Egg Layer reshuffle

Thursday was a slightly warmer but overcast day up at the farm. When I arrived, Laura and I quickly had to turn around and run off to the post office to pick up the 75 new hatchlings she had ordered - they were a day early!!

I have never been to pick up chicks at the post office, so it was a neat experience, to hear their little chirps from the back room, the postal worker was very familiar with chicks arriving in the mail, and he was enjoying them as much as us.

Laura had already had a delay early in her day, having to help a neighbor, so this set morning chores back quite a bit for the day. I am definitely learning the flexibility needed in running a small farm, days aren't always going to go as planned, but animals still need to be housed and fed. Laura had everything needed for the chicks, so we set about clearing a space in her garage for their new home, next to the 60 chicks and 12 ducklings already in there!

As she had ordered quite a variety of different birds, it was really sweet to see all their colorings and listen to their cheeps, as were set up their new home, and dipped their beaks in the water, then got them settled in their coop. We spread some starter feed around, and they wasted no time getting accustomed to pecking at it and trying the water feeder out.

The ducklings had gotten really big this week, and it was time for them to be separated from the 60 Freedom Ranger meat chickens, so we built them another temporary home in the garage, to house them for a short while longer till it is time for them to go outside.

They were a little put out, and unsure of their new surrounding, so huddled for a while in the corner, till Laura got the light they needed to stay warm.

The chicks had gotten so big and have started looking more chicken than chick-like. Laura had to put a mess over the top of their brooder, as they are a lot more active and bigger, and she didn't want any getting out.

I have a lot of book and head knowledge on chickens, but seeing first hand the mess they can make in a week, and the not so fun part of chicken rearing - scooping their poop, gave me a reality check and some good practical knowledge of what is required to raise a larger batch of chickens.

These three noise makers, made it very well known, by the time we got out to the barnyard, that their meal was late, and they weren't happy about them. Pigs are another animal I am interested in raising, so it has been good to watch their behavior and see how they live and function together, they are rather messy, but very entertaining. I got a great video of them telling me all about their lack of food on time, but can't figure out how to load it yet, but will when I do.

These are the two remaining sheep Laura has, they told were very vocal about the time delay in the meal, the one on the right is due around early March, and seems to be doing very well. Lambs are another animal I am interested in raising for meat, so I am learning a lot about that from Laura. She had had quite a large flock, before, but had said they were expensive to keep and her pastures aren't established enough yet for them to not need a good amount of supplemental feed, so she is keeping this breeding pair for now, till she gets more established.

Thomas enjoys my Thursday visits, and follows me as far as his territory allows him too. Again, learning the necessity of barn cats. He had wandered off with me, when I was putting the milking cows back in their pasture earlier in the day. The one cow was none to pleased with him, and made me a little nervous, as she was trying to 'protect' her baby from him. I am learning a healthy fear of an animal much larger than me, but also as Laura is teaching me the necessity to be aggressive (not in a mean way) and getting them to listen to you, when they get a little stubborn.

Our day ended with a trip to Kimball (an hour drive from the farm) to pick up a new chicken coop for the ducks to be housed in, this was the only place Laura could find it in our area, and it was a half-price steal, so she didn't want to pass it up, and wanted to take advantage of my labor to help her unload at home. This will be a project for the future, to house all the ducks - which will be 24 in total when the babies are big enough to go in with her current ones. She is trying to train them to lay in a more specific spot like the chicken, but she says they are very haphazard about where they lay, and the hawks are getting a good amount of her duck eggs right now, so this is to help them lay in a better and covered location.

We didn't get a chance to weigh the ducks and chicks this week, as I stayed really late, and had to get home for Valentines plans with my family, and Laura was prepping and having to do evening chores late, as she was going on a trip with her husband the following day. It was a great full day at the farm, learning to deal with things that weren't planned in the day, but learning the necessity of still getting it all done! Needless to say I was wiped out when I got home, but looking forward to next week. I have been learning so much and getting to experience a lot of what I have studied in books, and am thankful for this opportunity.