Larsen Poultry Ranch - homesteading journey

[SageHill]

You are super busy!!! Man - that orchard is going to be awesome. Wish we could do cherries - doesn't get cold enough here. Watch out for that dragon plant - once it starts going it'll be huge!! I finally ripped mine out - they were huge, but never got fruit. They need to be pollinated like around 2AM !! Not happenin' here, somehow bats never found them to do the job - but the flowers were huge - if only for a day.

 

[Baymule]

Progress may seem slow to you, but progress is being made! You are going to have a fabulous orchard. Your garden may be a mess right now, but it will get cleaned up, planted and yield vegetables. You are doing great!

 

[Mini Horses]

Don't knock yourself! You have a job, 2 youngins to care for and the orchards/garden you want....that's a real load!!! BTDT. Do what you can, when you can. Grandparents may help, even just visiting to keep an eye on young ones, while talking to you as you plant!

Playpen for baby, a fenced play yard for older --outside by you -- hire a sitter -- just options I used. Then, a smaller garden some years. Hubs can step up, after all this is all half his.

 

[Ridgetop]

And I assume he likes to eat! LOL

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Hubby was able to hire his buddy with a giant excavator to almost completely finish the building zone for the bunny barn. The view has opened up a ton, although there's still more to do before it's completely clear.

Lots of trees were moved but one didn't fall where it should. Close up picture is just after it happened, wider view is after the chickens were moved and the remains of the aviary were moved off to the side so we could continue the building pad. The chickens were not harmed, just freaked out. Still haven't got rid of the extra roosters or rabbits. Never enough time to get through the whole to do list and I keep sleeping through my alarm on auction days.

I've got the money saved for the bunny barn metal roof kit but now hubby is trying to convince me that he can build it, that his dad will let us use the stockpiled materials he has squirreled away. I am annoyed because this has happened before, where we get promised the use of something or materials, only to have extra hoops to jump through or it never appears and we've wasted months waiting for his dad's schedule to work with ours.

I'm hoping to buy a pallet of concrete this weekend, I've got a $25 home depot coupon I'm finally going to be able to use. We can use the concrete for the bunny barn, or for the raised bed panels for the garden. We've made 4 panels so far, but ran out of concrete. It takes about 2 days for a panel, and we have two molds, so it's going to take a while but it'll look awesome once completed. I'm contemplating buying another set of molds but it's close to $200 so I'm on the fence about it. The panels are 2.5*36*8 inches, and fit together at right angles or in lines, so I can build big rectangles. The first bed I'm going to make will be for the asparagus, so they can finally take off. Second bed will be for the rhubarb.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Hubby wants to buy a large excavator similar to the one his buddy has, which would probably be 150-180k, he says payments would probably be over 3k a month. He thinks he can get jobs that he can charge 2k a day work for a few days and then be able to pay for the excavator that way. I am not convinced and I don't think it would be wise to do this when he is still making truck payments and our house isn't paid off. And he wants me to buy a brand new van because he doesn't trust a used one.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Rabbits are due this weekend. Should be either 4 or 5 of them. Not sure if Maple-daughter actually took, there was only one fall off. I gave her a nest box anyway. Willow has already made her nest and pulled fur. This will be her 2nd litter.

Still need to go back through my notes and get everyone updated cage tags/name tags. I can't remember what I decided to call the younger rabbits other than Lefty. So I've been calling them Willow-daughter and Maple-daughter (Lefty is also Maple's daughter but is missing her ear so is memorable). Plus I was supposed to tattoo ears, but I'm not sure if the ink i have is still useable, probably should just buy a new bottle.

Hubby is not thrilled about the rabbits but I'm tired of him flip flopping on my animals. He is ok with them as long as he doesn't have to do anything with them, and gets some benefit from them, but when they need something then he whines. And he wants me to get meat chickens! I would like to get meat chickens or quail again, but I'm getting tired of doing all the animal chores by myself. Bleh. I'm being whiny now. I'm tempted to get guinea pigs for eating just because it will annoy him. But I still would need a place to put them.

Quail will wait until I have the bunny barn to put them in. Meat chickens will need a brooder for at least 2 weeks, then they should be ok. Will need to get them soon or the weather will change and we'll be roasting when we are butchering.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Munchkin 1 had Dr appointment this week, he's 35 pounds and 39 inches tall! That is in the mid-90s percentiles. He will turn 3 in September but already is as big as a 3-4 year old. He loves playing in the dirt with his toys and climbing things. He is getting better at speaking and he is very sweet when he wants to be.

Munchkin 2 still hasn't rolled over but he can scoot on his back, and can stay sitting up when we sit him somewhere. He will be 8 months next week. He has two teeth and a strong bite. He is a very happy baby and has been super squeal-y the past two weeks after he figured out he could make different noises. We have been trying different foods and he makes the funniest faces. Mom said he sneezed a piece of apple out his nose last week, not sure how he managed that.

 

[Ridgetop]

Maybe you should go with DH to check out FIL's "stash" before making up your mind. It could be that he won't have what you need (want) and you can avoid that pitfall. You want something that will be sturdy, look nice, and last for a long time so the building can be repurposed if necessary. Building with old scrap materials is fine as long as they are what you want and will fit. Otherwise go order what you need, and have it delivered. Once it is on the ground at the location men are less apt to want to return it since they have to load it up to do so.

Bet Munchkins 1 and 2 are adorable, DGS6 is 18 months and DGS5 is 3 and in preschool. It is amazing (and hysterical) how DGS6 mimics everything DGS5 does. They play pretty well together since the y younger one still follows and does what the older one wants. In another year - watch out! LOL

 

[SageHill]

I'm tempted to get guinea pigs for eating j

Ummm guinea pigs for eating? Really?
Did a quick DuckDuck -- in Columbia they were pushing raising them and not cattle. Sigh. Never mind.