

Icelandics
Turken/ Uggo Project!
Coronation Sussex
Tomaru Longcrowers
Buff Orpingtons

Guineas

Bourbon Red Turkeys
Oregon Gray Turkeys

Peafowl

Muscovies

Embden geese

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My nephew Micah was born at 1:45 am and passed away at 2:20 am two weeks ago. He lived for 45 minutes, and died 10 minutes before us kids got there, but my parents was already there. We all got to hold him. His mother is the one that took some of the very nice pictures that I posted here on this thread. We all knew that he would die as soon he gets born for his 5th and 14th chromosomes have for some reason had broken off, so the blueprint for Micah was missing information to build him, resulting lots of problems. Plus the broken parts had reattached themselves to the different parts of the chromosomes, making the building process confused with the misinformation. I am so sad for the little guy, but I know that God knows what is best for him and all of us. We still continue to treat Micah as a human being, which he is very much so, and love him as part of the family.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Wow Daron. I feel for your sister and your family. Micah is beautiful.