AgWired

I’m slowly making my way back home to Missouri from south Florida. Chelsea (one of my college daughters) and I are spending today out in rural Georgia on my brother’s farm. We hear so much today about hobby farming and I’ve got a great resource to watch and learn from.

Paul works in pharmaceutical sales and when he’s not selling he’s building fence, mowing, planting, taking care of the horses or something. Actually one of the something’s is establishing some great deer stands. Another sideline for him is fire ant treatment. He has an applicator mounted on a 4-wheeler and is certified to apply pesticide. He does it mainly on pasture and large lots in the area.

We are out in the middle of the woods a long way from any town and he’s set up with wireless broadband from his DSL connection. He spends a fair amount of time online, including finding and learning about how to develop and take care of his place.

Springtime in Massachusetts means the whistling of Emus at this farm. According to a news release it’s egg hatching time at Songline Emu Farm. The release is a good description of how the whole process works.

Our hens began laying eggs in early winter just before Christmas. They are keyed to the shortened daylight ours of fall/winter because winter in the Australian outback is milder than the brutally hot, dry summer. We’ve tried to explain to them that New England winters are not the best time for a bird to lay eggs – but they don’t seem to listen. The eggs are large, Florida avocado sized, and emerald green. Hens lay regularly every 3 – 4 days and can lay 20 – 50 eggs in a season. We gather the eggs (during many a February blizzard) and place them in a 45-degree refrigerator to inhibit incubation until we have a sufficient number (12 or so) to batch. They are then moved into a computerized incubator set at 97.5 degrees with 27 percent humidity for 50 days. The eggs are rolled a quarter turn every half hour. We weigh the eggs weekly; to be sure they are on target to lose between 12 and 18 percent of their total weight prior to hatching. If they lose too much weight the chick can hatch dry and red-eyed, too little weight and the chick can actually drown inside the shell. We adjust our humidity based on these numbers.