Getting Things Done...Even by Truck light

You may have noticed that winter approaches. For us this means getting things done in the dark. The photo below shows Nicholas' work area for finishing the wooden shipping crates the afternoon before our last slaughter. Entergy is scheduled to hook up our electricity at the barn today. We look forward to seeing after 5pm without the constant aid of a flashlight or headlight. 

Winter is coming and with its early sunsets the chickens get to range around. I let the chickens out to roam since I can safely put them away at night now that the sun sets before I leave. Plus, this way they get to enjoy the shock of green fodder rye grass provides. The daily egg hunt is one draw back to their roaming. 

Changes for the New Year

We recently received 100 pullets of mixed layer breeds from Meyer Hatchery. One died in transit, but the rest are doing great. I'll post a video soon. These will start maturing in June/July. I look forward to figuring which breeds we received. 

Yesterday we purchased a trailer for our layer mobile base. We want to build something like the image below that will allow the birds to roam while remaining under protection from hawks. 

The pigs continue to grow and entertain. They run around more than I expected and did I mention earlier that they enjoy having their bellies rubbed? So amusing. Some of you may know that winter truly comes later in Mississippi and that our winters tend to be more like monsoon seasons than anything else. All the recent rain finally convinced the pigs to pile up in their house instead of underneath it. I will try to get a photo soon. They go to bed about the same time as the chickens and my iphone becomes practically useless in that darkness. 

Winter is coming, but I think we're ready. 

Chicken Day

Saturday we will process about half of the Cornish Crosses. For those of you interested in helping, shoot me an email. Slaughter Saturday also means that this is the last week to pre-order. After Saturday birds will sell for the normal $20.

We still have Freedom Rangers ($20) available as well as a few Dark Cornish ($8).

Pig Tales

This week I discovered pigs like to have their bellies rubbed. One in particular likes to be scratched. A couple of others would rather I just feed them.

Nicholas picked up a couple pumpkins a neighbor threw out on the way to the farm. The pigs appreciated their treat!

Over all, keeping pigs is quite pleasant. Though the rains last week led to the purchase of the best farm boots ever: Muck Boot Company boots.

Some may wonder if I'll be sad on slaughter day. A little I'm sure, but these pigs exist to be food. In the mean time I want them to curl their tails a lot and run and lounge in the sun and be as piggy as they please.

Small Update

One of our hens started laying about a week ago. Today is the second time she laid an egg two days in a row. Most of the eggs she laid her first week had double yolks and both rich gold colored and delicious! I wonder if the eggs this week also have double yolks.

Can't wait for the other hens to start laying.

September Summary

September ends with the completion of a few big projects. We moved the chickens from the hoop house to a Salatin Box to protect them from hawks and themselves, rebuilt the brooder, and processed the meat birds on October 1st.

The Salatin Box works great now that I've figured out a good routine. The chickens don't seem to mind the increased confinement much. Catching the birds for processing went much more smoothly, though it inflicted a different set of problems. We still need to find someone to fabricate a dolly for it. At the moment I pull it with either vehicle (the fit is go even on the farm). Over all, it is a reminder that we're still learning.

The re-built brooder now stands alone and better fortified against raccoons while also more accessible for the humans. Hopefully the chicks will arrive tomorrow as planned and let us know what works and does not work. I still need to paint it. Since winter is coming and I tend to become depressed with all the gray in the world, I decided to paint the base white and the roof yellow.  Once Le Petite Poulet has a logo we will paint that on it too.

                                 

Processing went very well Saturday, October 1st. We managed to round up five other people to help. One person had processed before, one volunteer brought their fishing and deer cleaning experience and others just caught on well. We processed about 60 birds between 9AM and 1:30PM. Then we all sat down for lunch, which was tasty thanks to Hal who also provided the driveway and equipment. One dedicated volunteer even stayed to help put away the equipment. Our volunteers rock!

New Brooder: Now a Two Day Project

Whew! We had a full day today constructing most of the new brooder. Perhaps we could have finished today had I gotten up sooner and if we did not have the current flock to tend. One problem still may have stymied us: the lack of a trailer or another strong person.

Nicholas and I moved our basic frame near the cabin in order to use the new air-compressor and pneumatic staple gun (Nicholas' new favorite store: Harbor Freight). Sadly, after adding to the frame, I could not help move it back to the area we want to set it. I know, fail.

So, flatbed trailer just moved up the list of things the farm needs.

The Hawk Buffet is Closed

After being greeted by clumps of feather and bits of bird every day the last couple of weeks, Nicholas and I built a Salatin Box. Well, a modified version. I owe many thanks to Rachel Prickett's A Daring Adventure blog and Troubador Farm's flickr. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experiences!

A normal Salatin Box is two feet tall. We made ours three feet tall to allow more air flow because it is hot here in the Southeast. Sure, we get snow and frost some, but most of the year we worry about keeping animals and ourselves cool and hydrated. When I get around to making another one, I may try to contrive a way to pitch the roof to allow even more airflow.

We lost several chickens recently to both kites, hawks, and yes, even the fence and the chicken's own self-destructive tendency to panic. In fact, while building the Salatin Box we chased off a kite before s/he could kill one of our Dark Cornish.


Below is a photo journal of this past weekend.