Chickens !!!!

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Zasso Nouka
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Post by Zasso Nouka »

Shizuman wrote:
Wed Oct 14, 2020 12:48 pm
I have been doing veggie boxes this year and it's gone well but I want to offer eggs as well
Make sure you do your costing thoroughly. When we started feed was around 500円 a 20kg sack, now it sells for between 1,300円 and 1,500円 for 20kg. We currently sell our eggs for around 100円 each and that seems to be the going price online for free range eggs. Feed prices are only likely to go up in the future.

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Post by DocDoesFarming »

Finally, our first egg. Took them long enough.

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Also our Kabu were finally big enough to start picking so the chickens have been enjoying the huge amount of leftover leaves. That will keep them fed for a month or so while we slowly go through both fields.

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Post by Zasso Nouka »

Congratulations on the first egg man, you might occasionally get some double yolkers as they settle into a normal laying routine.
DocDoesFarming wrote:
Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:31 pm
Also our Kabu were finally big enough to start picking so the chickens have been enjoying the huge amount of leftover leaves. That will keep them fed for a month or so while we slowly go through both fields.
Our kabu are incredibly slow this year as well, normally we start selling in early october but still waiting for them to get big enough. There just wasn't enough sun in september and october for them to grow normally.

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Post by DocDoesFarming »

Zasso Nouka wrote:
Mon Nov 09, 2020 5:48 am
Our kabu are incredibly slow this year as well, normally we start selling in early october but still waiting for them to get big enough. There just wasn't enough sun in september and october for them to grow normally.
I think I might have waited too long to sow the other crop, they're still quite small, well smaller than the size the supermarket wants, around 250 - 500g, but I guess I could just start picking and selling that stuff at the MIchinoeki before the frost comes and knackers them.
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Post by Zasso Nouka »

Not sure what variety of kabu you are growing but 500g per kabu is pretty large. We grow ayameyuki (あやめ雪) from Sakata no Tane and 3 weigh between 500 - 600g, they sell for a premium price of around 280円 per pack.

If you use row covers or horticultural fleece they should sail through the coldest months no problem, not sure what temps you get up in the chilly wastes of Fukushima but down here in sunny Chiba we get around -5C to -8C at night during January and February :D :lol:

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Post by DocDoesFarming »

Zasso Nouka wrote:
Wed Nov 11, 2020 9:07 pm
Not sure what variety of kabu you are growing but 500g per kabu is pretty large. We grow ayameyuki (あやめ雪) from Sakata no Tane and 3 weigh between 500 - 600g, they sell for a premium price of around 280円 per pack.
We're growing Shirokamone so they tend to get quite big compared to others. I think one of the farmers was late to start harvesting and managed to grow some 2KG woppers.
They're really sweet also to eat so my wife has been making loads of different dishes with it, I got sick of eating cucumbers when we grew them but so far still enjoy eating these Kabu....for now...

When you sell yours do you leave the leaf intact or trim them?
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Post by Zasso Nouka »

I'll have to keep an eye out for those, it's always good to have something different from what everyone else is selling. Once it gets a bit colder and I start using the little wood stove in the shed it's nice to roast a few kabu in the dutch oven there along with a few sweet potatoes, spuds and onions and then turn that into soup or stew.

As for the leaves providing they aren't too battered or holey we leave the leaves on as many folk like to cook them. We do strip off any lower leaves that are damaged and the chickens love them, right now they are getting plenty of komatsuna every day as we grew too much this year.

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Post by DocDoesFarming »

Sorry I mistyped the name of them, they're called Shirokamome.

I really need to build myself a little shed like yours, only thing that's missing from yours is a dartboard I think.

We left the leaves on when we dropped them off the other day and noticed that noone else was doing that, maybe we should just keep them like that so they stand out from the rest.
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Post by Zasso Nouka »

I reckon a dartboard would be a good addition :lol:, it's pretty cosy in there in the winter with the maki stove and reclining deckchair :D. Was pretty easy to build once we had the concrete foundation poured.

Maye it's a regional thing, here most kabu are sold with leaves on but obviously most of those have been sprayed with a persistent insecticide so don't have any leaf damage. So long as they are bagged up the leaves stay fresh for a day or two.

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Post by DocDoesFarming »

Well we managed to sell all the ones we had with the leaves attached so I guess customers want it so we'll keep doing it from now on.

When we start selling these eggs and packaging them up, what will need to be on the label?
We've fed them organically so I guess it's ok to have that plastered somewhere or do we need to be part of JAS or some such group?

Also does anyone know any cheap label printing service? I'm pretty sure using the home printer will end up being way more expensive in the long run.
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