Three Weeks Old

 

This is one of the 25 Freedom Rangers...just look at those feathers coming in. Those legs are HUGE...bigger than I would have expected actually.

This particular little one lets me hold him/her and is perfectly calm while I check them out. Kinda weird as this one is pretty spazzy and I'm pretty sure that this is the one spazzy chick from the brooder. Maybe they are trying to endear themself to me so they won't have to give up their life for the freezer and then eventually the dinner table.

It's too late little one, we have already decided on the ONE that we are keeping for the flock.

Cleo

This one has had a unique look since the very beginning and she continues to stay very different than all of the others. She seems to have a little more mottled coloring on her feathers and overall, she is generally pretty docile. She is developing well and seems very robust.

I guess if we keep her it would be like a token of the first batch of meat birds on our farm.

Here's to hoping that this she is really a she and that her stay with the current flock will be for a long time to come.

Farm Life is the Best Life!

Three Months!

The Magnificent Seven are 3 months old today!

That's it. There's is nothing else for today. The girls get little attention these days. They are fairly low maintenance and only act up when they are hungry. 

If we could make this their very own special day we would, but they don't understand - So, a photo will have to do.

Farm Life is the Best Life!

CAFO

When I decided that we should raise a few chickens so that we could have our own fresh eggs from chickens that get to roam free(ish) on pasture it never occured to me the kind of conditions that factory chickens are living in.

Over the weekend I was able to get a few Joel Salatin books to read via Kindle Unlimited. I read a few pages of one of the books called: Everything I Want To Do Is ILLEGAL ~ War stories from the local food front.

I didn't get terribly far into the book before CAFO popped up. I was curious so I looked it up. CAFO stands for:

"Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation"

It seems pretty straight forward enough right? Concentrated - like there is a lot of animals...maybe squished into smaller than needed spaces? 

Sure, but then I saw a photo (Yeah, I started out with eggs...hang with me...)

Photo credit: http://www.cafothebook.org/theissue_2.htm#up

Now these are meat chickens, that much I know...probably Cornish Cross. Another issue altogether, but for another time.

This is what our meat chicken operation looks like:

Our Freedom Rangers on grass

Okay, so the number is much, much smaller, but the method is so much better. They are free to feel the fresh air jump around, stretch their wings and all that. They aren't wading in their own poo (like before), but they were stinking up the garage pretty good and there are only 25 of them:

Last time in the brooder

The brooder isn't overly large, but it's also not small. We couldn't keep up with their poo and they were only in the brooder a couple of weeks! 

I cannot even imagine what it would smell like in what is called a factory farm. 

BLECH!

Oh, so when I went to the CAFO website, I got sidetracked with the meat bird operation. Here is a pic of confined egg layers:

http://www.cafothebook.org/theissue_6.htm#up

Our layers:

This shows both the waterfowl and chicken enclosure.

Our girls are out on grass and have all sorts of room to forage what little green grass is available and eat bugs, scratch away at the piles of cut grass and even take a dust bath. 

Also, the girls have a nice spot where they can lay their eggs:

Not a bad set up

Oh, hello there...

Evidently, a few of the chickens decided that jumping into a box - in the heat of the day - is not on their agenda. Silly girls.

For all of our married life together we have been blissfully unaware of the issues surrounding food production. Would we have changed our ways if we had known better? We weren't choosing organic foods due to cost, but at the same time we had grown our own veggies off and on over the past 27+ years. However not enough to put into the freezer or even supply veggies for every meal. Enough to feel like we were doing something good for ourselves. 

I believe that every little bit helps when making decisions on what we choose to put into our bodies. Also, it's never to late to make a change. We make do with what is available and it has worked out fine. However, now that I am reading Joel Salatin and watching people like Justin Rhodes and other YouTubers I'm realizing that only I can make a change for the better. Starting with our own eggs is the perfect place to start! 

Check out the CAFO ~ The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories HERE. I'm not trying to be provocative here, just coming to terms with what is happening with how our food is being produced for consumers like you and me.  I will always be a meatatarian - which includes eggs. I go into this knowing that not all of the meat/eggs that we will ever eat will be ethically raised or respected as part of God's creation. I can only do my part to make our critters happy and give them a good life.

While I continue to learn about how food is being produced, I will keep growing food for ourselves and share whatever surplus we don't put up or freeze.

Farm Life is the Best Life!

Graduated

Even though the Freedom Rangers are not yet three weeks old, we moved them out of the brooder box that they have been housed in since we brought them home on the 5th.

Having them in the Brooder hasn't been bad, but they are eating machines and they are really good at converting food into poo...and quick! This brooder is fine for 6-10 chicks or ducks, but 25 meat chicken babies...NOPE.

It was so bad that the garage stunk really bad too! 

I didn't like the idea of them living in their own waste - which is hard to keep up with btw - so it was time to get them out. Up until Saturday they were extremely active - sparring with one another jumping on the waterer and just being crazy. I keep thinking that maybe we could make a brooder area out of the small room at the end of the parking shed. We'll see, it's just an idea right now. There are too many other things to tackle and the box is fine.

Anyway, in order to make the chicken tractor available the ducks needed to be moved first. The easy part was just letting the Magpie girls out of their enclosure and letting them do what they do. Which really was just foraging and exploring the back yard. 

The electric netting was gathered up and carted over to the new area and then it was time to start moving the tractor to the yard. Which was a chore in itself. I am able to pull it - but it is a slow process. The route we were taking to get the tractor back into the yard was the same route we took to get it out of the yard...so down the driveway through the yard in front of the garden and through the field to the side yard past the garden boxes and then finally under the cherry tree. 

The good thing is that we won't really have to cart it anywhere else after this batch of chicks are done. We are only planning on one batch of meat birds this year. So, wherever the tractor ends up when it's time to harvest is probably where it will stay until next spring.

So, once the tractor was in place we got the baby meat chickies out of their stinky brooder and out on grass!

This was Sunday morning - all is well with the littlest creatures on the farm

We ended up having to get them a new feeder as they were too big to huddle around the little yellow feeder anymore. Now they can all eat at the same time. Also, they got into this whole being on grass thing down pretty quickly and were scratching and tackling a mole hill in no time flat! Since they are still just under three weeks old we have a heat lamp on in the corner for them and we are using the brooder box as a wind break so they will be somewhat protected at night. 

When I woke up on Sunday I was concerned about them, so I went out to look at them early in the morning and they were doing pretty well. Happy Happy! So, I don't need to worry about them too much. 

The Twenty-Five will fill this tractor out in now time!

What we have observed so far. Freedom Rangers are extremely active! They have been jumping the two feet to the top part of the frame - crazy - and have been able to maintain some sort of balance for about two seconds...if that long. They have been stretching their wings...A LOT! "Flying" from mid-tractor to the door. Their aim is okay, but the landing is pretty rough. They like to jump on top of the bin that we put in with them as a little shelter and then taking kamikaze dives off of it to the ground. Since they enjoy jumping so much I decided that they could have the perch that Tom made for the Javas. The FRs figured that thing out in like a minute. It took the Javas a day or two. The other thing that has been constant is the sparring between what I'm guessing are males. Not sure how many there might be, but a good rule of thumb for straight run chicks is ten percent...maybe a few more. I guess we'll see in a few weeks.

Seriously, these littles have been a lot of fun to watch and I am looking forward to seeing how they progress over the next few weeks. Trying to take photos and post them on Instagram so I will have a good record of their growth and progress during the time that they are with us. 

Farm Life is the Best Life!

The Weekend Plan

Tomorrow will be a big day for the Magpie girls...and if you happened to read my post about the girls - I did get an answer from the feed store. The hatchery claims that they are indeed Magpies. I'm still not convinced. Anyway...the Magpie Squad will be relocated to the field next to the chicken arena. This will be the first time that the ducks and the chickens will be close to each other.

The ducks don't require a whole lot. They'll have their pool and a couple of shelters in which to slumber at night. They won't be locked up into the tractor at night, so this is a huge step up for them. The fortunate thing is that they stay together no matter what. So if one of the girls goes in then they all go. If one makes a move to do anything...she'll have company. Guaranteed.

It might take a couple of days to get them used to a new area. They have only been in the backyard and the side yard so far. It will be interesting to see how they like the field. It's not like we have kept them going that far...they just haven't walked out there yet. My guess is that they will still make their way out to the Hoop House on occasion and in the side yard which was their first outside area.

It's time for the stinky little monsters (Freedom Rangers) to get out of the brooder in the garage and out into the yard where they can breathe in fresh air and play in the grass. I don't want the littles to have respiratory problems. We want happy chickies...in a much bigger space and with no pine shavings. Real grass...on their little tootsies!

How they have changed in their two weeks of life...

July 5, 2018

July 12, 2018

July 19, 2018 

Right now I'm enjoying the youngest critters on our farm and looking forward to watching them grow and develop. It's exciting to think that these are our first batch of meat birds! I don't want to think about harvest day just yet. There are still 9 weeks ahead of us and I want to enjoy every single day until the end of September!

Farm Life is the Best Life!

Week 2 #adventuresingrowingfood

July 5 at pick-up in Tangent.

The Freedom Rangers are two weeks old as of today. They have been growing like crazy and really starting to pig out on the feed.

July 19, 2018

They will quickly outgrow the brooder, so I'm looking to get them ready to go outside. The fortunate thing is that the temperature isn't terribly cold at night. They would probably be okay - especially if we were to hang the heat lamp in the tractor at night. We would also provide some sort of shelter just to protect them from the wind.

Even though they are just two weeks old, it's crazy to see just how feathered out they are already. Most of them have their flight feathers already and quite a few of those have tail feathers coming on.

Another thing - I think I mentioned how athletic these little ones are...a few days ago one of them decided to jump on top of the waterer. I would say that the waterer is about 8-10 inches tall and there the chickie was just standing on top of it looking all proud of him/herself. Yesterday there were THREE.

Okay - it's time to move them out!

In order to get them out on grass we'll need to relocate and take away the Magpie's house. We knew it had to happen sooner or later. This has been the plan all along!

One last photo...

This little one was the one chick that had a brown stripe down her back - now I see she has eye make-up!

Farm Life is the Best Life!

One Week Down

The Freedom Rangers are one week old today!

July 5, 2018 - just hours old at pick-up

Over the last week we kept them watered and fed and they are thriving! I was prepared to lose a chick or two this week. As it turns out they are doing great and so lively!

There is one little one who is very feisty and when I reach in to pick up the feeder it will come up and try to attack me. I'm supposing that this little one thinks it's the top chick....perhaps we should tag this one to see how big it will be at the end of 11 weeks.

We have decided to keep one of the chicks due to the "racing stripe" that is on its back. 

So yeah, one week down - 10 to go!

Farm Life is the Best Life!

July 9, 2018

After a week away from work I have returned to my regular routine. 

A week away from work is just about the best thing for my soul - more would be better! So much about life last week felt right. Working around the house, keeping our feathered and furry creatures alive and well and working the garden. With all the extra time at home I was able to do a little cooking and even got the Ice Cream Maker out and made a couple of batches of ice cream. 

On Friday after spending extra down time at home I decided to go for some coffee and be-bop over to Freddy's to pick up items for the second batch of ice cream. While I was at Starbucks an old friend had stopped in to pick up some coffee and we ended up chatting for a couple minutes. 

He had asked how we were doing and asked what was new. It has been at least a couple of years since I last saw him so he had NO idea that we were doing this farm thing - complete with the poultry and pigs...

To say the least he was surprised. 

Then after another minute or so he had declared that we wouldn't be able to go on vacation if we are going to have a farm.

Ummmm....what? How did the conversation turn to vacations?

Anyway, I declared that it didn't have to be that hard and then he had to bring up a story that related to farming and no vacations...blah blah blah....

Here is my point - vacations don't drive me. There are people that just live for the next big trip...destination, but vacations are not the thing that I live for. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed the places that we have seen, the things that we have done and the memories that we came home with. However, traveling is also a giant hassle! 

So, no matter how much I try to convince another person that I'm not that interested in vacations - what I realize is that they (my old friend) just isn't listening. As I think about this conversation it occurs to me that he doesn't really know who Tom and I are, he only remembers who we were. 

Our values are different now.  I don't long for the latest this, that or the other thing. I don't have to have an exciting vacation on the calendar. I just need to be with my hubby and our animals and that brings me so much joy. It's a lot of work, but it's good work. Having our chickens, ducks, pigs and the goose to take care of keeps me happy. As well as busy, but a good busy. 

Sometime during the Great American Farm Tour one of the homesteaders (either Jill Winger or Shaye Elliott) said something that clicked with me...

When we started our farm with chickens I couldn't imagine enjoying what we are doing as much as I do. Now that we have added Rex & Fiona and more ducks life has become even more fulfilling! Not only do we have fresh eggs and veggies to enjoy during the week we are outside every single day - rain or shine. Feeding something - feathered or furry.

The other thing that has happened is we are connecting with friends and neighbors. That's the whole purpose of this farm. Whether it's a long time friend or an acquaintance from Starbucks - we are creating meaningful relationships. 

If I take a vacation I'm going to miss meeting a new friend and/or neighbor. Why would I want to take a vacation from making new friends and strengthening other relationships?

Thursday, July 5, 2018

Not a lot happened at home yesterday...so we are skipping to today's update.

Last year I decided that I wanted to raise meat chickens. I'm not 100% sure when I decided that or what my inspiration was. If I'm honest, I'm guessing that it may be because of Justin Rhodes and when he did a big ol' meat chicken harvest that probably happened during their 2016 100 Days of Growing Food challenge. I believe that harvest was in late Spring possibly early Summer.

Anyway - I had it in my head that we would raise some meat chickens in 2017. It didn't happen not in the way that I had in mind. My vision was to get a batch of chicks in the mail (?) and bring them home and do what all the cool people are doing. Well, the Rhodes family and other homesteader types around the US. As it happened, last year was not the year of the meat chicken. Which is just was well I'm not sure that the timing was right. We did process our unwanted roos though, so we did do a super mini harvest last September.

Still, if this was going to be a thing, we would need to build a house of sorts.

Enter the Stress Free Chicken Tractor by John Suscovich. Not long after watching the  GAFT video that featured Camps Road Farm I ordered myself the book and totally got excited about starting on a new adventure.

Fast Forward to March of this year - we built the Chicken Tractor! It's about time right?

Then in April I went to the Jenks website to workout the ordering of the birds. We decided to go with the Freedom Ranger - a slower growing bird (around 3 more weeks) than the Cornish Cross. My other reason for going with the Freedom Ranger is based on the fact that these tend to be a little more active and don't have nearly as many physical problems as the CC might have. Also, because they are a little more active I have read that they might have better thighs and legs and a more lean breast. Which is fine with me as we prefer thighs and legs.

Today was pick-up day and since the hatchery is not terribly far away - less than a hundred miles - we drove to pick them up. If they were shipped they would not arrive until the weekend and if I can avoid the post office, that's okay by me.

We left Starbucks at 9:30 and arrive a little after 11am. The gas station had food so we grabbed some lunch and waited for the chicks to arrive.

The Jenks van snuck in...we got our chicks and then we went home!

In the box and ready to go home.

After an uneventful drive home we got them all set up in the brooder...

The new babies all settled in!!

My understanding is that they were hatched this morning - so they are still just a little fragile. They all had their little beaks dipped into the water and they are curious enough to figure out the food. 

After letting them settle in a little bit they seemed to be all happy and zipping around in their temporary home. In a month they will be going out on pasture!

Operation Grow Your Food...

Farm Life is the Best Life!

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Yesterday turned out to be a much busier day than I thought and by the end of the day I was exhausted!

I spent part of the morning working outside and getting the area where we plan to put a food forest all prepared. Right now the space covered with wood chips that were delivered last fall, and then later spread by the chickens.

At the time I didn't have the thought of doing a food forest, I just let the chickens have something to do while they were in that space. A couple of weeks ago or so I had an idea - because that's what I do - and asked Tom what he thought. Well, what else can he say? He thought it was a good idea too.

For the longest time he has wanted some sort of berm, so this would fit the bill. I never understood what the purpose of a berm would be, as I don't have any sort of landscape designing skills. A food forest berm would do though. I can think of all sorts of stuff that we can place in the area - which is actually a good size space.

Last fall I ordered a fig tree that will need a new home at some point. Right now I've got it in a pot, but that will do for now - especially since I will continue to transplant it into bigger pots until we are ready to start planting in the new space. I am also envisioning berries and perennial flowers as well as some herbs. I also have Crocus Sativus on order. That would be the variety of Crocus that Saffron is harvested from. Those will be coming in September so I'll have to get those into a temporary spot until they can be transplanted to the food forest.

My plan is to add some more grass and get it all watered in then pull one of the tarps over it. To be honest, I have no idea what I'm doing, but that's the beauty of experimenting. Just do it. If it doesn't work out, rethink the project and try something different. No harm, no foul...hahaha.

I also got the ice cream maker out for the first time this season and made a salted caramel ice cream with nuts and chocolate mixed in. It's pretty rich and caramel is not a favorite of mine, but Tom seems to like it and he is the ice cream lover in our house anyway. Just for something a little different, I got some ice cream cups on Amazon, so we have some individual servings. It's a little more waste, but this will work fine since the ice cream freezes up pretty solid and can be hard to scoop out. 

Once again I worked on dinner. Since I have limited time during the week cooking during my vacation time is a welcome activity. So what was for dinner last night?

Risotto!! One of my favorite things to make!! 

Vacation time has been great! Farm Life is the Best Life!

Vacation Day #2

Sunday, the day of the week that can be busy or quiet. And this past Sunday was filled with more commitments than the average Sunday. It's all good as we are usually with friends and enjoying fellowship in the process.

July 1 was Fiona's 4 month birthday.

At 4 months old Fiona is approximately 60-65 pounds. A couple of weeks ago we used a trick to guestimate her weight and she was just shy of 60 pounds. I'm not sure how much weight she puts on in a day or week, but according to Farmer Jason, the pigs are growing well. She is a little aloof, but  will keep still long enough to get a belly scratch. Overall, she is a sweet girl and we have hope that she'll be a good momma when it comes to it.

June 30- Vacation Day #1

This week's posts will be a diary of sorts so that I will have a record of what happened while I was off work.

• Transplanted the last of the flower plants - Love Lies Bleeding
• Reseeded the two rows of flowers that did not germinate - Bachelors Buttons in one row and the Seed Savers Bee Feed Mix
• Moved the ducklings from the side yard to the backyard 
• I actually cooked dinner - to a point. There was a three pound pork butt in the last Butcher Box - Carnitas! I found a really good recipe on Pinterest https://www.mykitchenescapades.com/pork-carnitas-recipe/ Check it out, it was pretty easy and I had almost all the ingredients needed.
• The hens started laying again - I think the broody girls are back in production mode. Friday was an all time low since the winter with three eggs. Yesterday we gathered 7 eggs!

I had intended to make asparagus chowder, but decided that resting would be good as I have been so tired in recent weeks.

Love Lies Bleeding

The row on the left is Bachelors Buttons and the Bee Feed Mix on the left. 

Here are the pigs...just for fun...