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Reflections
Saturday, December 28, 2013 at 12:50PM Another year is coming to a close. 2013 sure packed a punch, and I can't say I'm sad to see it go. That's alright, live and learn and be here now... right?
I have more fodder updates for those who are following our experiment in a new way of life. I increased the drainage slant on our trays to 2 inches and increased the number of holes in the edge of the tray. This successfully improved our rootmats and germination at the low end of the trays.
We've also quit growing straight barley trays and are seeding all trays with 1 part peas and 8 parts barley. My new tray weight record is 19 pounds! So, we are getting there... another step closer to that magic 6x yield.
Other changes include switching up how we feed the fodder to our livestock. Previously, I had been feeding 3 trays full free choice to all the goats in the yard. It turns out that the young goats were hogging the fodder and started getting fat on it. Now I've switched to feeding fodder on the milkstand first, and then the leftovers go out to the yard feeder for the young ones to munch on.
I'm still waiting for the clover seed to arrive. It should be here any day. The plan is to seed 1 part clover and 3 parts barley for the chickens, 1 part clover and 1 part barley for the quail and see how that does for everyone. Life is one big experiment.
If I can't get my quail to lay well on fodder, I've decided to give them up. I refuse to feed soy and they're not doing great on added fishmeal... what they do best on is hamburger but I just can't afford to feed that to my birds everyday. So we'll see what happens with the clover aspect.
Other news is that Ben is gone trapping for awhile and my longterm interns will be moving on to greener pastures this spring. If you know of some free spirit who wants to learn alot and work super hard in rough living conditions, send em my way.
Cheers, and may 2014 be the best year yet!
Reader Comments (4)
Love the updates on your fodder operation. Can you tell me where you ordered your peas and clover from?
Hi Erich, thanks. I order bulk whole green peas by the 25# sack from Azure Standard. And the alyce clover came from Seed Ranch, shipped from Florida.
Lisa
Say I knew a person that wanted to work for you but they had two children, a 4 year old and a 5 year old? What would you say?
J. Hill, I say lets talk!