What did you do in the garden today?

[BirdsBeesTrees]

But I bet you are running an actual commercial farm?

I've just got a backyard hobby farm. Except for the extra roosters and eggs, I don't even EAT any of them.... And I'm pretty certain they are convinced that I'm actually here to serve THEM instead of the other way around....

And while I'm holding your beer, don't expect to get it back! Lol....

A small dairy farm is 300 cows milking, we have 65 milking cows on grass and not in confinement. Small dairies consider us to be a hobby farm. We have no employees and do everything ourselves.

 

[BReeder!]

Electricity is 40-50 cents a kwh here. If my math is right that's 15 bucks for incubating/brooding the quail. Didn't realize that would come close to feed costs.

Incubators don't run the heater (largest power consumption for any incubator) constantly. That decrease the operating cost. Might stop it to something like $10 I would guess.

 

[TJAnonymous]

A small dairy farm is 300 cows milking, we have 65 milking cows on grass and not in confinement. Small dairies consider us to be a hobby farm. We have no employees and do everything ourselves.

Fair enough from the commercial standpoint.... But 65 cows is still a lot to me.. My bottomless pits punchlist is itemized in my signature. Basically the hens are the only ones who at least help contribute towards the feed bill. We do sell the extra eggs although I'd say we collect less than $100/month on average. Anything helps though! At least they contribute to the compost pile.....

 

[BReeder!]

Showing right now. Not heavily though. If it's going to get cold and snow, I do wish it would dump enough to make sledding worthwhile for the kids. We have 2 days of snow ahead of us though so we'll see.
That all said, I am not a fan of the cold at all.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

We are sitting here talking about feed, and I kid you not: my husband comes in and asks me if he can order 5 more tons of corn, he said will last him two weeks, so we can buy some more then.

 

[pennyJo1960]

A small dairy farm is 300 cows milking, we have 65 milking cows on grass and not in confinement. Small dairies consider us to be a hobby farm. We have no employees and do everything ourselves.

That is healthy farm there more power to you ..
what I would give to live close to one your size .. Miss the most fresh milk.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Does everyone have Rhubarb plants but me? I really want to grow some.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Never been a big fan of it Rhubarb that is

 

[chickengr]

I feel your pain.... I spend more on animal feed per month than I spend on groceries. My feed bill is easily $400/month conservatively. That's not counting cost of hay which I buy in the summer harvest and store for winter use.

same here with animal feed. rehomed 1 dog and cut the feed 50% down (2 females eat the same quantity my male ate). then I decided to rehome 3 turkeys - what a relief. butchered a few chickens, at least 2-3 more to butcher. going to sell quails (maybe keep 7 only). I plan to keep araucanas, silkies and maybe pekin/bantam cochins. a few layers can stay with them as their eggs differ. selling hatching eggs/chicks should help with their feed. less chickens - more space for gardening (that will help to feed chickens as well).

 

[chickengr]

I spent $15k to put in a wood burning fireplace because I knew utilities were going to skyrocket this winter. I've only run my heat a handful of times in the past month despite the cold. My bill dropped over $100 from last January as a comparison so I'm thinking it was a good move. Now if I could just get solar to get off of this grid, it would be perfect....

solar/windmill with a petrol generator as back up is for my new place.