This could have been the "big one that got away"...

...but thankfully we had a camera so you're never going to hear about this catch.

Fabio fell off the wagon and the habit has returned with a vengeance.  He is sucking the equivalent of one pack a day in cigarettes.

Rabbit grazing cages.  Instead of keeping them off the ground and constantly giving them feed, these cages allow rabbits to consume grass, it saves money and even better it offers vitamins and minerals which further improves the nutritional value of their meat.

Transferring colonies to their new homes.  Kind of like installing new cards into a switch or router except those cards don't bite or provide a huge nutritional pay-off.

Not much activity until the bees get acclimated.

This is what is known as a broiler, they are cross between Cornish and White Plymouth Rock breeds.  They produce a meaty chicken that gains weight quickly.  They essentially are giant meat balls with legs.

Looks like a storm is coming.

"Move!  Get these meat balls to safety!"

And another new kid on the block.

Hmmm... what should this post be about?

While I meditate on that here are a few updates...

Two weeks since Fabio started the 12 step program for pacifiers and he's doing great.

Farm ER (I'd rather smoke a cigar in the waiting room).

Another example of how you frequently have to improvise. This is a tractor implement we had to move and in case my idea turns in to a bad idea Liberty doesn't want to be associated with it.

Occasionally the stream becomes a river and breaches its banks but the eggs still have to be collected.

New additions.  These guys are really funny to watch, they are the complete opposite of goats.

Homeschooling always goes smoothly,

just like this pic shows, apparently Calvin was studying spear throwing techniques of ancient man and the aerodynamics of concave rubber objects.  If you look closely you'll notice that he's trying to hit Caleb in the back with a toilet plunger.  Caleb probably complimented him on something to which Calvin probably asked "do you mind going outside and helping me with a test that combines two areas I'm studying?" to which Caleb probably said "sure."

Prepping for new bee colonies.

Bulk feed delivery.

Another new kid on the block, we've had six born in the past week: five bucks and one doe.

We've recently noticed a glitch...

 ...in the Matrix.

Also confirmed by the egg on the left.

This was a bad idea (it dropped the van's suspension about 4").

Same with this choice in footwear.

Girlpower moving 1 ton of feed (an E250 really can carry 2,000lbs w/ out a problem).  Looks like fun,

but not really.

Goats make great indoor pets (until they decide to go poop).

Air traffic control can't keep up.

The duck house.

Trying to appreciate the difference in taste between a conventional broiler and a rooster with a monkey on my back.

Work being done in the lab (err, well yeah, you could call it a double wide trailer).

A chicken's version of the movie "The Island."  They have no idea what's really going on.

With the help of girlpower,

I slid the tractor engine out of the side of the van on a 4" piece of lumber and back into the tractor. Tonya looks like she had fun in the pic but she really didn't.

Trins cooked me an excellent breakfast with farm fresh eggs and bacon from a local farm while I was looking up chicken regulations and Kenna posed for the picture.

Fabio helping his big brother feed the kids while Otto checks things out.

Occasionally the creek turns into a river after a big rain and the vehicles can't cross (unless you want to buy a new engine) so you have to cross the old fashioned way in order to feed the animals.

"I'd like to share a revelation that I've had..." for those who like the A R.  If you raise the the point of aim (I used a 1" riser) it's immensely easier to bring it closer to the center of your body.  It significantly changes the feel, it's the higher point of aim that makes the S CAR so comfortable.

Y3K prep is paying some dividends.  We discovered coliform in the water, while we're working on a solution drinking water is filtered thru ceramic elements, the silverware in the bottom of the top bucket makes sure the bacteria is killed if not filtered.  The bottom bucket collects the cleaned water and the kid on the right consumes it.

I caught this mini Asian rice farmer trying to sneak up on me.

Some really big goats showed up today.

Spring Planting

  

Spring planting started a couple days ago.  The animals had been preparing the field for the big day and are still working for future planting days.  If you look closely, you can see the next planting areas in the background.

First the goats work in the small paddocks.  Their job is to eat the weeds and whatever else that is green and appealing to them. 

The goats also get to eat or lick whatever is placed in their trough.

Next, the pork-a-tillers move in and turn-up the soil by eating all the roots and plants that are left.  They do an excellent job.

 

Humans then rotate into the paddock to make rows and plant...

 

potatoes, peas, beets, lettuce and more.

A little more detail on every day life:

Animals are moved frequently in order to keep feed costs low (the more they graze, the less you spend in feed, and according to what we're reading the healthier the animal is).  We have netting with strands of wire in it to conduct electricity which we move to a new area every few days.

Another dent in the van?  Who did this one? Liberty?  Are you cwazy?  She can barely reach the pedals!  I'll get back on topic...

This is the start of a one acre garden.  The area is cordoned off into ~50x50 sections and the animals are put to work.  The goats are introduced first to eat the grass down and then the pigs are moved in to eat roots and till the dirt.  In this pic the pigs have only been busy for about six hours, by tomorrow the ground is completely tilled.

Every day is different, it can be frustrating but you frequently end up learning new things.  Here the coils on a tractor engine failed and I had to remove the engine to install the new coils and a "key" that will change the timing (the key goes on the drive shaft and changes the position of the flywheel).

This is 5,000 lbs. of corner pipe for fencing.  Looks harmless until you start pulling it.  I've learned a lot about towing over the past few years and even more recently.

Another chicken day.

Chickens are first placed into the cones on the right, to the left of the cones is the scalder which loosens the feathers (it is propane heated to over 145 degrees), they are next spun in the plucker which has rubber "fingers" that remove the feathers, then the dressing is done on the table before they go into the freezer.  Over 70 chickens were processed on this equipment in four hours which is pretty good.

A new hat for boss hog (and new boots on the counter).  That's our local feed and tractor supply store guy who is always very helpful.

Maple syrup processing.  This is the set-up of a friend from church, it's actually pretty easy to do.

Tapping a tree (January is the best time around here).

Another example of how things are different out here.  Not sure how/where Otto found this.