Question Question for Wyandotte or Heritage Chicken Breeders

[Jaye]

OC, couldn't you do the same with the turners and use a whiteboard marker to write the dates on them? You would be able to clean off the writing after you're done and reuse.

[Ontario Chick]

OC, couldn't you do the same with the turners and use a whiteboard marker to write the dates on them? You would be able to clean off the writing after you're done and reuse.

I am trying to downsize, and my "economical woman" self tells me not to sit on an equipment I don't need and which somebody else can use. :)
BTW there is a method to my madness, I start collecting about 3 or four days before I need to and when I have enough collected the oldest carton can go in to the fridge and eggs still be used for cooking.

[Reboot]

good luck Badstart on your plans. So many people have “romantic notions” of life on the farm and then get overwhelmed with the work or get a “badstart”.If you call your place a “business” vs a “hobby” it might be worth the trouble for the tax benefits. country life is expensive so might as well use every angle you can.

Thank you for the tax suggestion my friend that is a heck of an idea. I did the books for my wife's small business in the city so that is something I could do, I just didn't think I could. Wow thank you for that; I assume if we are selling produce then we are a business. No romantic farm notions with me, just a definite bad start. I am a second generation removed from 7 generations of St Lawrence Valley dairy farmers. My dad made sure I worked the farm with my cousins in the summers and I remember what that stress was like very well for them. They made it very clear how tough farming is when I mentioned a hobby farm after retiring. Having said that all 7 generations survived and thrived based on the work they did on that farm which sustained all of them. Our homesteading was a 'badstart' here for sure and very expensive. A concealed failed septic system, misrepresentation about flooding by previous owners and welded cracks on a oil furnace heat exchanger. No home home inspector would find that and certainly not the way it was concealed. The poultry catastrophe was on the recommendation of local organic farmers we trusted who sent us to a poultry producer that turned out to be a complete fraud. Country life is expensive specially when there is almost a criminal element to it! You are very right Baron, the work is brutally hard (neighbours tell me they are afraid I'll drop from a heart attack - I kid you not) but the pay off is seeing our property and its attributes blossom which we are seeing so onward and upward!

[Killerbunny]

Be very careful about starting up a homesteading business that includes Livestock. The ByLaw may be written so that you are not allowed to start a Livestock business on anything less than 10 acres. A Livestock Operation is legally defined as something that is intended to make money whether you do or not. We have hassles with our neighbours because they keep trying to say that backyard chickens and turkeys are an Operation and threats have been made. BTW they have feedlot cow & calf. I know others in our Twp. (Elizabethtown) have had similar issues with our moronic planner misinterpreting the definition. Frankly, no disrespect to people here, I find this end of the Province unpleasant and crooked. Sorry for the rant but BE CAREFUL!

[Reboot]

Be very careful about starting up a homesteading business that includes Livestock.

Very sage advice Killerbunny! Our Wyandotte suppliers are dealing with court orders right now from neighbour complaints and they may be in trouble with the township as they don't comply with the regulations. They have invested heavily already.
Our first homestead attempt was Spencerville and I did my due diligence thankfully and you are right KB it was a 10 ac minimum so we moved on. The next homestead attempt was Delta, Rideau Lakes Twp. This municipality only requires two acres and an MDS requirement (minimum distance separation from neighbours). It was so close to closing until a home inspection revealed asbestos everywhere (the owners knew this long before we showed up and said nothing among other misrepresentations so we walked away. Our current home is still in Rideau Lakes. I am a worrier by profession as I have seen too many bad things happen to others. I was very concerned about laying out thousands of dollars in farm infrastructure only to have bylaw shut us down. When we started here I applied for a building permit for a livestock shelter and was granted one for the goats and the chickens just fall into place with them. The septic issue set us back $20,000 and it was our life savings but I guess that was what we had it for, emergencies. It also delayed the goat shed until this year. As for selling produce you are right again KB. There are limitations on selling eggs for us but as long as we do it from the house we are okay to do so I just can't do so at a farmers market or secondary retailer. Our egg sales pay for the organic chicken feed. The goats are intended for our own soap and cheese endeavours and to keep me out of trouble. We have a breeder who is mentoring us so we will eventually breed goats for sale as we have purchased some pretty decent bloodlines and registered kids can sell for $700+.