christmas time

despite the fact that its the middle of december (although its like 50 degrees outside), we seem to be in the middle of some of the most work since we've been here. we're doing tons of planning for the poultry aspect of the farm next year, and that also includes some additions and alterations to the ruminant pastures as well. we'd like to do more of a rotational pasture, following the sheep and goats with the poultry for the health of all the animals and the pasture. we've divided the poultry planning as follows:

housing - brooks
feeding storage - brooks
nutrition - anna
general management (including freezer space, scheduling, moving and feeding) - anna
marketing/sales - brooks

this is for both layers and broilers. the tentative plan is to have between 50 and 100 layers and do batches of 50 broilers every two weeks.

the biggest issue for me designing the chicken tractor has been the waterers, but i think i have it figured out. we're planning on using the EverFull dog bowl that hooks directly to a garden hose and has an internal float valve. the top is open, so we'll turn a pan upside down on it and provide head openings for the chickens to get into it. that way we have a lightweight, fresh water supply. ill draw a picture of the whole idea soon and get a cost estimate on here. one of our biggest points is still in the method of moving. i like the idea of having a levered wheelbarrowish system, but i think anna is into the skid idea more. maybe we should do one of each and see which we prefer, it wouldnt be hard to retrofit either way. the marketing stuff is pretty important for the business plan, so id like to get on that immediately as well. we should talk to the rovners about it by late january i think.

we're got the composting toilet in place and have a third compost bin in place as well. yesterday we made new goat feeder so they dont waste so much hay and feed and today we installed chicken wire in the bunnies' pen so they can be let out. the next big project is the wvo on the mercedes. im meeting with stamm to go over some of it next weekend. but i need to do a cost analysis of that as well.

we're also making some christmas presents! anna had the awesome idea of doing planters with little herb gardens for our siblings. she made noel and jim window gardens out of a couple of plastic planters and covered jims in bamboo (awesomely) and painted noel's. lisa's will be plain wood so she has a clean slate to decorate or bask in its simplicity, and kai's is made of a used coffee maker. im also making devin a planter out of an old alphie toy, we'll put some pics up.

more soon

brooks