We've had a couple of days with great rain - not too heavy with around 25 mm on Sunday and Monday. Even though the nights are getting fairly cool we should still get some good grass growth because we don't get many frosts here in winter.
Some years we don't get frosts at all - and this may be one of those years. One of the plum trees near the old house on the property has decided to start flowering - so it obviously thinks it's Spring!
The dogs aren't too happy with the rain, preferring to sit around under cover. And some of the hens are wondering what the wet stuff is. The new flock is just 20 weeks old and they've never seen rain.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
The chooks were extra glad to see me this morning!
It's always hard getting deliveries of feed exactly when we need them. We have a six tonne silo and we usually need to fill it every six weeks or so. The time it lasts depends on how many hens we have on the farm and the weather (hens eat less in warmer weather).
If we order the feed too early, and it arrives the next day (as has happened in the past) there may not be room for it in the silo.
So when I think there's just a couple of days feed left in the silo, I order a delivery. The difficulty then is that the feed mill understandably wants to minimise its fuel costs (don't we all) by waiting 'til it has a full truck load for the area - which may be three, four or even five days away.
That's what happened this time. I had to go to our local feed store to buy ten bags of mixed grains to get the chooks through - needless-to-say they didn't much care for the change in diet.
So after the truck delivered this morning, I went round the farm filling up the feed bins in each paddock and the chooks thought I was Father Christmas!
If we order the feed too early, and it arrives the next day (as has happened in the past) there may not be room for it in the silo.
So when I think there's just a couple of days feed left in the silo, I order a delivery. The difficulty then is that the feed mill understandably wants to minimise its fuel costs (don't we all) by waiting 'til it has a full truck load for the area - which may be three, four or even five days away.
That's what happened this time. I had to go to our local feed store to buy ten bags of mixed grains to get the chooks through - needless-to-say they didn't much care for the change in diet.
So after the truck delivered this morning, I went round the farm filling up the feed bins in each paddock and the chooks thought I was Father Christmas!
Thursday, April 03, 2008
High winds cause chaos
Ours was one of 350,000 properties in Victoria knocked off the electricity grid by high winds in Victoria yesterday. We were without 'power' for 24 hours but did it have much impact? No!
The biggest problem was the havoc the wind caused with trees on the farm and the feeders for our hens.
But we still had solar power for our hot water, fences and mobile phones. Our small generator was brought into use to operate the egg grading machine and keep food OK in the freezers.
It's hard to understand why people go into panic mode when natural events happen .... but then I suppose they don't understand .......
The biggest problem was the havoc the wind caused with trees on the farm and the feeders for our hens.
But we still had solar power for our hot water, fences and mobile phones. Our small generator was brought into use to operate the egg grading machine and keep food OK in the freezers.
It's hard to understand why people go into panic mode when natural events happen .... but then I suppose they don't understand .......
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