I can't just sit still and everybody who knows me knows that. I have decided if I am going to be a SAHM then I have to have something for me that is beside raising kids, homeschooling and cleaning house. I have decided that while I love animals if they are not serving some purpose or making some income they have to go. I have been re-eveluating all of my menagarie and decided they either have to pull their weight or they are heading down the road. The chickens pay for their own food. They will never be able to re-pay the costs of the coops or the fence but that is acceptable because these are long term investments. They just have to pay for their food. They are now as almost all of them are laying so they lucked out and have a permanent home. The ducks also pay their feed bill. I need to put an ad out to sell some duck eggs because they are wonderful for baking. The ducks actually don't eat that much and they are allowed to free range so the feed bill is even less. I believe the two little ducklings that joined our family this spring are both hens. I have vent-sexed them several times and I think hen both times. Plus they are so noisy and the drakes are usually quiet. I picked two of the noisiest so hopefully I picked right. The goats are just worthless but they pay by being so cute but they had better start pulling their weight as soon as it quits raining and start eating down the hill. If they don't they will still stay because they definitely pay their bill in entertainment. The dogs are something else. Rocky is the biggest pain in the butt but I guess he pays his bill by teaching me patience. I will NEVER adopt a humane society dog again, while many people think that is the wrong thing to say, when you have a farm and a chicken / duck killer you can't have that. Bullwinkle is another story altogether. He LOVES the chickens and ducks because he can eat their food. He has been known to eat so much chicken food he has to take a nap in the chicken coop. I have found him sleeping with chickens running all over him. Hopefully he can no longer get in there. Cross my fingers, he is turning into a really good dog. The rabbit and hamster are here to teach my two oldest children responsiblity. Those two animals and a screaming mother may eventually convince them to take care of animals. The cats are great, they pay for their keep by killing mice and leaving them for me at the front door. Even Sage with no claws (poor kitty, he has no way to defend himself) kills them. This keeps them out of my feed bins. Now cats are an animal I feel strongly about adopting from animal shelters. Both of our cats were at shelters (or were soon to be) and they are wonderful.
My next adventure will be turkey raising. There is no turkey poults around here and if you order them from the feed store they only have the great big meat turkeys. I want to get some heritage turkeys. We be getting three or four hopefully in the next month and one will be Thanksgiving dinner and one Christmas Dinner. YUMMY! I will hopefully keep a tom turkey and a hen turkey and then they are reproduce and lay eggs for me. I will also probably incubate eggs and sell the poults. Mariah and I just set 6 chicken eggs and we will know in 10 days when we candle them if they are fertile or not. I think it would be so great to hatch some chicks in the incubator.
Life continues on at the Wheeler Funny Farm and I continue to push and strive toward efficiency and self reliancy. Somedays I think we are doing the unschooling method because we are definitely not really typically schooling but there is so much in life to learn and NOT all of it can be found in textbooks. I thank God that my family has the opportunity to live in the wonderful USA and especially where we do.
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