Building a Hobby Farm- from woods to eggs

tony123 · May 5, 2008

Phil, I should have clarified. ORC stands for Over Run Clutch. That's what it is. I suppose it also acts as an extension too, but clutch is its primary duty.

I went to hoyetractor website and they had some installation instructions on the site.

I know how to install it now. There is a pin that must be tapped in place. Problem is....I don't have the pin. I'll have to call and see if I can get just the pin shipped.

Chickens ate the heck out of corn on the cob yesterday!

Tororider · May 12, 2008

Ok Tony,
You are too productive not to have gotten anything done in a whole week. The only thing I can figure is that you are too busy to post.

tony123 · May 14, 2008

Toro, thanks for the vote of confidence.

Really hasn't been much going on though.

I went to HD and got a bolt, cut the bolt to size, and used that for the pin in my ORC. Has worked for about 2 hours of cutting so far.

Watching the veggies grow ever day a little taller. The chickens are basically taking care of themselves now. I could go 2-3 days without even looking over there anymore. Don't know if I said, but the chicken tractor is a bit heavy to pull by hand.

Today I hooked it to the tractor and pulled it to another section of the yard. Now they can fertilize that area for a few weeks.

I did have some fun this evening! A neighbor is selling four acres and trying to get it in shape. He was cutting 3'tall weeds with a riding mower. I stopped in and offered my services. He quickly threw in the towel and has me doing the whole thing. I got about half bush hogged this evening. Rains coming in, so the other half may be next week. Anyway, this was my first time bush hogging anything that truely required a bush hog! How much fun is that!

I could do that for a living and be better for it.

Most of it is 2.5' or so of weeds and grass, but about a half acre is the tall tree stuff you see in the photos. I was pushing my way through 7' trees and leaving a trail of mulch on the back side!

The front I-beam bumper was quite handy at pushing everything over. How come noone ever told me what I was missing? I've already had another neighbor ask my wife if I'm for hire. I wouldn't mind a few hours a week of mowing. I've got so little to do for myself.

Yes, I've got to go through all those hollies you see in the background.

I did about an hour and a half this evening, and at the end of the night noticed about 2-3 tablespoons of gear oil had spilled out of the breather vent. Could this be an indication of a problem? or do you think I just had it overfilled?

POC · May 14, 2008

Tony, I just learned this, thought I'd pass it on. When chicken eat corn they produce a lot of heat, which is good in the winter, not so good in the summer when it's hot outside. It probably isn't hot there yet, but just remember that this summer when it's really warm.

tony123 · May 16, 2008

Thanks for the tip Patrick. So, I assume corn is a good food for winter? Helps them stay warm?

tony123 · May 16, 2008

I finished my bush hog job this evening. What a joy! Late spring afternoon with a cool breeze. Just riding slowly through rows and rows of holly trees. I got back to the house so relaxed...the stress of the week was dissolved.

I'm in a picture posting mood, so here's way too many photos of a guy cutting grass.

Picked up some small wheels today to put on the chicken tractor. Should do the trick to make it easier to drag around. The chickens now have free run of the yard during the day. So far so good. They stay within about a hundred feet of the coop, and have returned on their own the last several nights.

My wife is feeling like one of the Americanas is a rooster. We'll know soon enough.

Tororider · May 16, 2008

I think it has to do with taking more energy to digest corn so it increases their body temp. I don't think you can't give it to them during the summer, but very little mixed in with other stuff and in the evening, not in the morning or afternoon. I know it is cheaper around here and my neighbor mixes it in with other feed all the time to decrease food costs.

If you can stand the rooster that means you will have fertile eggs and you can sell them as hatching eggs. People will pay $5-15 a dozen for hatching eggs even if they are mutts.

tony123 · May 29, 2008

Let's bring this thread back from the abyss!

We've just been enjoying spring so much, that very little real work has happened. The veggies and chickens keep growing.

The Clemson Ext. Service said that the spinach, beets and carrots would be ready by now, so we decided to start pulling some. The beets were ready. The spinach had been providing for the last two months, and was finally looking spent. We pulled a few carrots up, but they didn't seem ready. Same for the onions.

Here's a photo that shows the overall bed before we pulled anything. The foliage was all beautiful, with no bugs. We did see a few of the "good" ladybugs.

And here's some photos of the beet harvest.

Here's the carrots. Look at that beautiful foliage....too bad you can't eat that.

And finally, here's tonights pickings in the kitchen.

Any comments are welcome, as I don't know what all this was supposed to look like. Are the beets large enough? What about those onions? I was expecting baseball sized like the grocery. Do I just need to give them longer?

We really have been enjoying the garden. I go out in the mornings and look at it for 15 minutes with a cup of coffee most mornings. The calm before the storm I call it!

The chickens continue to be a pleasure. They free range every day now. The other day, I was working on the tractor and looked up to see that I was covered in chickens! Nothing makes your pretend farm feel more real than clucking chickens on the tractor.

We've also been doing several hayrides. The friendly neighbor that I bush hogged for said I could use his land to pull the kids around. So we took several sets of kids on rides over the weekend. Most of these kids are city folk, so it is a real treat. Makes you feel great to see all the smiles. Finally put the hitch ball down on the lower drawbar. That feels much better than the 3pt drawbar did.

According to the extension service, pumpkin seed will go in next month, and that will be the last of the veggies until we do cool season again in the fall.

So hang in with me guys....we're going to get to that first egg that is the promise of this thread!

scgargoyle · May 29, 2008

Tony- Your veggies look great- I'm really impressed! I would say the beets are about right- much bigger, and they get 'woody'. I hope you used the beet greens, too- they're my favorite part. IIRC from my gardens in CT, carrots take a long time, We even left some in the ground to pull during the winter. Same with onions- we used to let them grow until the tops die back. I'm getting excited about gardening in SC!