Building a Hobby Farm- from woods to eggs

tony123 · Sep 26, 2008

We are finally getting some more rain! Hope it's not too late to bring up some of the Fescue. There's a few places around the house that have come up pretty well due to the sprinkler, but most of what I did is nearly 500' from a hose bib.

We tilled the garden under, and picked up a load of leaf compost. The boys helped me spread it out and then till it in. The spinach hasn't gone in yet, but hope to do that this weekend.....errr...I mean, hope it rains so freakin' hard that we can't plant it!

3RRL · Sep 29, 2008

Tony,
I don't think it's too late, in fact out here, this is the over seeding season.
Your thread has been a joy to read.

tony123 · Oct 10, 2008

Thanks Rob. It's always comforting to know that you are reading and "supervising"

So, the spinach did get planted along with salad mix, cauliflower and brocolli.

We've also gotten two fairly decent rains in the last week which has started to bring up the fescue seed. My regret now is that we weren't as thick with the seed as we should have been. Or maybe it looks fine and will thicken with time?

The chickens are doing well. Still getting 6 eggs a day from the six of them. One has a hurt foot now. I think it got caught under the chicken tractor when I was dragging it to a new spot. They aren't smart enough to stay away from the edges when its moving.

We went out of town for 5 days last week, and they made it just fine with food and water, but that's our limit. Doesn't matter much, as we are never gone longer than that. There was a pile of 26 eggs waiting for us when we got home!

Tororider · Oct 10, 2008

I was just about to post asking for and update. I am glad to hear you got the rain you needed. I think our rain helped our food plot along. I just hatched out another 20 chickens, but am still getting 2 a day from my three girls in my yard. The rest have gone out to my brother in laws.

Looks like you are moving right along Tony. Nice to know you can get away for a few days and the girls will be ok.

UpstateSC_Papi · Oct 14, 2008

Tony!

Nice stuff!!

I finally got some spinach and radishes in the ground about 2-3 weeks ago. Radishes have leafed up very well (no "bulbs" yet) but the spinach isn't as nice looking. Oh well, better luck next year!

Hoping to overseed fescue this weekend. Got the seed on Sunday, "bouncing" the tiller around the yard tomorrow, hoping to seed Friday or Saturday.

Good to hear about the hens!! Not something I could do, but you've done an excellent job with them! I'm hen/egg ignorant - scrambled up, can you taste a difference between yours and purchased? Just curious...

tony123 · Oct 15, 2008

Toro, yes it was nice to find out that we can leave for awhile and the chickens will make out.

However, we were home on Sunday and lost one of them right from under our noses! We made it nearly a 9 months with no incident, but came home from church on Sunday to find all the chickens running lose and a large tear right through the chicken wire. One of the Black Stars is gone now.

It was suprising that it happened at 10am in broad daylight. Also, there was no mess around at all....not even a single feather!

We looked around for evidence and found only these tracks in the driveway.

It takes a bit of imagination to see them. They were bigger than a large dog could be. The leaf might give some scale. I should have put my hand in the photo. Anyway, between the prints and the cleanliness of the kill, and the torn chickenwire, what could this be? is it our bear from the watermelon raids? Or there has been a few sightings of a "panther" within miles of us, as well as 5 missing dogs in one neighborhood. The purchase of a game camera is looking less and less like a novelty.

Any thoughts? Happyman?

I've got the coop repaired and it's been 3 days without incident now. I suppose such is life with chickens.

tony123 · Oct 15, 2008

Michael,

Our spinach is not coming up very well either.

In the spring, it grew like crazy for us. Maybe we haven't gotten cool enough for it yet? Who knows....it's a learning experience. Let me know how yours do in the next few weeks. Glad to hear you're gardening. It's a nice break from all the trials of settling into a new house. You've got to have an outlet.

I'll be suprised if you have success with the fescue this late in the season. It really is a very narrow window for fescue seeding. If we get rains timed just right and a little warmer than average temps, you may have success.

I can't tell the difference in the eggs any longer, but could definetely tell the first few times we had them. It is subtle though. Trust me, chickens are about as easy as it gets, you could do it. Your kids would enjoy it too.

UpstateSC_Papi · Oct 15, 2008

Nice to know about the spinach (cooler temps may help). Not familar with it at all. Like you, it is good to play around with it. Something different!

Chickens - unfortunately the sub division (mini farms) doesn't allow birds of any kind. Oh well... maybe that will change someday....

Fescue - I'm thinking I might be a bit late as well, but my uncle overseeds his fields every 2 years or so and he just did it yesterday. Sooooo... here's hoping I have his luck!!

Happyman · Oct 15, 2008

tony123 said:
It takes a bit of imagination to see them. They were bigger than a large dog could be. The leaf might give some scale. I should have put my hand in the photo. Anyway, between the prints and the cleanliness of the kill, and the torn chickenwire, what could this be? is it our bear from the watermelon raids? Or there has been a few sightings of a "panther" within miles of us, as well as 5 missing dogs in one neighborhood. The purchase of a game camera is looking less and less like a novelty.

Any thoughts? Happyman?

I've got the coop repaired and it's been 3 days without incident now. I suppose such is life with chickens.

I'm going with panther. A bear would need to be VERY hungry to spend the time to chase a chicken. He would be more inclined to wait for the left overs from the panther (if there were any at all

)
Here's my bear:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=112027&stc=1&d=1224084614