Larsen Poultry Ranch - homesteading journey

[SageHill]

My chickens are on their yearly strike or
va-ca they have been for almost a month. But then - it’s that time of year when I can count on them to stop laying. Which is why I froze eggs back in the summer.

 

[Ridgetop]

I used to have luck with chickens laying all winter by buying the end batches of chicks in mid-late summer when they started to feather out. They were usually half price. That is 30 years ago though. Buying the late hatches meant that the chicks were starting to lay as young pullets
in December/January when they reached 6 months old. I kept a light on in the barn all winter because I bred my rabbits all winter and the chickens would lay for 12 months straight before they molted.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

I guess it's been a while since I posted. Life has been busy. The baby is 5 months old now and kicking his legs like crazy, he's probably going to be rolling soon. He is a very happy baby and smiles and giggles a ton. He loves watching his big brother.

Munchkin 1 is getting into everything and likes to climb things or try to climb into things. He is a little smarty pants and you can just see him figuring things out. He is fighting taking his naps but acts out when he doesn't get his nap. He got a duplo table for Christmas and has already broken it after the legs collapsed when he climbed on top of it. He can speak full sentences now but it's still hard to understand him a lot of the time since he is still not saying all the words correctly.

The chickens are a pita, I wish I'd taken pictures of them before the rain started two weeks ago, so I could try to sell them online. Now they are muddy. I wanted to take them to the auction but with a baby and uncooperative hubby it's just not happening.

The rabbits are doing good, need to fix the tags on the cages and get rid of the two extra bucks. I did a major clean out under the cages and got all the manure bagged up or moved to the compost pile.

Garden is doing ok, I haven't been out there much since the time change. The rain has made grass/weeds grow like crazy all over the property including the walkway of the garden. I think I am supposed to be starting seeds for some of the garden veggies soon, not sure when my last estimated frost is, I need to look that up. I was able to sprout a persimmon seed, it's currently living in the bathroom.

We had a crazy windstorm this last Sunday, and a lot of the area lost trees and power. We lost at least one tree on the hill, thankfully it was one we were planning to remove. My mom's house lost power and just finally got it back today.

 

[SageHill]

Good to see you here. You’ve definitely got your hands FULL with all of that.

 

[murphysranch]

So nice to "see" you again!!

 

[Baymule]

Glad you stopped in. Dont stay away so long!

 

[farmerjan]

Ditto to all above....

 

[Ridgetop]

Welcome back! The rain this year has been incredible. Big Shout Out to former Gov. Jerry Brown for spending the water bill money we voted for on his "signature high speed train to nowhere" and leaving our dams and water reservoirs cracked, leaking, and absent.

has already broken it after the legs collapsed when he climbed on top of it.

Typical boy behavior - hide all the tools before he follows DS2's example at 4 years old and removed all the doorknobs in the house. "Helping".

We lost at least one tree on the hill, thankfully it was one we were planning to remove.

At least you saved some money having it removed! Good job!

Bet those 2 boys are adorable. Pix?

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

The rain has been annoying. It keeps raining on the weekends instead of the weekdays, I haven't been able to get much done outside. This weekend there's a blizzard warning up the hill. Depending on how far down in elevation it goes we might get some snow. Argh.

Grass and weeds are growing like crazy from all the rain, my garden is a mess. I ordered some fig tree cuttings, and I think those are ready for pickup in the mail. I am going to try to get a few more trees in the orchard this year, it's bare root season now. I need a new Pink Lady apple, since the last one died. I'd also like an Envy apple, and at least one more cherry, maybe another plum. I'm going to try to root some cuttings from the elderberry too.

I would like to get seeds started for the garden, but it's annoying not having a zone for growing plants inside the house. I have some seeds started in the bathroom but I dumped one over by accident and now there's dirt everywhere since I didn't get a chance to clean it up fully yet. I have a persimmon, a Clementine, and some apple seeds going. I'm thinking of trying to build a shelf attached to the walls around the window so the baby plants get more light but are out of the way. I also have a dragon fruit that is living in the bathroom, it needs a trellis before it gets much bigger.

Munchkin 2 still hasn't rolled over. He's very close and is really kicking and moving his legs. I finally took all the inserts out of his car seat, he's getting big. He's still a happy smiley baby and loves watching his big brother. Munchkin 1 has smushed his hand/fingers in doors or drawers 3 times in the last 2 days. Thankfully no permanent damage so far but he was quite upset. He has also learned how to open the child proof lock we had on the drawer in his changing table, the one where the butt paste is kept. Omg that is a pain to try to clean up. On hard surfaces a wipe works great, but it doesn't come off clothing easily and stains. He's gotten into it 3 times!! Darn kid.

This weekend is the chicken auction. If I can get up early Sunday I can get all the chickens gone and then focus on the rabbits and changing around the chicken pens. I want new laying hens, and I need 6-8 new ones for my mom's house. We are also planning to get a batch of meat chickens, need to figure out the timing. I think if we get them at the beginning of April we will be able to butcher around the first week of June. Hmm.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

I need to go through my records and make a decision on one of the rabbits. Currently we have 12: 5 male and 7 female. I plan to keep all the females and breed them this spring, and figure out if I should replace any later on.

2 males are planned culls, just need time to get it done.1 is completely unrelated and I bought him to be a breeder. The last 2 are a father/son; the father sired all of the last round of litters. I need to decide whether to keep the son, keep the father, or keep both and decide again after the next round of litters.

The father is unpedigreed black Rex, very sweet but has always seemed small, he carries chinchilla gene. The son is black Rex and his mom was my pedigreed castor Rex; he may have chinchilla gene or REW.

I think I need to weigh them, and print out everyone's family trees to help make this decision. I wish my printer wasn't such a pita to use.