D Cooper

I have begun an adventure on my property.  There are a series of 4 ponds down a south facing slope on our property.  They are all in terrible condition after at least 30-40 years of neglect. Side note, I purchased just over a year ago.  I'm beginning to video some of the progress and post it to youtube and facebook.  Check it out.  Be sure leave questions or advise.

I believe the best practice is cleaning up the swale berm in one way or another.  Try to break up large clumps on the surface and make at least an area that can act as a seed bed.  In our area of Missouri, we have lots of clay.  When you dig, or have one done, try to place at least some of the top soil along the top of the berm to help you grow things quickly.  

Not all clumps need to be broken up. Your berm does not have to look like a garden bed!!! The clumps will eventually break down with some rain and the area will evolve sediment will wash into the ditch and provide good growing conditions for other grasses and plants.

We see many farms that have similar form to this in Missouri.  We would typically call it a Terrace.  As noted by S Bengi, there are a lot of similarities.  

You may also not see it on all farms but many have drain systems built into the ditches.  They bury drain pipe that then moves water away from the property during heavy rain events.  So rather than catching and holding the rain, they are used to move water away.

Typically the biggest reason why farmers want the water to go away a symptom of their poor soil management.  The soil in most row crop fields does not absorb water very quickly, or at all, thus causing large puddles that kill the crop.  

Its all about the feeding schedule. Be very consistent to go out each day around the same time and always have feed with you. Try to feed them in the location that you want them to go or be kept at night. My ducks are to the point now that they will wait at the back fence each evening if i'm past the time i would normally come out. If they see me pass by a window or flip on a light I can hear them begin to quack in anticipation of my arrival. Check out my video i just put out with a brief overview of my ducks and duck house setup.

Hi Allen,

Welcome to the group. I recommend Cornish Cross for Meat chickens. At this time I really don't believe there is a great cross-over breed that converts feed efficiently and isn't too tough by the time you cook and eat it. We incubate/ hatch chicks each year and have kept a number of roosters for the freezer each batch. I have 6 now that were born in February and they will still only dress out to be 3.5 lbs each if i'm lucky. I feed them twice a day and the free range through out the day. The cornish cross i tractor for 9 to 10 weeks before butchering.

In regards to the wind turbine. I went deep down that rabbit hole and actually bought one about a year and half ago. I was preparing to set it up when i finally ran legitimate numbers and realized that it would never pay for itself. The cost of the turbine is expensive, then a good tower is equally costly. The turbine should be quite high above any structure or surrounding trees to capture prevailing winds or it will be even less efficient and take longer to payback. The other issue with having a turbine to low is turbulent air which causes premature wear on the unit. Then you have to determine which voltage of turbine you want to run. If you stick with 12V you have to pay a ton for heavy gauge wire to transfer the power effectively to your controller setup and battery bank. If you go with a higher voltage unit all the components are more expensive including your inverters, plus you will have to think about setting up your battery bank a bit differently. All in all i love the concept of wind power, but the situation must be just right for it to really make sense.

Check out my website at http://midwesthomesteadsolutions.com and shoot my any questions you may have via my contact page.

I don't believe I have anything going on the 27th. I'm just south of Odessa about 15min, so I'll try and make it up. If you all are interested I'll bring my drone up and produce some aerial video/ photos of the homestead and event. I've used for some of my personal videos here at the homestead which are available on YouTube.

KC area folks. Please spread the word!!! I'm working on putting together a bulk purchase of meat chickens for this spring. I know many folks are interested in running some birds for their personal freezer but due to cost and lack of the equipment have avoided doing so. The price per chick drops significantly when buying 100+ birds. I am starting a sign-up list to see how many we need to order (get the bulk price on small quantities)! I will be selling the chicks at cost. I have an entire processing setup available for rent. The whole setup is all portable and fits in any standard truck bed. Kill cones, scalder/burner, plucker machine, stainless steel draining tables for evisceration, and shrinking freezer bags. I rent the entire setup for $50. I know some folks would rather just purchase the bird processed and frozen. I can help with that too, but this offer is for those trying to get started or have limited space to run large numbers of birds. I may even put on a small processing class for any folks interested in that as well. If you or someone you know are interested, shoot me an email or pass it along. MidwestHomesteadSolutions@gmail.com

I have also built a portable tractor similar to the texas prepper one, but lighter weight which I will be posting a video on my Youtube channel soon. It held up great even through some 50+ mph winds this year.

I really want to help folks in the area out and enable them to put their own food on the table. I may even be working out a deal to purchase feed in bulk as well. If it all works out I will pass that savings along as well. Spring will be here before we know it and March / April is a good time to start your meat chicks. If you are interested in the rental and not the chick purchase, that's great as well.

Here is a brief overview video that I just published recently with some of my ducks. I'll try and get a newer video out soon.

Nice, Chris. You are not too far north of me. I'm located about 10 min south of Odessa. Sounds like you've been busy. Its always seems difficult to prioritize what to do first and how much you want to put off before putting in any main-frame design. If anyone around the area is interested in aerial photos or video let me know. midwesthomesteadsolutions@gmail.com I put up another short video of my place the other night. [youtube]https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=7&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiKgdWB2e3JAhWFqh4KHa0pAcMQtwIIMTAG&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D_FiJMch3e5M&usg=AFQjCNFdZaiNp9OOYLiwsZcymW3zRYDjWQ&bvm=bv.110151844,d.eWE[/youtube]

I had the chance to go down to Nick Ferguson's place for his earthworks course. It was a great time to hang out with some like-minded individuals and Jack from the Survival Podcast, as well. Chris Prater did a class on bee keeping and opened my eyes to some different methods and concepts that I hadn't thought of or just didn't even know.

We've been lucky so far with the mild start to the winter, but keeping all the animals and poultry happy is going to get more difficult soon i'm sure.