Ribh's D'Coopage

[Ribh]

I’m the opposite... a night owl turned farmer, lol! After 13 years of 5pm-1:30am and 3-11:30 pm with 1-2 hours commuting each way making the switch to mornings is finally complete after a couple years of struggling, but you still don’t want me attempting even simple math or anything complex before 11am!

I was a night owl for years. I tend to be a procrastinator. Nothing so motivating as hitting midnight & knowing you have an essay due by 9am in the morning! That you haven't begun yet. Don't have the notes for. Haven't read the book for. It really focuses the mind ~ helped by a quiet house with no distractions. Then I had kids & the only quiet time was late @ night but age has done weird things to my wiring & now I either sleep all the time or not @ all.

 

[drumstick diva]

I'm an empty nester and generally stay up all night (on BYC) and then sleep the next whole day. Works for me

 

[rjohns39]

Evening Jeannie

 

[Ribh]

Afternoon, Bob. Hoping it's been a good day for you.

 

[rjohns39]

It has been, good morning Jeannie

 

[Ribh]

Well, dentists are about to join my list of *people I don't like visiting*. Having my mouth shoved full of gunk to take impressions of my cross bite is one thing; cutting my inner jaw in the process another thing entirely! Wondering if all the angst is really worth it. *sigh*

And so not a wonderful day. I am not a fan of cold & wet ~ especially when I have to be out in it. John had the sort of headache that induces vomiting [so much fun! ] & we had to do the tile crawl looking for bathroom tiles. This is never a fun thing to do together. Doubly not fun with a sick hubby in tow who would have taken the first tiles he liked @ his price & have done. No consideration for how the finished thing will actually look overall or fit with everything else & unfortunately for me glossy B&W seems to be in right now & I. Can. Not. Stand. It!!!! Or flat grey.

Oh, there we were things we both liked @ first sight, BOTH of us, but invariably that was the most expensive tile on the floor or didn't come in a smaller size.
Understandably we didn't come home having made a choice. Which means we have to go back...

For 2 days my girls have been penned & they were. not. happy. about. it. @ all. I heard them surge towards the back wall & start calling as the car pulled in. *sigh* I get it. I really do. The open run has trees, & roots & lovely hidey holes for sun bathing, so I rushed to let them out. Even the Campines had no qualms about scooting past me. So I made myself a coffee & stood @ the end window in my living room to survey the peace & joy of my flock scavenging happily in their run ~ when there was movement amongst my azaleas. Yep. I had a Campine out. That was fun. Any other chook would squat & quiver once cornered. Not the Campines. They go berserk. I thought she would break her neck before I could get a good grip on her & toss her back over the fence. At least she just ran & didn't fly. If that ever occurs to her I am in trouble.

What the man & I could agree on was we never, ever want grass & we like sandstone. 160 sq m arrives Monday or Tuesday. I know why we keep reverting to outside. We argue less.

 

[Ribh]

I admit it. I bought some of my girls for decorative purposes only. Any eggs are a bonus. With my new girls just starting to lay & my OGs coming back, I am starting to see 3~4 eggs a day, which is a good number for us: enough to use; enough to give away. Yesterday & today...

Last Sunday I gave my mother a dozen & over the week I have given away another dozen & a half. In return we have firewood, lemon/passionfruit butter, avocados, lemons & a pawpaw[ ~ John likes them though] but the funniest is my mother. My mother, who is a farm girl, born & raised out Kingaroy way, & boarded for high school with a grandparent who bred & showed prized Australorps but she cannot abide chickens & when she heard I had acquired some her reaction was: what did you do that for?! Anyway when I went for our annual visit I took her all the eggs I had on hand because John doesn't eat that many & I knew he would be getting plenty each day. Ever since she has raved about our eggs!

So for Mother's Day I gave her the dozen I had available, carefully taped up for the long train trip home, & last night she rang, specifically to tell me that she had made scrambled eggs from ours as soon as she got home & they were the nicest scrambled eggs she has ever eaten!I'm sorry. They're eggs. My chooks poop them out @ regular intervals. Yep. They're nice but they're still just eggs. And I know she buys organic free range eggs but ours are waaay better. I wish I could tell the girls [in a way they understood] that they are doing a great job & are much appreciated!

 

[rjohns39]

My eggs are 10x better than the organic "free range" commercial eggs at walmart and I'm doing a horrible job with my birds. I'm going to need to rebuild their numbers so I can start free ranging them again. Over the next few days I need to get into price negotiations with potential customers. Some want day old chicks others want hatching eggs. There's a hatchery out there hosing up the market. They sell eggs and chicks for the same price $5 each. Shipped eggs at best have a 50% hatch rate. I suspect the chicks they're selling are what they consider to be junk and want to get rid of them rather than feed them. There are currently three of us in the US breeding these birds for resale and I'm the only one selling live chicks. The other two will only sell hatching eggs. Not withstanding the hatchery of course.

 

[MaryJanet]

Sounds like you've identified a good niche in the market best of luck building up your trade!

 

[rjohns39]

Oh before I forget, I set eggs today to hatch. Most have orders for day old chicks.