Spring?

Tentatively, without making any sudden movements that might scare it away for another 2 weeks, I am quietly celebrating the arrival of an early Canadian springtime.  Yes, early.  Normally, the middle of April is the melting of snow, but who can really say what normal weather is these days?  (yaaaaaaay)

What's on the menu for this (spring)?

1.  Chickens:  After a several year hiatus, we're bringing chicken back, and it's going to be smaller and better than ever!  Instead of a flock of 400, which was a challenge to manage, I'm starting with about 150-200.  I've built a chick brooder, which I will post a picture of soon, when it's painted and ready to go.  I've got some very specific plans for this years flock, namely that I'm going to build a breeding flock of hens who will hopefully then supply me with eggs and babies throughout the next season.  I've picked the Buff Orpington as my Heritage breed of choice, since they grow large, they are not jerks (more on that later) and they will brood their eggs to hatch babies.  It takes the Buff-O about 18-20 weeks to reach it's full size, and it's sexual maturity, which is quite a bit longer than the "normal" broiler breeds, but here's the secret...caponizing.

Caponizing is when you take the male (rooster) around six weeks of age, max of 14 weeks, and you castrate him.  It's no secret that testosterone makes meat taste gamey and tough, so cattle producers will always castrate a male cow, unless they want him to be a bull.  He'll grow up without his oysters, and his meat will be nice and quite edible.  He will not be aggressive, nor will he be fertile.  The same goes with chickens, but the procedure is somewhat more challenging, since the boys "parts" are actually inside the bird.  You have to make a small incision and pull them out.  It is as difficult as it sounds, but the meat stays tender and flavorful, and the chicken still gets to a nice size in about 20 weeks.  Since it costs a lot to process a chicken, every pound of weight makes it worth more to sell.  No sense raising a bunch of tiny 3 lb chickens and paying $5 each to process, instead I will raise a smaller number of 7 or 8 lb birds, which are nearly turkey sized.  I have a feeling that there is a hidden market for this kind of chicken, particularly among immigrants who might have actually eaten caponized chicken before.  Instead of a turkey, why not eat a large tasty pastured chicken?

2.  Bottle calves:  Originally I wanted to buy a gaggle of weaned calves, and feed them on my free grass for six months or so, then sell them again for some sweet, sweet profit.  Unfortunately, prices for the young calves have never been higher, and I run a serious risk of making absolutely no money at all if the price of the larger cattle falls.  Since I am not interesting in running a gambling operation, I've decided to go another way.  Bottle calves are babies that, for whatever reason, have been separated from their mother at a very young age.  You can buy them for a decent price, but you take a risk; they might die on you, and they also take a lot of work to raise.  Assuming you buy some that aren't going to die, you have to feed them a milk replacer.  The most efficient way that I have discovered is called "acidified milk", and you basically mix a few days worth of milk, add some formic acid to bring it to a pH of 4.5 (so it doesn't spoil), and let the calf drink when it wants to, without adding heat to it.  This is becoming popular, and in my opinion is waaaaay easier than the well known method of bottle feeding fresh milk replacer twice a day by hand.  You do have to stir the milk somehow, because it does settle.  I plan to have four bottle calves at some point, and raise them to full size. Then, I will either breed them if they are female, or sell the meat if they are steers (castrated males).  That will take about 20 months to complete.

3.  A cottage and a barn:  I've been slowing working on my small shed, it just needs some shingles on the roof, and a better door and it will be quite useful.  I really want to build a multi-purpose barn/workshop/garage, and this will be the year to to it.  My wife wants me to build a very small old-fashioned cottage that you could sit and read in, or play music, or nap, or escape from the world for a bit.  By winter I ought to have a covered frame and waterproof roof done.  I can work on the inside over the winter, since we plan to put a small wood burning stove inside.

4.  Small but productive garden:  As though all of the above wasn't enough, I would like to build my garden area up, making some permanent pathways with gravel, and planting some peas, carrots, beans, and some pumpkins.  

5.  Part time job:  Oh, and I have a part time job working at a homeless shelter.