Wow, this week has been a busy one for this lazy guy! The gray skies have made it interesting to be off-grid, as well as adding a water pump into the mix that uses just over 1kw every time it comes on.
My sister-in-law Larie from Someday Farm in Greg gave me several Silkie chickens this spring and I finally had a place to put them! so I picked them up last weekend and they have been being introduced to the home flock through the wire separating their coops.
My plan was to take them into the home flock's coop one night so the other chickens would wake up and for the most part think, "Oh you are supposed to be here." The object is to lessen the pecking order severity as much as possible.
I think I may simply build a sliding door between the coops that I can control. Once I let the home flock out in the morning, I will open the door allowing the Silkies and Bantams to enter the home coop at their leisure and also outside.
This will allow all the chickens to mix in with more room for the smaller bantams to retreat to for a few days if they feel the need. Then one day soon, I will simply close the joining coop door when the auxiliary coop is empty forcing them to all roost together.
I have never tried this method before, but I am always up for trying new things on the homestead.
In other news, My friend Ben Brought his tractor up and used his backhoe to dig the trench from the new well to the existing water line already in the ground. This was a great help and saved me the $250.00 rental of a track hoe for a small 4-6 foot ditch.
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I was then able to hook up the new well and control system to the house. In doing so I put a power distribution box with 3 breakers into the electric system of the house. This allows the new pump to run on its own breaker. You can see the video I made of the process here: https://youtu.be/-gP2lsMvZaA.
Along with the new pressure tank, this has alleviated the amount of attention I need to pay to water. I still need to be mindful of electricity and what is used, but it seems to be doing well so far. I was able to do three loads of laundry yesterday without running the generator.
This is possible because even though the new slow-start pump draws 1kw while running which is around 8amps, It only runs for 15 seconds or so to refill the pressure tank.
I did a coliform test this morning and it came back negative! This means I can drink the delicious water now flowing through my taps. So bottled water will be in reserve, for company or when I am working outside or things like that. That is a huge weight off my shoulders, If you know me, you can guess how many special trips I have made in the past just to get bottled water because I procrastinated.
Now With the coops and the water projects off my list, It is once again time to turn my attention to the garden and firewood. So far I have had a modest, but acceptable harvest of beans and zucchini, tomatoes, and a few peppers.
With me being just one mouth to feed I don't require as much as some of my friends with 5 or 7 family members. God is Good.
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Well, that just about does it for me this morning. we will keep you posted. After I clean the house today. (It is a mess from installing the new water system) I need to try to update the merch on the website. I have created a lot of new designs recently for the store shelf on the YouTube channel and haven't added them to the Website so keep an eye out for that!
Alright, y'all have a great week and God Bless!
Tracy
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