Surviving Minnesota!

[Coffee 1st]

Morning chores.  My little BA is dropping weight.  She was wormed this fall.  So I'm suspicious that little sneezing issue has made her susceptible to something else.  IDK....She's a 4 year old hen and just so SWEEET.  I just love her.  She will be a hard one to lose.  But I think I'm going to.  Whatever is going on with her...I'm sure will kill her.  She's the first one popping off the roost though.  First one to greet me.  She almost rubs up against my leg like a cat.  She's so friendly.  I picked her up to help her down today and she's so light.  I picked up my big SLW boss hen and there's a big difference. 

I don't think I'll be pro-active with it.  Keep her comfortable and fed as long as her  demeanor is up and good.  It is what it is.  She has given me some sweet memories and I adore her... has a sweet memorable personality.  But I  never been able to fix the big things.  And I doubt I will be able to fix what's wrong with this girl.

Ohh I'm sorry to hear about your girl, hope she pulls through..

 

[Coffee 1st]

That's a bummer BC..

Good thing we know someone with BA's breeding this year.  I know it is my imagination, but some breeds seem friendlier than others and my BA's are one.

I just came in from doing the egg harvest. We have been cold too long. I thought. "gee it does not feel that bad out here today" only to come in and see it is still 2 below.

I lost 4 eggs to the cold again. Oh well, the hens like eating crushed boiled eggs and egg shells.

This coming weekend will be big changes around here. Way less Toms, and my birds will be separated into their breeding groups.   I think I am going to put the PC's with JJ and his hens.  They have the whole turkey house that goes unused for their coop.

The BA's will go with Sidekick, unless Holm decides to participate in the TAT program. Then his Tom would be there and sidekick would visit sunny Detroit Lakes.

The only fly in the ointment is Porter and what to do with him until Coffee can take him. I might just make him a bachelor living in the chicken coop.

The Creamette will be split up in small pens.  Then in about 3 weeks I can get into serious hatching.    I really enjoy hatching time, even if Judy is not all that happy with my hatching plans.

I do thank you for letting me have Porter and hanging on to him till I can get my little farm..

 

[ejb3810]

I have raised pin cherries as an ornamental. I like the bark color and texture and the fact it has a relatively small mature size.
I have abandoned them as a landscape ornamental due to the fact that they sucker profusely and quickly infest a large area.
The fruit is colorful, birds love it and it makes good jelly.
I don't know of any efforts to use it to develop hardy pie cherries.

 

[Cluckies]

Here is the tail end of a meal worm pupae I caught morphing from pupae to beetle.

kinda like someone trying to wriggle out of tight pants...

 

[Bogtown Chick]

This reminds me I need to take down some fruit pieces to my little creepy crawlies in the basement.

 

[duluthralphie]

Another thought . Pin cherries . Mom used to make pin cherry jelly . Really good . I may have to plant some . I wonder if anyone ever tried to cross these with sour cherries . The romance series from Canada and Nortstar from University of Minnesota seem to use foreign species for hardiness .

Another good one is Choke Cherries and even wild grapes if you can find some.

 

[duluthralphie]

Anyone try the Swedish Hedemora breed up there ?

If I listed the breed "Swedish Hemorrhoid"

I would get double secret probation again,,, Life it not fair...

 

[duluthralphie]

Well, you got me there, i've not heard of a pin cherry... ground cherries, yes, very tasty. Pin cherries? sorry, nope...

I have pin cherries growing here Cluckies, They are wild or volunteer. They make a great jelly.

 

[jerryse]

Another good one is Choke Cherries and even wild grapes if you can find some.

Yep know choke cherries . I saw a wild grape vine on the other end of the property near the road . I will have to see if they fruit . Probably Vitus Riparia or river grape . It is said to be the most cold hardy . We have the wild summer grape here Vitis Aestivailis . I have tasted the Aronia or chokeberry . That is a real spitter .

 

[KlopKlop]

So I think I have the semantics of my hopefully soon to be pig pen figure out. I want to do a rotational grazing type setup. Here is my plan. A 100x120x100 trapezoid sliced into 4 fan pieces around a central hub. The central hub allows me to build a solid raised water tank and not have to move it. The pigs will spend about 4-5 weeks per paddock. I picked this size based on average 'square feet per pig per day ratios' based on several sources I read from. I got the hub and spoke idea from Smiths Medows blog but watered it down to my size. They do 26 half acre slices for 50-60 pigs moved every 2 weeks. Crazy!

Anyways, water in the middle with a portable shelter and feed trough. Pigs start on one side and work their way to the other for easy fencing. I picked a trapezoid over a square as I don't think the pigs would make good use of a sharp point on the outside triangles. Adding 10 extra feet of fencing per paddock is nominal compared to the added usable area.

I plan on using 3 or 4 strands of electric wire around the outside and 3 on the inside moving 'walls'. There will be a solid gate at the bottom center for entry