|
|
Wednesday, September 19th, 2007
| |
9:49 am - Goat Links
|
offbeatentrack
|
Okay, so here is the list of Goat related links.
http://www.reueldg.com/
Local Nubian breeder in Deer Park. Note: very into pure Nubian lines, might be good bet, wouldn't tell them we're cross breeding with Alpines.
http://www.spokane-county.wsu.edu/4h/large_animal_pubs.htm
Information on Spokane County 4H
Desert Rose Dairy Goat Association
Elsie Hausman, N 31822 Perry Road, Deer Park, WA 99006
(509) 773-6903
Interstate Dairy Goat Association
Grace Stumpff, E 11516 Empire, Spokane, WA 99206
(509) 928-1145
Wildrose Dairy Goat Breeders Association
Sandy Riehle, 4967 A Wallbridge, Deer Park, WA 99006
(509) 276-6207
http://getyourgoats.com/washington.htm
listing of goats for sale in the state
http://www.goatconnection.com
http://www.cherryglenfarm.com/saleslist.html
List of AI straws. Note: Must learn to decipher whatever language they're using. We are not entirely sure this is English.
http://thebackkitchen.blogspot.com/2006/06/amaltheia-dairy-goat-cheese.html I'll need to move this link later to the cheese links.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Tuesday, September 18th, 2007
| |
1:18 pm - Sheep links
|
|
| |
12:29 pm - Gross income estimates poultry only
|
offbeatentrack
|
It really wouldn't make much sense for us to be doing this if we couldn't make a profit on it right? So here are some estimates we've been doing. This will change over time as we learn more and refine information. This is the estimate before feed, labor, equipment and other costs are figured in. These are when production is in full swing, 2-3 years from start up
Chickens
Eggs
150 total
average egg production: 220 per year
total chicken eggs: 33,000 eggs
total # of dozens: 2,750 dozen (sell 52 dozen a week)
Price per dozen: $3.00
Total: $8,250 per year
Meat
No commercial processing of chicken meat
Quail
Eggs
250 total-1 in five are cocks which means only 200 laying
average egg production: 300 per year (we would remove 1000 fertilized eggs per year for meat)
total quail eggs: 59,000 eggs
total # of dozens: 4916 dozen (Selling 95 doz per week. We need 4-8 restaurants ordering weekly)
price per dozen: $6.00
Total: $29,499
Meat
Processing 1000 quail per year
average dress weight is 1.5 lbs
1500 lbs of quail per year
Price per quail: $10.95 per pound
Total: $16,425
Ducks
Eggs
100 total
average egg production: 310 per year
total chicken eggs: 31,000 eggs
total # of dozens: 2,583 dozen (sell 50 dozen a week)
Price per dozen: $15.00
Total: $38,745 per year
Meat
15 ducks, 3 drakes
Each duck produces three clutches per year of around 15 eggs. So 45 ducks per hen per year.
Total number of ducks: 675
2:1 ratio of hens to drakes.
225 drakes @ 32.00 a piece = $7,200
450 hens @ 24.00 a piece= $10,800
Total: $18,000
Recap:
Chicken eggs: $8,250
Quail eggs: $29,499
Quail meat: $16,425
Duck eggs: $38,745
Duck meat: $18,000
Total: $110,919
|
|
(7 comments | comment on this)
|
| |
12:24 pm - Poultry links
|
|
| |
9:39 am - Egg lisensing
|
smeg
|
So, one of the less pleasant aspects of this whole farm business thing is going to be the insane amounts of paperwork we have to complete. Luckily for us, Washington State has really gone out of their way to not kill small producers with fees and requirements.
(Just so y'all know, Ari and I are also using this as sort of a dumping ground of information, we'll be tagging each entry in the hopes of being able to easily re-find information we've found once before. Hence the really nitty-gritty stuff.)
So if we want to sell eggs out of our house, there are actually no licensing requirements. You simply must store the eggs clean and cold.
To sell at the farmers market, though, there are a few more things.
Master license. Well, we'll need one of these every year any which way. As far as I can tell this gives you a business number so that all your sub-licenses can be tracked properly. Cost of $15.
Egg Handler/Dealer License. This will allow us to sell eggs to the public in a retail setting such as the Farmer's Markets. I'm not sure if it is valid inter-state. Eventually we're hoping to do some internet sales / shipping (not so much of the chicken eggs but the more rare ones) . Cost per location is $30 for the first and $15 after that. I'm not sure if location is the egg-producing facility or the retail place. I think it's the retail place, but that "place" is our booth, the license moves with the booth.
Seals – It looks like we also have to get seals to put on our eggs, which basically say we gave all the appropriate money to the state. Annoying, but not overly onerous, $2.68 for a thousand.
Looks like on-site inspections are only needed if you have more than 3,000 birds, which we won't have to worry about for a while.
All in all, I really think our state government has done a pretty good job balancing between 'keeping the customer safe' and not causing small businesses who just want to make a living selling high quality goods to go out of business.
The plus side is that once we've done all this it's good for any eggs we sell, we don't need to get a separate one for the ducks and quail.
current mood:  anxious
|
|
(3 comments | comment on this)
|
| Monday, September 17th, 2007
| |
6:45 pm - Sheeps and Llamas
|
smeg
|
The one part Ari didn't mention is the sheeps. They're a little more ways down the road than the others, partly because the ones are want are kinda expensive (starting at $500 or so). Not for meat, although there will always be culls we'll sell to the butcher. Dairy, mostly, and we'll also be selling their wool, but wool is just not very profitable unless you're getting into alpacas or something.
Also? I desire a llama. To guard the sheep. Because the idea of a guard llama entertains me so very much.
current mood:  cheerful
|
|
(3 comments | comment on this)
|
| |
10:20 am - Introductions!
|
offbeatentrack
|
I am Ari. I expect Smeg will be along momentarily. We are the two dykes part of the equation and this is our journey you'll be reading about.
So far, what we've decided is that we're starting with poultry. Three kinds. Chickens, ducks and quail.
For the chickens, we don't have a set breed, so far we've had Black Astrolorps (3), Red Star sex links (3), Golden sex link (3), Rhode Island Red(1), Black Star sex linked (1), and a Silver laced Wydonette (1) along with a rooster of unknown orgin. We also have on order, more Black Astrolorps (25), Buff Orpingtons (25) and Amerucauna (5). All of them are for eggs, brown layers actually, other than the Amerucaunas which lay blue, green and pink eggs, which is why they are called Easter Egg Chickens.
Ducks. We'll be having two varieties, Muscovy for meat and Khaki Campbell for eggs. The eggs are apparently much sought after by pastry chefs because they have a higher fat content and more yellow yokes.
Quail. I think we've narrowed it down to Coturnix. Which start laying eggs at 7 weeks old. These are dual purpose, meat and eggs.
We'll also have peacocks. Because I love peacocks. Not for eating and not for eggs. Because they're pretty.
The ducks and quail have to wait for the farm to be purchased, other than the chickens which we already have.
We're also thinking of doing dairy goats and sheep, mostly to make cheese. Yum. Cheese.
That's about it. We'll be posting here about the loads of information we're discovering.
|
|
(22 comments | comment on this)
|
|
|
|
|