Daydream thread... without the rose-tinted specs

Davesnave

rhiwfield wrote: »

Dave, 48 hours and no response, thats not good at all!

They've only had 27 hours so far. I meant that I would give them 48 to reply without taking umbrage. Still, good to know that I was thinking along the right lines.

FK I don't know a lot about the Godin, except that I'm sure some people used to use them in workshops & caravans etc. Now they are really pricey.

My FIL has one, but it doesn't count, as it runs on gas!

I saw this on the Bay:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GYPSY-CARAVAN-STOVE-BOAT-HEATER-CAMPERVAN-RV-WOOD-CHARCOAL-BURNER/181157783210?_trksid=p2047675.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D11%26meid%3D8580145296757875667%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D1005%26rk%3D2%26sd%3D180707501122%26

rhiwfield

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

I had to buy 'proper priced' veg yesturday:eek: the price on potatoes:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Had a furtle round my earlies, very poor so far, prob the late planting followed by dry weather. Hopefully the recent rain will start to see the tubers getting bigger.

Itismehonest

ferretkeeper wrote: »

CTC, £6.80 is a very good price, the one benefit of the pellets is that they are better to feed on the soil, easier to snuffle up. I gave up using a trough on the ground, they keep getting trashed and I have to wade in the mud to find it with 10 hungry pigs trying to knock a bucket of food out of my hands!

That said even though the grains seem to go everywhere there's no sign of any waste - I am making a little area of concrete soon which will be for feeding on so definitely less chance to waste food then, might even design it so a trough can be sunk in, so noses can't get underneath.

My piggy is famous, his pics are on Facebook, see Sosban's page, and they named him Percy! Chef was v pleased, talking about all the dishes they could make...mmm mouth watering!

BD - I have a crazy scheme in my head for firewood...I get a polytunnel (AKA solar kiln) and all the wood I cut over the winter gets moved indoors to season...in my plan the tunnel would be used for turkeys in the autumn, followed by lambing in winter/spring, of course you don't need to include them, but they'll help me pay for the tunnel.

I also came across a stick stove, prototype made by a local man that may be available soon - it uses bundles of thinner wood, coppiced materials that you can cut by hand/loppers. You stand the bundle upright in the hopper and it lasts ages. The prototype wasn't very pretty but would be by the time they are making more...

Won't that making cleaning the trough out (plus emptying out any rain) rather awkward? Unless things are fixed in pigs tend to find a way to move things around.

Nothing done outside here as, following the fog, we've had only wet & windy weather.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

we have a traditional cast iron trough and a deep steel/alu trough tilted for the big piggies, the deep trough is tilted and wedged with bricks so it is hard to move, the cast iron trough they move that everywhere

little piggies we bought a shallow feeding steel trough, which has a hole at one end for any rain water to run out...

I personally dont like feeding their main feed straight on the ground, not for any particular reason, its a personal thing..

we feed their 'treats' by hand either by hand feeding or by calling them over, and putting one item at a time on the floor

Itismehonest

Ours were mainly fed sow weaner nuts (had one boar who wouldn't touch anything else :rotfl:) so they either got fed in troughs, on scrubbed concrete or in large circular rubber feeders wedged into old tyres.
We used the tyre concept for the goats, too, but with old buckets instead of the rubber feeders.

Obviously that method wouldn't work well for large numbers of pigs, though.

lostinrates

Feeding from the ground can cause parasite problems.


Feeling from a trough is poor for enrichment.

With horses, whipen I have the righ facilities I put the hard feeds in the same ground level trough as the hay. Doing that in herd situation is obviously imposible to provide balanced rations . You win some you lose some!

rozeepozee

We have a put together our first chicken coop! I haven't heard from my Jersey Giant seller for a couple of weeks so I'll remind her. I'm told they are difficult to sex early on, so perhaps she's just waiting. I think it will be a few weeks yet.

I'm looking to buy a couple of silkies too, as broodies and pets. There's a fella in Tregaron and he breeds rare breed fowl and pigs and he's going to this poultry car boot sale next weekend that I'm planning to go to too, so there is the possibility that I'll return with a couple of crested duck as well....

I've got another cheapie chicken hut off the net. The price is reflected in the quality, but they'll do the trick. I have treated them pretty carefully (in pretty coloured preservative - they look lovely!) and they are intended to get us by until OH is in a position to build something longer lasting and sturdy.

I feel like a total novice. I never had these hang ups buying animals to look after when I was a teenager. I feel so out of practice.

I've got some diatomaceous earth. Does anyone else use this? It seems to be a cure all. I've a few feeders and water dispenser thingies. What would you advise I also need to buy starting out?

Presumably, I need to keep these birds in their coops for a while until I let them out to free range? I confess to being a little wary about having bought them now, with the build ongoing, but frankly, after being in Wales almost two years, I just can't wait any longer!!!:o

I seem to be growing veg to feed the slugs at the moment so I hope these chicks and ducks are hungry!

ferretkeeper

I have a cunning plan! To make a mould in the concrete at pouring time with the trough so it can be lifted out to clean BUT so that the trough is at ground level in situ and they can't get a snout under it! Not sure how to get rain out...back to drawing board or should I say the person whose idea I've stolen!

I don't mind ground feeding, a bit wasteful at the mo, but gives the pigs something to do, plus there's iron in the soil/ground water here so excellent for piglets, important to keep food away from poo! And animals regularly wormed etc!

Yes Rozee, I use diatomaceous earth, for everything! Wormer, mites, lice, cats dogs, chooks! Also use garlic and cider vinegar, all preventative but it all helps!

Davesnave

We use diatomaceous earth, but we don't trust it completely, especially in winter when wet weather means that the hens can't usually self medicate by dust-bathing frequentlyin it. We add it to dry soil.

You have a choice of Verm-X and Flubenvet for worming. Personally, while I'd love to use the herbal remedy, our vet, who's a poultry keeper and expert, recommends Flubenvet.

If the hens do get lice despite your best efforts with the diatoms, Harkamectin from ye internet will sort them inside a week, or you can get similar stuff from the vet. Basically it's like Frontline. Harkamectin is good for scaly leg too. (Egg withdrawal for a week though.)

Edit: Forgot the cider vinegar, but FK remembered.

lostinrates

I'm a 'proper' wormer too. Not often, but certainly when they are hanging around the same areas. We do sometimes use verm x, but.......I' m not convinced.

We haven't used diatoms. We've only once had mites ( and if we have something we want to treat it with big guns). I would use them....but we don't have the need for a maintainence sort of thing.