I love our house, don't get me wrong. However, there is no door on my bedroom. We've put a curtain up, but the kids still come and go as they please, and I'd like to be able to close the door to keep them out. Especially if we have gifts or something hidden away, or for those mornings where one parent wants to sleep in while the other gets kids ready for school (sound break). In typical fashion, this old farmhouse doesn't fit standard measurements. Everything here is one-of-a-kind, so in like fashion, I have designed a door that Tony will soon be building, custom, just for the small door space of our bedroom. He picked up the lumber today, and we have the special hinges and latch picked out that we will have to order online. Today we looked at potential handles, and I found one that I liked, though it doesn't match the overall design of the door. We still have to get a stain for it as well, but for now, we have enough to at least start. It never occurred to me before that you could actually make a door instead of buying a commercial one. I like this idea, and I'm hoping the door turns out as gorgeous as it is in my head.
The other project we're working on is a little more time sensitive, so it may take priority over the door. We are building brooder bins! That's right, we've settled on what we want to order from the hatchery, and now we're building custom brooder space. Not the cheap cardboard ones you can buy at the feed store, and not the industrial metal and fan ones used by big breeders. We are building ours with wood so it's sturdy enough to hold the brooder lamp, and tall enough to keep the birds in longer. It also allows us to make them bigger to accommodate more birds. The initial brooder bin will be 4' x 8' and sectioned into two separate 4' x 4' areas, each with their own heat light, water, and food bins. As they grow, a second, same-sized brooder will be made to double the space allowed to a total of 64 square feet. We bought all of the supplies for both brooders so we are prepared. We weren't able to find the red bulbs we needed at either store, so we will keep looking. I put the order in this evening, and it says they will contact us in about ten days to arrange a shipping day. The box will need to be picked up at the local post office.
So what kind of birds did we order? Well, they'll be as much of a surprise to you as they are to me. We bought the surprise box... It's supposed to contain an assortment of at least 40 poultry hatchlings. Chickens mostly, but possibly ducks and turkey as well. It seems to have excellent reviews, and the cost per chick is lower than anywhere else I could find once shipping is factored in.
All in all, raising birds is crazy expensive. Or at least the start up costs are certainly prohibitive! I'm excited to give it a go, and I hope we have fun with this project. If it goes well, I'd consider doing it again, but we've got to find a way to make it more cost effective.
So - I wonder if selling off some of the birds once they're feathered out and free-ranging might be a way to bring back some of our investment here. I guess a lot also depends on what breeds we get. But alas, it will be a surprise. So please check back soon! I do plan on doing some videos and taking lots of photos! You can follow our journey into chick rearing and help us identify what we have!
Yesterday when Tony got off work he took time to go through the newest shipment of potatoes and other rhizomes that had come in to his work. He ended up bringing home five pounds of Superior potatoes (an early season variety), five pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes (a mid season variety), six Magic Molly potatoes, a dozen Pinto Gold potatoes, two packages of Purple Passion asparagus crowns, 75 Jumbo Pentium onion sets, ten Ozark Beauty strawberries (everbearing), and ten All Star strawberries (June bearing).
Next project? Building more potato towers! I'm going to need at least ten to plant these potatoes. But for right now, I think we have enough projects, and we've spent enough money for one week.