It’s been a LONG time since I sat down at the computer, let alone made a blog entry. Sorry folks, but things have been at a fevered pitch on the farm.
I have been working like a madman trying to get the pen ready for little pigs. Just about the time that I think I’m about ready I think of something else to do. I have decided to put electric fencing around the bottom of the whole pen so that I don’t have to worry about them rooting under. That’s causing more work at this stage in the game, though. I couldn’t figure out why I suddenly didn’t have any power to the hog house to run the fence charger but then realized that it fed off of the machine shed. When I moved the back wall to be able to put the old bus in there I moved an outlet which in turn cut off the supply to the hog house. It seems like every project I undertake around here causes about three others to pop up. That should be the last thing I need to do so I will be ready for those pigs within the week.
The chicks that I put up the temporary pen for are growing nicely. They must be about 2/3 grown by now. I have been feeding them lots of rolled corn to put some weight on them. It won’t be long and I will have freezers full of chicken to put on the table. I can’t wait! In another week I will have a new batch of chickens hatch. I put out 2 ½ dozen eggs so I am hoping for about 20 to hatch. I may end up using those to replace the layers I have going right now. That depends on how many roosters are in the batch. With my luck it will be mostly roosters. Of course, they do make might fine eating. Out of the two dozen eggs I gave a teacher at work she had 15 hatch, so it seems like my odds are pretty high right now.
The new addition of cattle to the farm didn’t last long. All but one of them were hauled off to the sale barn today. The foot problem that they were fighting was getting worse and the vet said they had to go while they were mobile. By the time most of you read this they will be hamburger at the grocery store. That leaves one here. She won’t be for long though, as she is getting put down tomorrow and hauled off. She came up so lame that she quit walking completely about four days ago. We had been hoping that the butcher would still take her to process if she was down, but they have to walk in under government regulation. It’s a shame since that’s lots of hamburger that is going to waste but I am certainly not in the mood to butcher her myself. The neighbor who brought these over will be bringing over a load of steers this week to take their place. I would just as soon have something out there so I don’t have to go to the trouble of mowing it. With the price of cattle so high right now it just stinks that we have one that’s a loss. I guess that’s the way of the farm.
The most fun that ya’ll missed was the well drilling. Oh boy. My folks came to the farm to offer a few extra hands and we went to work. Let’s just say that this ground isn’t the central Kansas sand that we are used to. After a whole day of drilling we had only made it down four feet. That was with me standing on the drill casing to push it down and later on the tractor pushing it down. It just wouldn’t budge. Luckily mom and dad know someone who has a boring drill head. I think they are coming back this coming weekend to give that a try. That means that we’ll be drilling the 8” hole by hand (down 35 feet I would say) but at least it will get it done. I think that the folks are planning on this being done in one day, but I am starting to think that will be wishful thinking. At least we’ve had rain in the last 24 hours to soften things up a bit.
Over the past few weeks we have had the opportunity to become acquainted with several of our neighbors. They are quite a cast of characters, let me tell you. Each one of them is just as down to earth and nice as they could be, though. I can’t imagine finding so many folks willing to do anything for one another anywhere near the city. It’s yet one more reason that country living is where it’s at.
With the rain today I had lots of time to stand in the shed and look out over the farm. It’s hard to believe how much it has changed in the last 12 months and how truly blessed we are to have this place to call home. We haven’t even had a chance to take a breath over the last few weeks but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Stop by the chicken ranch it you are in the area. We might just send you home with a chicken of your own - Lord knows we have plenty!
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