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Chicks at 7 Weeks

August 31, 2010 By Linda Medero View Comments

The Newest Generation of Yankee Hens

Almost 2 months old… T minus 15 weeks til they begin to produce more eggs.  I moved them out onto pasture the other day after work.  Think I’m going to try some electrical fence netting to allow them more pasture when they are older but keep them separate from the older flock.  That way I can see if the older flock is truly spent or just on holiday for right now.

7 week old chicks in Their New Digs

These guys seem a bit flightier than the last bunch.  Or maybe just young with extra energy.  Hard to believe there are 50 that I put in the coop, but I counted them as I transferred them…  So I’m up to about 110 chickens.

They will stay confined in the coop until they are full grown and have a better chance of fending off small predators like cats. At this age and size, they make a nice tasty meal for a feline. Having already lost a bunch of chickens to something in the back field earlier this summer, I’m a little more cautious.

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Chickens Have GPS

August 31, 2010 By Linda Medero View Comments

I moved some of the pasture pens that the chickens use, in order to “spread the wealth” of chicken manure around the field some more. Now, chickens are supposed to follow the coops and take themselves to bed, as long as the move is no more than about 100 ft, according to what I’ve read.  HA! Once again my chickens don’t follow the rules.  Had to go out the last two nights and go chicken chasing in the dark.  Why? Because my chickens’ internal GPS tells them where the coop is… was…. The fact there is no roof or walls at that exact latitude and longitude anymore, doesn’t deter them one bit from snuggling down in a group and playing pretend out in the open. Dumb broads.  

Why catch them at night? Aside from the fact it probably gives my neighbors something else to laugh about me, it’s easier to catch 60 chickens when they are half asleep…again, so the books say.  So there I was stumbling around in the field with a flashlight, hunting for mounds of chickens and grabbing them to put them into the coop to sleep.  Did a fair amount of chasing too, as once a few started squawking, that got the rest up and running. 

I’m hoping they get the hint and I don’t have to make a third trip out there tomorrow. But for now, I need to find my coop and settle in for the night. I’m pooped from all the exercise.

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Dog Days of Summer

August 14, 2010 By Linda Medero View Comments

Another hot week, another drop in egg production.  It’s 104 today. The heat has certainly taken a toll on the hens. You can see them panting, in spite of staying in the shade most of the day…. Things hopefully will cool off later in the week and for long enough to get back to normal. 

 I’ve realized over the past few years that “getting back to the nature” can involve some unpleasant results, like not enough eggs from time to time.  But the other option is the confined, air conditioned environment like the commercial egg farms.  And we all know where that leads.  So, I’d prefer to put up with a few disappointments.  I hope those of you who buy my eggs understand.

In the meantime, there is another new flock in the brooder being started, which won’t help right now, but will in about 4 more months or so… I was hoping to balance out the lower production when the days got shorter in the winter with more hens… guess I should have started them sooner.  But, hey, they are all doing well so far… this is the first batch where nary a one has died!! I should say that quietly so I don’t jinx myself…. I’d like to think I’m getting better at this.

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Baby Chicks are Here

July 30, 2010 By Linda Medero View Comments

 

Under the Brooder Light

The new kids on the block have arrived.  I got the usual early morning call from the local post office telling me to pick them up.  I have the brooder ready and the heat lamp turned on.  They are the hybrid Red Sex Link chickens also known as Golden Comet, Gold Star, and Cinnamon Queen.   Here are a few more photos as they get settled into their new home for the next few weeks:

I Know You're In There!

Hey There, Girls!

Check out the New Bistro... Chick Style!

Nice Fluffy Bedding to Hang Out In

AHHHH! Toasty Warm

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More Chicks, More Soy-Free Eggs

July 19, 2010 By Linda Medero View Comments

So, I thought things were settling down after I moved the flock that was being eaten by an unknown predator from the back field to the field by the house.  But then the hot weather hit… well, what?… 3 days of heat?…. Just enough to put the hens off… the number of eggs produced dropped, and of course, my sales increased. Ain’t that always the way? Come on girls, get with the program!!  People want your eggs!

Few Good Eggs

Anyway, it seems the chickens are slowly getting back to normal but the refrigerator has been almost empty most of this past week as often as folks stop by.  I’ve taken to checking for eggs every few hours to make sure there is always something for someone to buy. Which got me thinking. 

Doing a Google search to find out how long a hen lays eggs brings up opinions from  2-5 years.  That’s a pretty big range.  So, knowing that the size of the egg increases with age, and my girls are… were… producing quite a few Extra-Large and Jumbo up until last week, it’s possible they are close to the end of their productivity. But up until the “heat wave” they were going strong… so who’s to say? 

Just to be safe (I’m a “belt and suspenders” kinda person), I ordered more chicks.  Originally I planned to wait another year. But what the heck. The chicks arrive next week. It takes 5 months before a hen lays her first egg, so I figure, chances are, it’s good timing.  They will mature while the days are getting shorter, which is good for layers, and they should begin to lay in the middle of winter when the production is at it’s lowest from the older flock.

I’ve ordered the usual hybrid kind that are really good egg producers, but a part of me is thinking I should switch to a heritage breed next time. It’s the: “if the world as we know it came to an end tomorrow, how would I survive” mentality… A heritage breed is reproducible, in terms of traits, generation after generation, but they tend to be less productive than the hybrids.  The hybrids are mutts which in the first generation, is apparently consistant in their traits for great egg laying, but subsequent generations wouldn’t be.

Then there is the perspective of just keeping a breed from becoming extinct. Humankind seems to be wiping out all diversity rather systematically.  Or maybe I’m just paranoid. 

Will ya look at all these breeds?!?!

But, it may be a good way to spend the winter…. researching breeds for the future. If anyone has any strong feelings about heritage vs. hybrid feel free to leave your comments.

Meanwhile, I’m cleaning out the brooder in the barn and off to the feed store to get bedding.

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Dance of the Mudless

June 14, 2010 By Linda Medero View Comments

I put on my dancin’ shoes this morning… well, actually my sneakers…   

There is no rain.   

The sun is out.   

The ground has sufficiently soaked up the water.   

There is no mud!    

I’m back down to 5’3″ instead of the artificial 5’6″ from the build up of mud on the bottom of my boots.  The chickens’ eggs are cleaner, the dogs carry less dirt into the house.  Life is good. I got to play outside today.    

Bucket full of Fresh, Soy-Free Eggs

I moved the newer flock from the back field, up front to join the others today.  After the predator attacks these past several weeks, pitifully few remained. They seem to be getting along well with the older girls so far… a couple of spats, but nothing big time.  I hope they can figure out to use the field pens for the night.  Usually, it takes a few days for hens to bond to a new house.  But we didn’t have the luxury to do it right as I only have one day off to get them situated.    

I even “wasted” a few minutes sitting in the field conversing with them. In case you didn’t know, chickens talk a lot.   

The Chicken Path

Joyful Rooster with His Girls

Who's Your Daddy?

Almost left the lone rooster in the back to deal with his fate and the lurking killer.  But he looked so forlorn without his harem.  So, I went back to get him. Poor little guy was shaking and quivering, so unlike the obnoxious attack rooster he used to be.  Happy as a clam at high tide now that he’s with his girls (and quite a few new ones too!).   

Only 3 goats left to sell and I’ll be out of the goat raising business…. I was spreading myself too thin.  Better to find them a home elsewhere.   

Did some more mowing with my teeny-weeny lawn tractor (CAAA-CHOOOO! Whew, hope the bees like all this pollen.) and pulled most of the wild grass and weeds from the front roadside border.  My groundcover is beginning to spread and will hopefully keep the weeds at bay by next year. Already thinking of planting daffodils there as well this Fall.   

Played with the next idea for rabbit pens with the oft re-purposed 4×8 pen I have in the front field. And I bought a circular saw for increased building activities for the critters.   

Nothing spectacular today, no major long-term goals determined or reached, but it was a good day… productive, calming, soothing.   

"Well, I happen to think the bugs are better on THIS end of the field!"

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My SOY FREE Egg Business

May 21, 2010 By Linda Medero View Comments

It just occurred to me that I hadn’t said word one about the most productive critters of my little homestead.  My hens.  First, just a general observation from a farm newbie…. that saying, “Madder than a wet hen”?? I don’t get it.  My girls are out there when it rains, soaking wet, scratching and pecking away.  Until it turns into the downpour and then they are smart enough to head for cover.  The “madder than”?  Nope, they just shake off the rain.  So much for traditional wisdom. 

Anyway, right now I have 2 small flocks. For the most part they are well-behaved.  They return to their roosts at night, so they are collect-able if I needed to do so, unlike my rabbits. Though when I first put the second flock in the back field I had housed them in the shed that was close to the fence line.  That gave them the idea to fly over the fence and land in doggie country.  Ended up with more than a few dead chickens.  I have one English Shepherd that has decided they are to be dispatched like the other small vermin she takes care of for me.  More my fault than anything, as I haven’t really trained her as to what is to be left alone and what is to be tracked down and killed.   Since then, I’ve had a new mobile chicken coop built for me and the girls (and boys) have been moved further away from the fence and no more explorers have ventured where they shouldn’t. The photo below is before it was delivered and before the white tarp roof was attached so you can see inside.

Chicken Coop before Tarp Roof Attached

For those of you in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, the guys that built my coop are in Cottage Grove, and delivered to me in Lebanon a really nice coop.  Their blog site is http://urbanfarmconcepts.blogspot.com/  What I like the most is that it is large enough for a reasonable number of chickens.  Most coops you find house only 5-10 chickens.  Too small for me. I also like that these guys would customize the coop.  They added the second row of nest boxes, left the wire or wood floor off (I’m lazy, don’t want to scoop any more poop than I have to). 

So the girls are happy with the new home and are producing almost as much as the flock up front, just a smaller egg as they are younger.  The flock in the front field are producing Large, Extra Large, Jumbo, and BEYOND!! Whew, I think I’d be very sore if I put out the size eggs these hens are.   I’ve had to order cartons for duck and turkey eggs, as the normal chicken egg cartons won’t hold the Jumbos.  Can’t wait til they arrive.

I’ve had my friends who built the chicken coop also build a nice “run in” shed by the driveway, hooked up a small refrigerator and have fresh eggs ready and waiting for my customers to buy whatever size or amount they want.  I figured one of the biggest drawbacks to buying farm fresh anything is finding the farmer at home when you drive by.  And calling to make an appointment to pick up a dozen eggs would be very annoying if I were the customer. So this way, whether I’m out in some field working or off the farm working, people are able to get their eggs.

Egg Station for YUMMY SOY FREE EGGS

I did have to switch to a locked cash box due to some pathetic moron stealing the egg money. Some people are just slime-balls. But so far it seems to be working fine.  I also figured out a way to ship the eggs.  Strange but true.  It took a lot of smashed eggs on my kitchen floor to figure out how best to cushion them, but the system I’m using seems to be working just fine now.  I also added a “shipping calculator” to my website ( http://yankeeacres.com/index_files/SOYFREEEGGS.htm ) so people can see how much shipping (and packaging)costs add to the price BEFORE they decide to buy.  So far I’ve sold to Colorado, New Jersey, Delaware and California.

Some day soon I hope to actually break even financially.  I think I have about 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,001 more eggs to sell to get there. LOL!!

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