Springing

Well... I started the year with a goal of two posts a week between Chicken Mama and myself. Hopefully we can get back on-track with that.

Spring is here! And has been for a month. According to the weather records, we had one night below freezing during the month of March. We hit 80 degrees for the first time on the Ides of March. Virtually everything is blooming early: the pear tree finished blooming a long time ago, the apples are blooming, even the poplar seems to be getting ready. A freeze at this point of the season si going to devastate a lot of crops.

We have also been springing into action. The last two weeks have been pretty much non-stop:

• Pruning all the fruit trees (a bit late, I know).
• Planting new apples trees!
• Fiddling with chickens, as usual.
• Going to south Georgia to pick up bees for the Beekeeper's Assoc. and re-starting our hives here.
• Desperately trying to get a proper feed bin built for the two tons of chicken feed that arrived a week ago.
• Hopefully the broiler chickens will go out on pasture today because the next batch should arrive from the hatchery on Friday.

It is all starting to look good now that we are catching up on a few things. The farm will look even better once we get the next project finished: building a moveable "egg mobile" for the birds we've been raising since Thanksgiving. Sales have been slower than expected so we may have quite an abundance of eggs soon...

All of the work is fun, but it gets stressful when so many time-sensitive things are happening all at once. I was talking with a friend from Church about how I hope next year will be a little easier because of the work we're cramming in right now. He said, "No, it never gets easier. Next year you're going to want to add more (expand)." He's right.

There are two things I really look forward to: (1) seeing this farm in a few years and (2) resting on Sundays!

Baby Chicks!

The first batch of meat birds arrived yesterday. We received 101 healthy, peeping chicks from Ridgway Hatchery. One died today, but mortality is to be expected with Cornish Rocks.

Big Birds Back on Pasture

The grownups are back out into their rotational grazing. We are transforming the deep-litter yard into the comfrey patch! This is where the fruit trees and garlic patch are. The winter of chicken poop and scratching action will ensure a good start for the comfrey.

The view from my front porch now includes the laying flock as well as the started pullets and cockerels.

Comfrey!

Just placed my order with Coe's Comfrey for an assortment of plants, crowns, and roots. This investment will pay many dividends over the years. It's a compost/fodder crop like no other.


Comfrey is a handsome plant, no?

These are a couple of shots that I took at Polyface Farm in May of 2011.

First Two Batches of Pastured Broilers Have Been Ordered

First two broilers orders have been placed! I'm trying Ridgway Hatchery this time. The first batch is hatching on March 7th. I should have 100 lil' broilers in the brooder by the 9th. First anticipated processing dates will be May 4/5.

Our second batch of 100, again from Ridgway, is hatching April 4th and should be in the brooder by April 6th. Anticipated processing dates for this second batch will be fresh for Memorial Day weekend May 24/25.

Stay tuned for updates and ordering/pricing information.

Started Pullets Available Now!

Why keep chickens when you can get your eggs cheaper at the grocery store?

*Have more control over what you're eating.

*Build soil fertility through composting chicken waste.

*Save on dish/cable: Turn the TV off and watch "As the Coop Turns" in your backyard. There's intrigue. There's drama. There's comedy. And you can cuddle the actors if you want to.

Assemble the cast with Jen's Hens (and Roosters). Available for pickup now.


First come, first served. Buy early for best selection.

Brown Egg Layers

*Rhode Island Red* *Barred Rock* *Buff Orpington* *White Rock*
*Silver Laced Wynadotte* *Black Australorp*

White Egg Layers

*White Leghorn* *Brown Leghorn* *Silver Leghorn*
*Golden Campine*

Pick up your birds Monday thru Saturday by appointment	Price
Between February 6 –11	$10 per bird
Between February 13 – 18	$11 per bird
Between February 20 – 25	$12 per bird
Between February 27 – March 3	$13 per bird
Between March 5 – 10	$14 per bird
Between March 12 – 17	$15 per bird
Between March 19 – 24	$16 per bird
Between March 26 – 31	$17 per bird
Between April 2 – 7	$18 per bird
Between April 9 – 14	$19 per bird
Between April 16 – 21	$20 per bird
Between April 23 – 28	$21 per bird
Between April 30 – May 5	$22 per bird
Between May 7 – 12	$23 per bird
Between May 14 – 19	$24 per bird
Between May 21 – 26	$25 per bird

The Angel and the MPU

This past Saturday I bought a Mobile [Poultry] Processing Unit from Lee Menius of Wild Turkey Farms (China Grove, NC). He and his wife Domisty met me in Dallas, NC at the "Putting Small Acreage to Work" conference where he presented on Pastured Poultry. We completed the transaction with no problems. The only thing I had to figure out before driving home was the electrical connection between the truck and the trailer. The truck's female 4-wire to the trailer's female-6-wire plug was NOT going to work without a bypass, hack, or work-around. But I had no worries; Advanced Auto and Autozone were both 200 yards down the road, their parking lots separated by a Waffle House. Lee said that either store was sure to have what I needed.

Neither did.

What Autozone DID have was a kind customer who took pity on me. Jason followed me over to my trailer (parked in the Advanced Auto Parts lot) and then into the store. It took him some time to figure out how he was going to MacGyver a solution with the parts he had in front of him. I was tempted to say something stupid like, "If you can't figure this out, what would you suggest I do next?" But Someone said, "Jen, shut up." I obeyed. This was going to work out somehow. Once Jason had decided on a combination of available parts, I paid at the register and borrowed a tool for Jason to use for re-wiring. Jason had the work-around complete in about 5 minutes! He even showed me how to replace a burnt-out tail light bulb. Thanks to Jason, a local machinist who hunts with Plotts, I hit the road with every confidence that I would get home safely.

Thank you, God, for the way you work everything out.