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Above 1200 Sq/FT Out on Quaker Road

Wokspaces above 1200 squarefeet.

oldironfarmer

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 25, 2016
Messages
6,664
Location
Terlton, Oklahoma
JBL: sorry I haven't been around since you started building the big (or HUGE) chicken coop, but looks like you are still working hard and plenty of critters to look after now.

I used to cut trees and chop firewood by hand or with wedges with my Gramps in my younger days, but really don't do much now even though i have a huge fireplace next to my recliner.

that said some friends of ours do so any chance I get to pick up a bunch of rounds and drop them off in their alley i do and they rent this splitter for $60 for 4 hours and get about 3-5 cords split which probably lasts them all winter. they have an insert in their fireplace and mine is just a heat sucker. with all the cool tools and barns and sheds and shops to store stuff I'd guess you could use a splitter too if you don't already have one.

anyway hope all is well in your world and keep up the great work.

I'm thinking 2 cords in 4 hours is hustling. The rams on a hydraulic splitter just do not move fast enough to split a cord an hour. Hand splitting is faster if you're up to it.
 
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drivesitfar

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Joined
Oct 23, 2013
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36,008
Location
Pacific Northwest
JBL: sorry to HIJACK a bit here.

Andy: you probably are right cause it's been a while since I stacked a cord or two or three or more of wood, but the pile our friends made in 4 hours was impressive and that is only about 1/2 of it in the picture.

you might be right cause my Gramps could split firewood at an amazing pace and he's swing an axe and hit the same spot he hit before on a piece of wood which was amazing cause he usually split them all in one hit. he'd use a fro and his wooden mallet to warm up by cutting a square or two of cedar shakes after dinner that he'd sell for some extra spending money or use on his own house.

ALL: OK back to our regular programming of CHICKENS AND COWS R US or more like HOW TO RUN A FARM SUCCESSFULLY in the year 2018.
 
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jblnut

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Joined
Jan 17, 2015
Messages
6,995
Location
In the Middle of MN
JBL: sorry I haven't been around since you started building the big (or HUGE) chicken coop, but looks like you are still working hard and plenty of critters to look after now.

I used to cut trees and chop firewood by hand or with wedges with my Gramps in my younger days, but really don't do much now even though i have a huge fireplace next to my recliner.

that said some friends of ours do so any chance I get to pick up a bunch of rounds and drop them off in their alley i do and they rent this splitter for $60 for 4 hours and get about 3-5 cords split which probably lasts them all winter. they have an insert in their fireplace and mine is just a heat sucker. with all the cool tools and barns and sheds and shops to store stuff I'd guess you could use a splitter too if you don't already have one.

anyway hope all is well in your world and keep up the great work.
Welcome back DRIVES !!!

$60/4hrs isn't bad. That looks like quite the splitter !! We have a PTO powered splitter that an uncle built 40yrs ago for a high school shop project. It's still going strong and gets used for a few dozen hours each year. We usually put the Farmall H on it and when you bite into a large chunk of elm or willow it really makes the ol' H grunt !! We mostly split oak and poplar though as that's what grows in the woods by dad's place.

I'm thinking 2 cords in 4 hours is hustling. The rams on a hydraulic splitter just do not move fast enough to split a cord an hour. Hand splitting is faster if you're up to it.
For that splitter 2 cords an hour would really be pumping along !! With ours we can split about 3/4 cord an hour if we're really moving along. We usually only run the tractor half throttle though so we dont have to work so hard :lol_hitti

JBL: sorry to HIJACK a bit here.

Andy: you probably are right cause it's been a while since I stacked a cord or two or three or more of wood, but the pile our friends made in 4 hours was impressive and that is only about 1/2 of it in the picture.

you might be right cause my Gramps could split firewood at an amazing pace and he's swing an axe and hit the same spot he hit before on a piece of wood which was amazing cause he usually split them all in one hit. he'd use a fro and his wooden mallet to warm up by cutting a square or two of cedar shakes after dinner that he'd sell for some extra spending money or use on his own house.

ALL: OK back to our regular programming of CHICKENS AND COWS R US or more like HOW TO RUN A FARM SUCCESSFULLY in the year 2018.
Hijacks are ok in here. This is a hijack safe thread :lol_hitti

A cord is 4x4x8' and really is a lot more wood that it sounds like. A loose pile of firewood looks like a HUGE pile until you stack it up. In the past we've hauled from afar with our dump wagon and it looks like a crazy amount of wood until we stack it. It feels good to have it stacked but it's a bit disappointing as well because it looks like you got a lot less done once it's stacked :lol_hitti
 

drivesitfar

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 23, 2013
Messages
36,008
Location
Pacific Northwest
JBL: yep it surely is a lot of hard work and as I'm typing this i'm looking for FREE FIREWOOD DEALS so I can make fires for my bride and I this winter.

that splitter was a BEAST and you have to stand clear if it hits a knot in a round cause it sent a couple chunks flying about 20 feet. the cost for 24 hours was $20 more so $80 for a day, but my friends are frugal (or they like to spend all their spare cash on their grandkids and kids) so the rush was on for them to get done in 4 hours and all I did was transport the splitter to and from the rental shop since they don't have a hitch on their Rav 4.

thanks for the Welcome back too and if you want to visit my little thread about moving my stuff and DIY you surely can post most anything on it if you have the time.

picture of my GRAMPS on his little D6 dozer (yep he also owned a D9 like the one in the picture and that isn't my gramp, but it's the same clothes he wore everyday)

cheers
 

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jblnut

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6,995
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In the Middle of MN
JBL: yep it surely is a lot of hard work and as I'm typing this i'm looking for FREE FIREWOOD DEALS so I can make fires for my bride and I this winter.

thanks for the Welcome back too and if you want to visit my little thread about moving my stuff and DIY you surely can post most anything on it if you have the time.

picture of my GRAMPS on his little D6 dozer (yep he also owned a D9 like the one in the picture and that isn't my gramp, but it's the same clothes he wore everyday)

cheers
There is nothing quite like the radiating heat from a wood fire. It is simply wonderful !!

A "little" D6 ?!?! I'd love to have a D6 on the farm. I could push all kinds of things around !!!
 
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jblnut

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In the Middle of MN
I started the day by counting all the chickens to make sure they were all still there. Since there's so many I count by 2's. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and so on. Counting them one at a time would take forever !!
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When it's 8F outside the 82F air really makes a steam show coming out of the barn !!
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I had intentions of cooking lunch over the stove in the shop but I had just swept things and there was a dusty haze plus I only have one pan in the shop soooo .......
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I fired up the ol' electric cooking device in the kitchen.
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Errrr'ma'gawsh I do love me some steak and onions with a couple green peppers and a little garlic in there to keep the cold away !!!
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This afternoon I sold some hay from Dad's place to a former co-worker. We (mostly just me) called him FNGP. F'ing New Guy Paul !!!!!
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My brother-in-law needed some hay for his Belted Galloways so he bought all 25 round meadow bales we made a few weeks back. It took two loads and he took 3 bales of corn straw the last trip to fill it up.
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C_F

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Joined
Jan 21, 2005
Messages
9,675
Location
Utah...SNOW BLOWS!
My brother-in-law needed some hay for his Belted Galloways...

Okay, ya got me, I had to look that one up. :D

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njhoudini

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 27, 2018
Messages
351
Location
Central Jersey
Have you considered setting up an indoor garden in the chicken mansion? I imagine if it was loaded in one of your huge tanks, you could move it around. The environment does sound nice if there is enough light... Maybe just one of my zany ideas. I may have to bite the bullet and get a mew burner for my old cast iron griddle/grill for next season. Your steaks are always inspiring.

Sent from my LG-H918 using The Garage Journal mobile app
 
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jblnut

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Messages
6,995
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In the Middle of MN
Okay, ya got me, I had to look that one up. :D
When he said he wanted to get into raising some beef cow/calf pairs I told him to look for a unique breed like the Belted Galloways. He laughed and asked what they were. A few months later he sent me a picture of a dozen cows in his pasture and said he looked them up and had to have them !! They're not a very common breed and he had to travel quite a ways away to find a bull for the cows. He's had people lining up to buy the beef from the steers once they are grown out.

Me too. I decided that was one handsome breed of cattle.
Our kids call them the "Oreo Cows" for obvious reasons :lol_hitti

Have you considered setting up an indoor garden in the chicken mansion? I imagine if it was loaded in one of your huge tanks, you could move it around. The environment does sound nice if there is enough light... Maybe just one of my zany ideas. I may have to bite the bullet and get a new burner for my old cast iron griddle/grill for next season. Your steaks are always inspiring.
The indoor garden is a neat idea but the only light in the barn is provided by LED's. I don't know if they're the correct lights to grow plants. They sure do grow nice chickens though !!

There is something about cooking a steak that I raised that makes me smile every time I do it. It's been a while since I had one slathered in onions so it was time again. The only downside is my beautiful wife is NOT a fan of onions so she wasn't all that fond of the lingering onion smell in the air when she got home :lol_hitti
 

BDEBDE

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2018
Messages
8
Location
UT
I've read through every page of this over the last few weeks. Very interesting to see how much work goes into farming.
 

njhoudini

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 27, 2018
Messages
351
Location
Central Jersey
The indoor garden is a neat idea but the only light in the barn is provided by LED's. I don't know if they're the correct lights to grow plants. They sure do grow nice chickens though !!

There is something about cooking a steak that I raised that makes me smile every time I do it. It's been a while since I had one slathered in onions so it was time again. The only downside is my beautiful wife is NOT a fan of onions so she wasn't all that fond of the lingering onion smell in the air when she got home :lol_hitti

I imagine you could find a couple of bulbs that would work for indoor gardening, but if the existing LED lights are on all the time, the plants may get enough of the full spectrum to grow. I'm also kind of surprised more farms haven't gone full solar, but I imagine if the incentives from the state and the power company aren't there, it wouldn't be cheap.

Sounds like you need an odor exhaust so as not to get the boss lady upset with the offending onions. Fortunately for me, my wife is only against gamy meat smells so as long as I use enough garlic/onions/ginger, there's rarely a problem. My SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed in case you haven't seen it) can tolerate more spicy foods than me so she's always adding sriracha or tabasco, or pickled jalapenos. :drool:
 

drivesitfar

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Joined
Oct 23, 2013
Messages
36,008
Location
Pacific Northwest
JBL: so how do you really count all those chickens cause even counting by 2's you had to be shaking your head. BTW how many chickens are in your care at the moment?

still looking for free firewood so stay tuned, but in the meantime here's a presto log fire I had last year to burn up some that had been sitting around for a while.
 

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jblnut

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Jan 17, 2015
Messages
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In the Middle of MN
A neighbor back home has a whole herd of those "oreo cows".
My BIL said he's shooting to build his herd up to 50ish cows and maintain it from there.

I've read through every page of this over the last few weeks. Very interesting to see how much work goes into farming.
Thanks for slugging through this whole mess of a thread !! I love showing what we do out here and it really does amaze me that others like seeing it as well.

I imagine you could find a couple of bulbs that would work for indoor gardening, but if the existing LED lights are on all the time, the plants may get enough of the full spectrum to grow. I'm also kind of surprised more farms haven't gone full solar, but I imagine if the incentives from the state and the power company aren't there, it wouldn't be cheap.

Sounds like you need an odor exhaust so as not to get the boss lady upset with the offending onions. Fortunately for me, my wife is only against gamy meat smells so as long as I use enough garlic/onions/ginger, there's rarely a problem. My SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed in case you haven't seen it) can tolerate more spicy foods than me so she's always adding sriracha or tabasco, or pickled jalapenos. :drool:
We looked seriously into putting enough solar pods on the property to offset our entire power bill but it wouldn't have penciled out for us. All green energy is beneficial stuff aside it has to make money to get me interested.

We have a over the range fan deal that I had running full tilt but alas, the wonderful onion smell still escaped into the house. She grumbles about the onion smell and I grumble about our house smelling like whatever the latest Scentsy waxy smelling chunk smells like. Currently the entire house smells like a damn pine tree. T'is the season after all :lol_hitti

JBL: so how do you really count all those chickens cause even counting by 2's you had to be shaking your head. BTW how many chickens are in your care at the moment?

still looking for free firewood so stay tuned, but in the meantime here's a presto log fire I had last year to burn up some that had been sitting around for a while.
Haha. I was waiting for someone to ask how we count them :lol_hitti

There were 45,000 chicks placed for this flock and we have well over 44,500 still in the barn 15 days later. Thus far that's pretty good.
 

woodfor1

Active member
Joined
Apr 26, 2015
Messages
42
Location
Wantage NJ
Hello I really like reading about your farm and all you do. Thank You. When you said how many chicken are in the barn is there a percentage of lost that is expected. And how is the new addition on the steer barn doing?
 
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jblnut

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Jan 17, 2015
Messages
6,995
Location
In the Middle of MN
Hello I really like reading about your farm and all you do. Thank You. When you said how many chicken are in the barn is there a percentage of lost that is expected. And how is the new addition on the steer barn doing?
Thanks for following along !!!

The national average is about 94.5% liveability (5.5% do not make it to market) I've been close to that or better than it for the first 5 flocks so I can't complain there.

The steer barn is still a bit "drafty" as the builders have not been here since the poles have been set :lol_hitti
 

njhoudini

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Joined
Feb 27, 2018
Messages
351
Location
Central Jersey
We looked seriously into putting enough solar pods on the property to offset our entire power bill but it wouldn't have penciled out for us. All green energy is beneficial stuff aside it has to make money to get me interested.

We have a over the range fan deal that I had running full tilt but alas, the wonderful onion smell still escaped into the house. She grumbles about the onion smell and I grumble about our house smelling like whatever the latest Scentsy waxy smelling chunk smells like. Currently the entire house smells like a damn pine tree. T'is the season after all :lol_hitti

Most power companies aren't structured to let their customers make money. In NJ, they will only buy back unused energy at wholesale which doesn't amount to that many beans. If the chicken industry pays for your chicken power, then more power to you.

If your kitchen exhaust doesn't produce icicles, then maybe you need a better fan? :headscrat :willy_nil Unless you have a restaurant style exhaust, I don't think anything can stop your onion awesomeness.
 
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jblnut

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In the Middle of MN
We got a little bit of humid hot weather today, but reading your post, I don't feel hot anymore. Great reading as usual.
There's a warm up coming !! Should be in the 30's the next few days ! ! ! AAAAAHHHHHH Heat wave !!!

Most power companies aren't structured to let their customers make money. In NJ, they will only buy back unused energy at wholesale which doesn't amount to that many beans. If the chicken industry pays for your chicken power, then more power to you.

If your kitchen exhaust doesn't produce icicles, then maybe you need a better fan? :headscrat :willy_nil Unless you have a restaurant style exhaust, I don't think anything can stop your onion awesomeness.
Our power company up here is the same way. The money to be made is in tax savings which I would not be able to use so no go on solar. We have a cheap OLD fan shroud dealio that was here when we purchased the place. It makes A LOT of noise so it must work really well ....

Man......who doesn't like the smell of sauteed onions? :headscrat
OK, flame away, I can take it. :lol_hitti
:beer:
No one I've ever heard of.
Well I know one person for sure. She's 5' 4" and grumpy when the house smells like onions :lol_hitti

I figure you count the ones you pick up on your daily strolls.
Winner winner :thumbup:

They also get counted when they get to the processing plant. We get all the info we could ever want about the birds. The pounds processed, the birds processed, the cost per pound to raise them, the amount of feed/fuel/electricity they used and anything else we may want. It's neat to see what your work turned into !!!!
 
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jblnut

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In the Middle of MN
How much due figures change between flocks?
And time of year that you raise them?
If you want to share?

Just wondering
This is my 6th flock so I am a LONG way from an expert but so far ....

The amount of feed has been incredibly similar across the previous 5 flocks, which makes sense.
The amount of fuel has varied wildly, which is due to outside temperatures changing with the seasons.
The amount of electricity goes up in the summer and down in the winter. More fans run in the summer vs in the winter.
Mortality doesn't seem to be affected by anything seasonal ....
Mostly the number we watch is how many birds get pulled off the processing line for whatever reason it may be. They tell us if they pull a bunch off the line we didn't do a good job the last few days removing the runts or otherwise "undesirable" birds.

Picture this as you read along ....
You walk into a grocery store and see chicken legs are on sale for $1/lb. There are only two packages left and both have 20 chicken legs and the entire packages both weigh exactly 5lbs. Perfect. Same weight same price should be the same thing. However, one package has 10 legs smaller than the other 10 and the other package they are all exactly the same size. Which one will you buy ?? Knowing you will be getting 20 legs at a total of 5lbs and $5 per package it shouldn't matter but it does. I'll admit that as a consumer I want my food to be consistent. It's easier to cook 20 similar sized chicken legs than legs that are all different sizes. As a farmer I'm going to tell myself the consumer that I'm an idiot and I'm paying the same price per pound so it doesn't matter. Ultimately I also want a consistent product so I'll buy the package with similarly sized chicken legs.

"The consumer" and all "the consumers" buddies are idiots. Food is food but it doesn't matter. If it's not visually appealing and "perfect" it doesn't matter. The next time you go food shopping look at how fruit and meat are packaged. VERY rare you will see mismatched sized products in the same package. I promise you that in the world of growing food NOTHING is that consistent. The outliers are turned into pies/ground beef or whatever. It all gets used at the end of the day.
 

sublime68charger

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Joined
Sep 9, 2014
Messages
5,415
Location
SW Wisconsin
Thanks for the break down,

For me the wife does most of the food shopping when ever I due it seems I get the wrong things.

The cooked onion smell is great to have in the house as well!
It's the unhappy wife that is hard to live with!
 

Bob Heine

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Oct 24, 2009
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Boca Raton, Florida
I'm the consumer who likes the outliers. We have a small fresh vegetable store near our house and they sell locally grown vegetables that aren't perfect enough for the big chain stores. Not a whole lot cheaper but it means the imperfect stuff isn't going to waste. I also buy chicken leg/thigh quarters that fail the big chain criteria -- for $0.59 a pound -- and cook it for our Pug. I cook 10 pounds at a time and we enjoy roast chicken with the dog that evening (before I pick the meat off the bones and freeze it). It's cheaper than canned dog food and I know what's in it (more like what's not in it).
 
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jblnut

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Thanks for the break down,

For me the wife does most of the food shopping when ever I due it seems I get the wrong things.

The cooked onion smell is great to have in the house as well!
It's the unhappy wife that is hard to live with!
My lovely wife sends me a list and I usually forget one or two things on the list but always seem to come home with stuff we don't need. Bacon almost always makes it's way into the shopping cart along with a few bags of Doritos and some Top The Tator :thumbup:

I'm the consumer who likes the outliers. We have a small fresh vegetable store near our house and they sell locally grown vegetables that aren't perfect enough for the big chain stores. Not a whole lot cheaper but it means the imperfect stuff isn't going to waste. I also buy chicken leg/thigh quarters that fail the big chain criteria -- for $0.59 a pound -- and cook it for our Pug. I cook 10 pounds at a time and we enjoy roast chicken with the dog that evening (before I pick the meat off the bones and freeze it). It's cheaper than canned dog food and I know what's in it (more like what's not in it).
GoldN'Plump uses the chickens that don't meet their sizing standards for products such as chicken burgers and ground meat based items. I got a bit aggressive in that last post I guess but it's the truth. Most consumers want consistency and don't have any idea what that takes. I certainly think that the majority of the users on the GJ aren't grouped into that category.

What happens to the runts and undesirable birds?
I'll clarify "undesirable" as birds with health problems. If a bird is limping and looks like it is struggling to get to food and water it is properly euthanized. No reason to let the animal suffer more than is needed. Having grown up on a farm I've been around the life (and death) cycles of many many animals. I have not gotten soft to that fact that sometimes an animal needs to be put down due to suffering or other health reasons that cannot be treated. It bugs me but it's necessary sometimes.

For a bird to be a runt it has to be less than 50% the size of the average sized bird in the barn. At some point that smaller bird will not be able to reach the water lines or get into the feeders so it becomes a animal welfare issue to leave the runts in the barn. There are very few runts that get taken out of the barn. Any animal (chicken or steer) that dies on the property is composted onsite following guidelines the county puts out. When done properly there is actually very very little smell and the bones and everything disappear.

The industry average for the livability of the average poultry flock in the US is right around 95% and we've been there or better each flock so far.
 

Sifan

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Joined
Jul 10, 2018
Messages
582
Location
Southern Illinois
Mrs. has some health issues so I took over the grocery shopping ... Ugh, I so underappreciated her doing this for all those years. Now we use Kroger clicklist and it works great for us, she orders online and I pick it up. The only downside, she sometimes fails to understand the primary food category that includes Doritos, Lay's, pizza, and BACON. We finally came to an understanding when I stressed none of my items, NO VEGGIES :)
 

Sifan

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Jul 10, 2018
Messages
582
Location
Southern Illinois
As a farmkid with animals, you learn about life and death pretty quick. Soph/Jr summer of college, got a job working for another farm. Had been there about 6 weeks when the guy takes off for family fishing vacation in Minnesota. Second day he is gone, I go to do the feeding and find a young steer in the lot, hoofs up. Not good, no visible signs, call the vet. Vet verifies "yep son, he's dead" Next day, another heifer?? Totally underwhelmed with the vets declaration from the previous day, I call some fellow students at the University of Illinois Ag department and find out sure, they would love to do an autopsy, bring it up. Load heifer into pickup and take off. Didn't think to tarp it, so here I am driving through town and campus with a 600# dead cow in the back of the truck LOL No big deal to me, but some of those LOL Long story short, some type of rare blood disease in calves that he bought from the sale barn. University came down and help me vaccinate the whole herd. Lost 4 over that deal, could have been lot worse.
 
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jblnut

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As a farmkid with animals, you learn about life and death pretty quick...... Lost 4 over that deal, could have been lot worse.
Yikes !!! Good thing you caught that in time and called help in. Something wild like that could wipe everyone out in a hurry !!
 
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jblnut

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The ol' ProMaster is in the shop again so I get to drive a loaner 06' Grand Cherokee with a 4.7l HO. This thing scoots right along !! Stand up service techs at this dealership and I'd trust them with anything. Can't say that about too many dealerships anymore these days ....
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I keep plugging away at this large dairy project. It seems that everytime I get a chance to spend time on this install something breaks on a farm and I have to run and fix it. I'm the only guy on the team that has the patients to work on computers/tech/electronics/software so I get to do all those service calls. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy it but I really want to wrap this install up !!
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I was able to mount a few cameras and three UAP-AC-IW's. These really are neat little access points. Amazingly powerful and for the most part they look like they belong on the wall.
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Twice now the door to the chicken barn has been open and there have been chickens running around in the control room. That is two times too many so I put together a cheap door closure that will last forever.
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It's very simple deal really. There is a cable that goes through the door and runs through a pair of pulleys with a weight on the other end.
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I fully intend to work in the shop today so I started the stove. Straw is a nice fire starter and seems to be in ready supply around here :lol_hitti
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My lovely wife has been asking for a new house with another bathroom in it for too long so I decided to see if I could present her with a compromise. I figured at least another toilet would help things out tremendously and we could put off a new house for a few more years :lol_hitti
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She didn't approve so the old toilet will live out the rest of it's days guarding the entrance to the **** shack :bounce:
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I also got a load of scrap hauled into the recycling center today. According to what I got paid for there is over 1,000lbs of scrap in the back of that van !! Maybe I'll have to load it a little lighter next time :headscrat
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oldironfarmer

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Jun 25, 2016
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6,664
Location
Terlton, Oklahoma
We know you didn't mean we are all idiots, that you meant the response to food variability is a little idiotic.

Sam's Club sells a great pre-cooked brisket we buy sometimes for holiday meals. They are extremely consistent and I always wonder how they do that, it's not all in the cutting. My home grown roasts and steaks vary greatly in size. I'm OK with that. But if I have six people over everybody gets a different size steak.

It takes a lot of volume to filter out consistent products.

Not surprising your flocks eat the same amount and gain the same, they've been bred to be consistent, but you are carefully managing the house so your mortality rate and gain rate should be consistent. The guys without automation get into trouble quickly. I notice you get right on any problem even though it may only be one of several units which is down.:thumbup:

Good job!!
 
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jblnut

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We know you didn't mean we are all idiots, that you meant the response to food variability is a little idiotic.

Sam's Club sells a great pre-cooked brisket we buy sometimes for holiday meals. They are extremely consistent and I always wonder how they do that, it's not all in the cutting. My home grown roasts and steaks vary greatly in size. I'm OK with that. But if I have six people over everybody gets a different size steak.

It takes a lot of volume to filter out consistent products.

Not surprising your flocks eat the same amount and gain the same, they've been bred to be consistent, but you are carefully managing the house so your mortality rate and gain rate should be consistent. The guys without automation get into trouble quickly. I notice you get right on any problem even though it may only be one of several units which is down.:thumbup:

Good job!!
Andy- Thank you for prettying up what I couldn't figure out how to say. That is a much better, more accurate way of putting it. I do not understand why it's such a big deal.

Yup. These chickens sole purpose in life is to grow fast and be a relatively similar size after 42-44 days. The breeding plan and feeding plans are so fine tuned that a consistent product is realized time after time. When there is as many animals to keep happy and healthy as they are in the barn it is imperative that the equipment is kept in tip top shape. I forgot to raise the feeders as the birds were getting older and taller and the little rascals kicked shavings into the majority of them preventing feed from being accessible. I got out my Ryobi blower, which I intended to use once in a while for 10-15 minutes at a time, and blew every single feed pan clean after I raised them up the needed amount. I drained 2-9ah batteries and 2-4ah batteries down to nothing and it took almost 2hrs to clean them all out but had to be done. I'm actually VERY impressed with that blower. It worked very well and saved me a TON of time !!

Twice daily and sometimes mid afternoon I go into the barn and adjust things as needed. It's mostly ventilation adjustments but sometimes can be lighting adjustments or changing something with the feeders. I usually adjust the ventilation to make sure the fans and heaters can keep up during the day and again at night. I think I am going to add an outside temp sensor. With that I can program what the barn will do based on the temp swing from day to night so it can anticipate some of the changes I make on its own.
 
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jblnut

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This morning I cleaned out some more feeders. We need to adjust the drop cables on a bunch of the feeders as I think they've stretched over the last year since they were new. The pesky chickens kick shavings into the feeders and it prevents the feed from coming out. This is how it starts out ....
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Go little jet blow go !!! This thing has all sorts of snort !!!
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Nice and clean feeders make for fatter happier chickens :bounce:
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I simply do not understand how the basement gets so messy so fast. Time to do some major reorganizing !!
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Everything comes off the shelves and gets piled up. Two of the shelves are going to be reused while the third is going to get recycled as it's falling apart.
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I ordered a pair of muscle racks from Walmart for $109.99 with free shipping to replace the three old ones.
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In an effort to give my lovely wife a place to do crafty stuff and have the ability to leave it out without packing it up when she's done I set one of the racks up to be a workstation. I put a 4' Honeywell LED light from Sams Club in it for her to light up the work area. She approves so that's all that matters !!!
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Mr. Leo helped me vacuum up the mess we made. He kept bonking his little sweeper into the vacuum and going "Uh Oh !!"
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cvairwerks

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Quick idea...when you are ready for another one of those racks, take one of the doubled verticals out and use it with a couple of bars from the next set and get two bays for the price of one. I've done that with the Husky racks in my storage areas. Every pair of sets gives me 3 bays of shelves. I think I've got 25 bays now between the two areas.
 
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jblnut

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Holy smokes post #2000 !!!!! Good grief.

Quick idea...when you are ready for another one of those racks, take one of the doubled verticals out and use it with a couple of bars from the next set and get two bays for the price of one. I've done that with the Husky racks in my storage areas. Every pair of sets gives me 3 bays of shelves. I think I've got 25 bays now between the two areas.
Ya know that is a great idea. I think I'm going to have to switch it around. I could make use of that other upright in the shop !!
 
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