[dominiquer60]

I am not sure if that is the last yoke that you make Wolfgang. Yokes are like Frito Lays Potato Chips with their slogan “you can’t have just one.” Somehow I have 6 on hand at the moment, one we made, two were gifts, one purchased and two borrowed from neighbors. There are many advantages to having oxen over horses, but needing different sized yokes as they grow is not one of them:)

Erika

[dominiquer60]

very handsome indeed.

[dominiquer60]

The best weasel protection that I know of is a dog. We used to tether our dogs out with the chickens every night. With the exception of one problem they did a great job and never harmed a bird. The problem was that the tether got caught and the dog could not get to the far end of the coop where the smart predator realized he could pull birds through a burrowed hole made without the dog in the way. If I were to do more broilers in the future I would consider a guard dog that would live with them full time, the herding breeds work, but they are not as happy with this task.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

This looks great and rather fancy with the plexy. This is a great size for 60.

If you are dressing this flock in early July (8 weeks after May 4th), one thing to remember is that these birds cannot take the heat. I have had cornish crosses with ice water and all the shade that they want just up and die right before butchering because of extreme heat. Once they are big enough and if it gets hot out you may want to increase the ventilation on the shaded side. Two ways that come to mind is to remove the ply wood and or plexy and use wire to allow air to flow, and/or move the tarp so that it is ~18″ above ground level and situate the tractor to catch a good cross breeze. Sometimes we found tarps inadequate at providing enough shade and ended up using shade cloth as well, but yours looks to be of a high grade and should do just fine.

Your set up looks good as it is for your chicks when they are younger and will want a place to get out of a breeze, just be flexible and adjust your set up as needed.

Good Luck,

Erika

[dominiquer60]

I agree with Jen’s points.
Erika

[dominiquer60]

It reminds me of Sesame Street….

Which of these things is not like the other,
which of these just doesn’t belong?

I can only hope that my neighbors don’t go for it, and it is likely since the common way to rotate out of alfalfa is fall kill it with Roundup before plowing it down to corn in the spring. Genuity would defeat their purpose of being able to fall kill alfalfa. Maybe it is a worse problem in the west, but other than a few dandelions I just don’t see weeds being a huge issue in a properly started alfalfa field. Our big problem with alfalfa is finding a well drained enough field to plant the stuff in that is larger than a postage stamp.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Even with a tractor (without GPS) it can be difficult to keep straight, especially at slow transplanting speeds. I will often mark a bed first at a normal speed just so that I or the the person driving have something decent to follow while they are struggling to stay awake at our breakneck speed of 320 ft/hour.

If you mark a first row with something and focus on keeping her straight you will have a good first pass mark. If you couple this first mark with a row marker on your seeder, you may be able to make the trail of the next row for her to follow. A row marker could attach to your stabilizer and should not unbalance it too much, heck Planet Jrs used to come with a row marker.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

I received the email about this post.
Erika

[dominiquer60]

You can get those poles in the Fit if you put your mind to it, maybe that plow too. Perhaps one of these Yankees can figure it out at NEAPFD:) Thanks for the updates and stay warm.
Erika

[dominiquer60]

After decades of cropping contour strips we have some low profile swales between each strip that certainly capture water and minimize erosion. Alternating and rotating between row crops and sod helps a lot as well. We are also firm believers of water bars on farm roads, driveways, even the path down to the greenhouse. We have strange land in the fact that the higher up in elevation you go the wetter it gets, the fields on top of the hill can be beasts.

Maybe this is not exactly what you were looking for, but this is how we manage our water and soil successfully with each staying where they belong, usually.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

These guys usually have some parts cultivators laying around and may have what you need, http://www.macknair.com/,

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Anthony,

Here is a photo that may help you, but if I remember correctly you are about an hour south of me, you are welcome to come look, measure, etc. Also if you keep an eye on eBay you can find reprint manuals for the New 4.

Hope this helps,

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Thanks,
There is a great chance I can make it, I just found out that I don’t have to work in Syracuse the day before.
Hope to see you there,
Erika

[dominiquer60]

Jean,

At what times do the horses and equipment sell?

If I were to drive up the day of, what is the cut off time for consigning an item?

I am going to try hard to get up there this year, especially if I don’t have to work in Syracuse the day before.

Thanks,

Erika

[dominiquer60]

We had hopes of last week being good sap weather, and we thought it was but the sap did not. We yielded much better than last year, which took little effort, but only made it half way to our best year. All in all it was good. I took the team out last week and worked up the first garden patch for the season, sap not flowing was a welcomed progression of the season. It was a fun thread, I always learn a little from the annual sugar thread, thanks for joining us.

Erika

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