Above 1200 Sq/FT Out on Quaker Road

[Farmall450]

Does it ever gel in the bulk tank?

 

[oldironfarmer]

Looks like you can't see your way clear to care for the chickens.

They sure cycle in and out fast. Reading your thread it's apparent how fast they turn around.

We've been seeing the reports of record numbers of farms failing in Wisconsin. Then you show us the new barns. Those aren't being built by people about to go under. Agriculture is a tough business and small operators often can't keep up operating the way they did a generation ago.

A news story on national news today about a city councilwoman trying to limit the expansion of Dollar stores in North Tulsa. All of the North Tulsa community is demanding full service grocery stores because they have none. They don't like the limited selection of the Dollar style stores. Problem is, they never tell the full story. North Tulsa lost all their grocery stores, and most other retail outlets through continued shoplifting and theft. A few years ago, after the last Safeway shut down a local grocery string built a brand new store responding to the community calls for help. They built a new store and closed it within two years because of rampant shoplifting and armed robberies made the business unprofitable. So now they are demanding no new small stores.

Was I ranting?

 

[jblnut]

Does it ever gel in the bulk tank?

Not usually. Dad tried to get fuel out of his barrel when it was -30F a few weeks back and it wouldn't pump it through the filter. I don't have a filter on my tank (for some reason??) so it'll pump syrup

Looks like you can't see your way clear to care for the chickens.

They sure cycle in and out fast. Reading your thread it's apparent how fast they turn around.

We've been seeing the reports of record numbers of farms failing in Wisconsin. Then you show us the new barns. Those aren't being built by people about to go under. Agriculture is a tough business and small operators often can't keep up operating the way they did a generation ago.

A news story on national news today about a city councilwoman trying to limit the expansion of Dollar stores in North Tulsa. All of the North Tulsa community is demanding full service grocery stores because they have none. They don't like the limited selection of the Dollar style stores. Problem is, they never tell the full story. North Tulsa lost all their grocery stores, and most other retail outlets through continued shoplifting and theft. A few years ago, after the last Safeway shut down a local grocery string built a brand new store responding to the community calls for help. They built a new store and closed it within two years because of rampant shoplifting and armed robberies made the business unprofitable. So now they are demanding no new small stores.

Was I ranting?

The picture actually makes it look a little worse than it was. We went slow and got through them just fine. It's about every 8 weeks we get new chicks. The chicks are full grown in 42-44 days, the barn sits empty for around 14 days and bam ... more chickens again !!

Most of the Lely Robotic barns we work in are all family farms. Actually, almost 100% of the farms we work on are family farms. To no longer be a family farm in my eyes you need to have outside investors. To my knowledge only the very largest group of farms we work on from time to time have a group of investors calling the shots.

The grocery store story makes me scratch my head. First of all, why rob a grocery store at gunpoint ?? Good grief. If you're going to go through the effort of shoplifting a can of soup enough times to put the place under you have some major issues. Now the the grocery stores are gone, where are these criminals bothering now ?? They didn't just stop being criminals. I watched a few old news clips and none of them mentioned shoplifting and robbery, they all talked about how the stores failed because they were "too large" and had too much selection. WTF ?!?!

 

[drivesitfar]

JBL: I can't believe all that snow you have and the temps seem like they are still below zero most days. after our 2 feet of snow a couple weeks ago it looks like spring here hence me sending you a picture I took from my chair last week to maybe warm you up.

speaking of warm don't you have some sort of light gloves to use when wiring in -5 temps? I can't even imagine how cold that is cause it's biting cold for me here when it's in the 20's and dips down into the teens.

here's a little sunshine wish heading your way and hope you, the family and cows can stay warm. I bet LEO could dance outside naked and be warm, but let's hope that doesn't happen.

cheers

 

[welder57]

Do you have any problems with snow on the roof of the chicken house overloading the truss?

 

[jblnut]

JBL: I can't believe all that snow you have and the temps seem like they are still below zero most days. after our 2 feet of snow a couple weeks ago it looks like spring here hence me sending you a picture I took from my chair last week to maybe warm you up.
Currently in the midst of a heatwave. It is 3F right now.

speaking of warm don't you have some sort of light gloves to use when wiring in -5 temps? I can't even imagine how cold that is cause it's biting cold for me here when it's in the 20's and dips down into the teens.
Terminating Cat 6 cables with gloves on is a no go for me.
I'm fairly clumsy on a good day and wearing gloves would really tick me off I think.

here's a little sunshine wish heading your way and hope you, the family and cows can stay warm. I bet LEO could dance outside naked and be warm, but let's hope that doesn't happen.
I have a feeling warmer weather is around the corner.
That corner is looking like it might be APRIL but not much we can do about it !!

cheers

Do you have any problems with snow on the roof of the chicken house overloading the truss?

The entire chicken barn is fairly exposed and very little snow is sticking to the roof. I can't even begin to think how long it'd take to shovel the chicken barn roof off ... there is almost an acre of tin that would need to be cleaned !!!

 

[oldironfarmer]

The grocery store story makes me scratch my head. First of all, why rob a grocery store at gunpoint ?? Good grief. If you're going to go through the effort of shoplifting a can of soup enough times to put the place under you have some major issues. Now the the grocery stores are gone, where are these criminals bothering now ?? They didn't just stop being criminals. I watched a few old news clips and none of them mentioned shoplifting and robbery, they all talked about how the stores failed because they were "too large" and had too much selection. WTF ?!?!

Grocery stores have money, that's why they get robbed.

And they don't steal cans of soup. Steaks, non-food items, anything they can sell. I remember seeing the owner talk about the high rate of shoplifting.

It is not politically correct to talk about people's behavior in certain parts of town, so they try to make stuff up. The area had been without a decent grocery store for several years after the thugs drove Safeway under and the new chain was asked to fill the gap. They took a bath trying to fill the need. It is a high class chain with a broad variety of selections.

 

[jblnut]

Grocery stores have money, that's why they get robbed.

And they don't steal cans of soup. Steaks, non-food items, anything they can sell. I remember seeing the owner talk about the high rate of shoplifting.

It is not politically correct to talk about people's behavior in certain parts of town, so they try to make stuff up. The area had been without a decent grocery store for several years after the thugs drove Safeway under and the new chain was asked to fill the gap. They took a bath trying to fill the need. It is a high class chain with a broad variety of selections.

I never understood what has to snap in someones head to think "That is yours. I need it more. I'm going to take it."

"Thou Shall Not Steal" Seems to have been a concept that's been around A LONG time.

 

[jblnut]

My little home office is downstairs in an unfinished basement and it gets rather cold with it's -10F outside. Usually I drag the small heaters out of the kids rooms and let it warm up down here for a few hours before I do office type stuff. That got old and since I got a gas heater in the shop I no longer need this electric one. Throw a cord and a dryer plug on it and BOOM !! 5,000w space heater !! Yikes it sure heats up a 10'x10' room in a hurry

I had a couple long runs of Cat6 to pull through conduit at work and the ol' fishy tape wasn't long enough. I took some foam pipe insulation and I made myself a nice mouse.

The ever powerful DeWalt vac made short work of pulling it through. Really a slick deal !!

Chickens left at 5:45am yesterday morning so I had to go in the barn a 8pm to shut off the feed, 1:30am to crank up the feed lines and again at 4:30am to lift up water lines and everything else. I got back to the house, showered, got the kiddos and Mama Bear out the door and went to bed again.

Yesterday afternoon Dad and I started blowing things off. I hit the heaters with the Ryobi jet blower. It's incredible how dirty things get in just 6 weeks !!!

This pipe is full of dirt and is a counterweight for part of the system to open and close the air inlet vents. When this chain was new I doubted it'd last a year in the humid nasty environment. I was wrong, it lasted 13 months

I picked up a couple DeWalt tough system boxes to put parts in to try to stay organized. This way I can grab the whole box and go when I need something instead of sifting through my previous method of "everything in one pail"

I got the mail yesterday and there was a surprise in there !! Thank you Sifan !! Do you have a garden ?? Maybe I can send you a "thank you" tote full "organic chicken fertilizer"

 

[Sifan]

Lol you're too kind lol
Having flashbacks of cleaning hog farrowing crates

Glad you could use the chain, the farm boy in me hates throwing anything away, and I had no use for it.

 

[oldironfarmer]

I'm glad I don't work for you, I think you're a ************ manager.

 

[RADcustom]

I'm glad I don't work for you, I think you're a ************ manager.

Andy, you owe me a new keyboard!

 

[red]

Andy, you owe me a new keyboard!

I always put my coffee down BEFORE I read a post by Andy.

Safety manager demands it

 

[jblnut]

Lol you're too kind lol
Having flashbacks of cleaning hog farrowing crates

Glad you could use the chain, the farm boy in me hates throwing anything away, and I had no use for it.

Oh yeah, this is way easier that cleaning farrowing crates !!

The chain will get used somewhere someday probably sooner than later. There are a few things one can never have too many of on a farm ... Spare chain, 1/2" & 9/16" wrenches, hitch pins, sickle sections, and grease guns to name a few.

I'm glad I don't work for you, I think you're a ************ manager.

Yeah but I offer a doosey of a benefits package if you choose employment Out on Quaker Road !!

Andy, you owe me a new keyboard!

I'm guessing there are not many spare keyboards at the Martin Ranch, they've been melted down and turned into plastic for his 3D printer.

I always put my coffee down BEFORE I read a post by Andy.

Safety manager demands it

And that's why I don't drink coffee. Way too many health hazards. Alcohol on the other hand is way safer. It'll never burn you and if you spit it onto your keyboard it'll sanitize it, not damage it

 

[jeepxj]

1/2" and 9/16" on a farm are like beer glasses for a bar. literally impossible to have too many.

 

[BajaScout]

I always put my coffee down BEFORE I read a post by Andy.

Safety manager demands it

Saturday morning humor. Love it!

 

[jblnut]

1/2" and 9/16" on a farm are like beer glasses for a bar. Literally impossible to have too many.

Or stock axle shafts for a lifted XJ on 37's

Saturday morning humor. Love it!

I also enjoy when Andy stops by cheers the place up. Even if it's at my expense

 

[jblnut]

Yesterday was the day to manure out the chicken barn. Dad and I started about 9:30am after I got my taxes done and we finished up around 7pm.


I employed a nifty new way of making the manure pile higher. It worked well !!

 

[BajaScout]

Full Metal Jacket came to mind:

GUNNERY SERGEANT HARTMAN: How tall are you, private?
PRIVATE SNOWBALL: Sir, 5 foot 9, sir.
GUNNERY SERGEANT HARTMAN: 5 foot 9, I didn’t know they stacked shi* that high! You’re trying to squeeze an inch in on me somewhere, huh?

 

[Farmall450]

I'm glad I don't work for you, I think you're a ************ manager.

Further evidenced by his most recent post of stacking it higher

 

[drivesitfar]

JBL: that 6 weeks went FAST!!!!!

just curious is that Chicken STUFF going out on the fields as fertilizer, going in bags and selling it for a premium, or where does that pile of **** end up?

nice looking heater for a 10x10 basement office.. OMG I bet it was really warm and toasty and wondering how your body gets used to these 100 degree temp changes?

not sure when you are sleeping or are you planning on to when you are dead?

thanks for sharing your life's work with us!!

 

[jblnut]

Further evidenced by his most recent post of stacking it higher

All the boring and tedious stuff on the farm is by far offset by the tractor driving and seeing the crops come out of the ground in the spring. Makes it all worth it !!!

JBL: that 6 weeks went FAST!!!!!

just curious is that Chicken STUFF going out on the fields as fertilizer, going in bags and selling it for a premium, or where does that pile of **** end up?

nice looking heater for a 10x10 basement office.. OMG I bet it was really warm and toasty and wondering how your body gets used to these 100 degree temp changes?

not sure when you are sleeping or are you planning on to when you are dead?

thanks for sharing your life's work with us!!

Yeah, they grow up so fast don't they

The chicken stuff is going to be spread on the field to offset thousands of dollars in fertilizer costs. There are many nutrients in animal waste that are very expensive to purchase in commercial fertilizer.

It may be more like 12x12 but certainly not much more. It's an older house with a block foundation and is always cold down there. It takes FOREVER to warm it up and the HUGE heater sure is nice !! Going from 90F in the chicken barn to -20F outside is nasty no matter how you slice it. I always make sure to cool off enough so I'm not warm and sweaty before I go back outside.

I usually take a nap on Sunday afternoons and everything in between is hit or miss

 

[jblnut]

Well it's taken a few months but the steers have eaten all the hay we brought into the barn.

I swept it all clean and refilled it again. Should be enough hay until mid May now.

Time to fab mounts to hook the chute up to the new scale. It doesn't look like it'll be as difficult but I'll need to make mounts to on both the chute and the sliding gate again.

The poor little Ranger has gotten quite snowy this winter. I parked it here a few months ago not intending for this to be it's winter parking spot but that's how it goes I guess .....

We were suppose to get between 5-13" of snow and I think about 12" fell Yesterday and this morning. I started on it with my skiddy. The drift on the right side of the picture is 5' deep

I didn't get a before picture but there was 4' of blown in snow here. T'was a real challenge getting through it !!

Time for reinforcements !! I went and got Dad's skiddy with his snowblower. It seems like it is WAY slower than the snow bucket but it worked very well today. Chewed on things for 5ish hrs and got most of the steer barn and house areas done.

Before I headed out to the chicken barn I decided to blow as much snow away from the house as I could. We get water in the basement on a normal year, I can't imagine what this spring will bring

I went out to the chicken barn next to blow snow away that was right next to the barn so it didn't cause issues when it all starts to melt. Not sure what it grabbed but it bent this here (dead center of the picture) piece of metal up and locked the auger up. It is a removable plate and took 10 min to pound back into shape. Probably not going to go try that again I guess ....

 

[jeepxj]

time to get a linear drain in that low spot and pump it away.

 

[Farmall450]

I like our 3pt blower but plows are so much more sound. Pretty hefty obstacle to mess up a blow, relative to a blower.

 

[jblnut]

time to get a linear drain in that low spot and pump it away.

This house is hopefully going to disappear in the next few years so we make due with some of these dumb things until then. If it was going to be our forever home I'd dig around the whole thing and put rock and tile like we did at the last place.

I like our 3pt blower but plows are so much more sound. Pretty hefty obstacle to mess up a plow, relative to a blower.

I agree 100%. This snowblower has it's place in the snow moving lineup but when I can I always throw the plow on the skiddy. For snow's less than 3" it can't be beat. Anything over that and it becomes a combination of the plow and snow bucket. Anything over 12" and the blower comes out.

 

[davo727]

In a bad year like this when would the snow be gone and most of the mud somewhat dried up?

 

[jblnut]

In a bad year like this when would the snow be gone and most of the mud somewhat dried up?

That is anybodies best guess this year !! It's currently 38F and raining and TONS of snow has already disappeared !!

 

[jblnut]

Today Dad and I went to the Midwest Poultry Federation Convention in Minneapolis.


Two HUGE halls were full of poultry displays. We are here because the manufacture of the Poultry Hawk system I am a dealer for has a booth and they invited us to come down on their dime to look around and spend some time in the booth. I handed out a few business cards and had a pretty good time. I saw LOTS of stuff I've never seen before. Egg layer stuff and all kinds of neat equipment that I'm not quite sure what it was for but it was neat to see.


I couldn't pass up some squishy little toys for the kiddos. One vendor was handing out 5gal pails with their name on it and Dad and I each filled a pail with pens, candy, literature and hats.


Mr. Leo and I fed the steers when we got back home. He kept pointing at them and hollering "MOOOOOOOOOO" !!!!!

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

I hope the snow doesn't get too deep for you tomorrow. I am out near Fargo/GF and we are getting a bit tired of this.

PS: Where did you get the toys? The wife would kill for those things.

 

[ripperd]

Woah. we were in the same building! Today the wife and kids and I went to the auto show after work.

 

[gearbox]

That convention certainly looks fun.

 

[jblnut]

I hope the snow doesn't get too deep for you tomorrow. I am out near Fargo/GF and we are getting a bit tired of this.

PS: Where did you get the toys? The wife would kill for those things.

We haven't gotten any snow out of this storm. We did get almost 2" of rain though !! There were an uncountable many squishy toys at the Poultry Convention we went to. We'd walk by and grab a few and talk to the occasional product rep for a bit and move along to the next booth.

Woah. we were in the same building! Today the wife and kids and I went to the auto show after work.

I left a small drool spot on that RAM Rebel that was right inside the main entrance. I've never been a huge RAM/Dodge truck guy but the truck made me

That convention certainly looks fun.

It's been a while since I've been to a convention and this time I got to help work a booth so it was indeed a good time !!

 

[ford33]

How much hay does a steer eat in day? Is that all they eat?

I look at that big stack of hay bundles and think May is only 6 weeks away!

 

[drivesitfar]

JBL: happy to hear the Chicken's provide a lot of free fertilizer for the farm.

I love the pictures of LEO out with you and the cows cause we used to drive our kids down the country roads when they were little and they'd yell MOOOO & WHINNNY when they'd see cows and horses.

do you take LEO into the chicken's shed and how's he do out there or are you waiting til he gets a bit older?

here's hoping you don't get anymore snow cause in my opinion you've had ENOUGH this year!!

cheers

 

[jblnut]

How much hay does a steer eat in day? Is that all they eat?

I look at that big stack of hay bundles and think May is only 6 weeks away!

The steers mostly eat whole dry (15.5% moisture) corn with a vitamin/mineral pellet mixed in. One large square 800lb hay bale will last about 4 days feeding 100 animals. Each steer eats roughly 2lbs of hay a day. It gives them something to chew on and keeps they stomachs happy

We put another 20 bales in the barn so in roughly 80 days they'll all be gone so it might be the end of May before they're gone I guess.

JBL: happy to hear the Chicken's provide a lot of free fertilizer for the farm.

I love the pictures of LEO out with you and the cows cause we used to drive our kids down the country roads when they were little and they'd yell MOOOO & WHINNNY when they'd see cows and horses.

do you take LEO into the chicken's shed and how's he do out there or are you waiting til he gets a bit older?

here's hoping you don't get anymore snow cause in my opinion you've had ENOUGH this year!!

cheers

Poultry litter is a VERY good fertilizer and the price is right for this stuff. They pay us to take care of the chickens and we have to find a way to get rid of the used litter. Yeah, not a bad deal at all

It has been WAY too cold to bring the kiddos out to the barns as much as I would have liked this winter. They LOVE seeing the animals and always have so many questions when we're out there. I couldn't be happier to answer every one of them !!

I'm not going to say we won't get anymore snow until June. I remember getting a foot of snow mid May a while back. That really made a mess !!

 

[jblnut]

Little chicks come on Friday so it's time to get the barn ready again !!


Gonna be 95F in here in a few days


When fresh shavings are delivered they are blown in through that door and always fill up the feeders in the way. Even though they're up by the ceiling they still get filled up with shavings.


We got 120yds of a wood chip/sunflower hull/oat hull mix this time. This is the first time we got anything with wood chips in it. The entire barn smells SOOOOOO good !!!


The warm weather has thawed all the frost and ice out of the vents finally. Just about all of them need to be adjusted as they are hanging open a ways when they should be closed. The ice built up and caused them to get all wonky.


We put my yard trailer behind the 4-wheeler and Dad drove around while I adjusted them all. If I counted correctly there are 42 vents in the barn. These vents open when the fans run and close when they shut off. They automatically adjust themselves to maintain the correct static pressure in the barn. Pretty neat stuff.


7 flocks in and we've already got a bad bearing in North Center feed auger


The auger gets pulled out a bit and that little roll pin gets pounded out. The collar comes off and the bearing slides right off no big deal.


Old one vs. new one. Looks like the seal on the old one gave it up and got feed packed inside itself.

 

[davo727]

I forgot already.... is there insulation foam under the slab in the chicken barn?

 

[jblnut]

I forgot already.... is there insulation foam under the slab in the chicken barn?

Nope. Considering the high temps the barn sees there is actually only insulation in the walls and ceiling. If they'd have insulated the foundation I bet it wouldn't be thawed out a foot all the way around the outside of the barn. I can't but help to think insulating the floor would save more money in the long run than it cost.

 

[jblnut]

It's warming up and before I know it the Mrs. will want to go camping. The poor bus is literally burred in the snow but the door is accessible so I cut the counter top to fit this morning.

I got some Bosch jig saw blades and I must say they do an amazingly smooth job !!

It is cut to fit. The REALLY bright outside makes for a cruddy picture. I need to get the backsplash built and it'll be ready to secure !!