Farm Happenings - Fixing the ditch and ending up in a bind

This past summer we've had several torrential down pours that have been very hard on our old poultry barn.  The barn completely flooded twice, which is a huge mess.  It is hard on the birds, egg production and the farmer who take care of the birds.  Well the farmer decided he was going to fix this problem once and for all.  A small creek that runs along side the barn is needing to be straightened up and dug out deeper.  We once had horses and they walked the sides of the creek down to a point it now wants to flow through our barn.  Seems there is always something needing fixed around here.
Larry has a small Ford tractor with a scoop on the rear and so the work began.  Farmer Larry sometimes thinks he can go anywhere and do anything on his little tractor.  The work was going along pretty good for awhile and he was making great progress and then he pulled the tractor down into a deep part of the ditch and I thought to myself "this is not good."

It's amazing how quickly things can turn ugly.

He looks at me and says "now what?"  He didn't like my response of "well I don't think I would have drove down in there."  Now the real work begins.  My brother in law, Gary brings his 4 wheel drive truck out and gives it a few good pulls, without budging it one bit.

The old Ford is in a bind.  So what do you do when your in a bind?  You call  J & R Towing.  They'll unbind you.

Jason Irvin, the tow truck driver took a look at the tractor and said "wow how'd you do that?"  

In just a couple of minutes Jason had it winched up and out of the ditch.

Thanks for the help Jason!

The old Ford gets a much needed bath and all is well on the chicken farm.  Farmer Larry is not a follower of the blog, so you locals keep your mouth shut that you seen me post this.  I just like to share the farm happenings and let you know it's not all baby chick fluff and pretty eggs all the time. Sometimes we sling a little mud. 

Have a great weekend!

Angie

Farm Happenings - Pullets Available

A few weeks back Larry began work on putting up more fences, making new gates and constructing pullet boxes.  It takes plenty of room to grow out pullets and we needed more space.  The best way to grow up beautiful healthy pullets is give them a lot of room and try not to over crowd.

New gates and pens

We raise the pullets in boxes with wire bottoms raised off the ground about 4 inches.  They have ventilation on the back that is covered with wire so that no predictors can get in.  There is a door on each end and a lid on top that can be open during the day and closed at night.  Works very well.

 Many of our customers don't have the ability to own a rooster so they choose to order pullets.  A pullet is a young hen less than one year of age.  We normally ship our pullets out when they reach the age of  8 weeks old.  They ship best at this age.  If you order chicks from a person and they want to ship you birds that are 1 to 2 weeks of age it is best to decline their offer.  Chicks do not ship well at this age, they aren't able to regulate their own body temperature at this young age nor do they have the body weight to sustain them during shipment.  Shipping at 8 weeks is a good age and size, they are fully feathered at this time.
The farmer really hates it when I sneak around and snap candid pictures. Good thing he doesn't read the blog, Ha.

If you think you might be interested in a pullet, here are a few that we have ready now and some that will be ready soon. 

Olive Egger

I have some Olive hens that are about 5 months old, they are beautiful big girls.  Olives Eggers can be black, blue and sometime splash.   When ordering a hen this large we will only ship 1 or 2 per box depending on the temperatures while shipping.  We also have younger Olives ready to go.  She will lay a dark green egg.

Blue Copper Marans

I have Blue Copper Marans pullets about 10 weeks old ready to go.  Look at that beautiful coppering on her head.  She will lay a pretty dark chocolate colored egg

Splash Marans,

I have a couple of splash marans that are around 4 to 5 months of age, then I also have some around 10 weeks old.  They will also lay the dark chocolate color egg.  We only get a few of these birds each year and they are beautiful.

Chocolate Orpington

I have a few of these cuties ready to go.  The Chocolate Orpington is a bantam but not a tiny bantam.  If your looking for a pet bird this is the one for you.

Lavender Orpington

In a couple of weeks I will have several Lavender Orpington ready to go.  Lavenders are good layers and very friendly.

I will also have Black Copper Marans and Ameraucana hens ready in a few weeks.  

If you see something your interested in, head over to the website and drop me an email.

http://chickenscratchpoultry.com/

Have a Great Weekend.

Angie

The Lucky Winner Is......

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

And the lucky winner of the chirping box of 16 day old chicks  is......

Dessica Albertson!!!

Congratulations Dessica, we look forward to sharing some fluffy butts with you!

Dessica please contact me at larry_angie@chickenscratchpoultry.com  I'll need your address and phone number for the box.

Thanks to everyone who left a comment, I love to read them.  I wish I could send everyone of you a box of chicks.

Giveaway - Free Box of Day Old Chicks

Free Giveaway!

You've still got a little time to sign up for the free box of 16 day old chicks.  The chicks will be straight run, which means you will get roosters and hens.  We'll pick one lucky winner tomorrow so stay tuned.  The chicks will be shipped to you free of charge, what could be better than that!  In the box will be at least 2 different breeds, possibly more.

Steps to sign up for the giveaway 

1. Become a follower of the blog.  On the right side of the blog is a join this site button to become a follower.

2. Like our Face Book page. 

3. Leave a comment on the blog telling us your favorite chicken breed and why you would like to win a free box of baby chicks.

Good Luck!!

The Chicken Farmers Sneak Off For Some Trout Fishing

Last week Larry and I took off on a short get away to Cotter Arkansas with my parents, trout fishing at the White River.  My parents began bringing our family here way back in 1994 and we've been going there ever since.  We absolutely love this beautiful place!  We always stay at the Rainbow Drive Resort in Cotter, they have everything you need right there.  Lodging, fishing supplies, boat rentals and lots of trout.

If you've never been to the White River, it is a beautiful amazing place.  The water is crystal clear, you can see the trout swimming all around your boat and the water temperature stays in the 50's. No mater how hot the day is you can catch a cool breeze off of the water.

This is a rainbow trout I caught, not a huge fish but still nice.  I was raking in the fish on this day.  Larry and my dad both are asking, how are you doing that?  I said they like a little action, I give it a reel reel, jerk jerk.  Well they called me a real jerk the rest of the day. 

This is a brown trout Larry caught last year on our fishing trip to the White River.  Brown Trout need to be 24 inches long to keep, so this beautiful fish went back in the water.

Each evening just before dark a thick fog begins to rise up from the water and the river turns ghostly white. It's an absolutely beautiful sight.  The fog hangs on the water until late morning the next day.

 

Long legged bird fishing in the fog.

Fog is rolling in.  This is the boat dock, boats are to be back at the dock by 6:00 p.m.  I can see why.

This is my dad.  He taught me to fish at a young age and I'm hooked for life.  I'd rather go fishing than shopping, how many women do you know that can would say that?

It was a much needed get away and we had a wonderful time!  Now it's back to chicken farming.

Don't forget to sign up for our free chick giveaway.  We'll pick a winner on September 3.

Have a blessed day!

Angie

Giveaway Time!! - Free Box Of Day Old Chicks

Free Giveaway

We would like to take this time to thank all of our great customers and friends by offering a free giveaway.  We'll be offering one free box of day old chicks to one lucky person.  In the box will be 16 straight run chicks of at least two different breeds possibly more.  We will announce the lucky winner on September 3rd. 

 

Steps to sign up for the giveaway 

1. Become a follower of the blog.  On the right side of the blog is a join this site button to become a follower.

2. Like our Face Book page. 

3. Leave a comment on the blog telling us your favorite chicken breed and why you would like to win a free box of baby chicks.

Good Luck!!

Farm Happenings - Training Up The Next Generation

Spring of this year my youngest daughter Heather came on board here at the chicken farm as a part time employee.  She is great with the birds, hard working and eager to learn the ins and outs of breeding poultry.  I feel It's important to pass down my knowledge with the younger generation or what I've worked so hard to accomplish will be lost with me.  I would give anything right now to be able to speak with my great grandmother about her poultry business.  She raised hundreds of chickens and turkeys to offer to her community as meat birds.  Although I don't raise meat birds I'm sure she would have had some chicken knowledge to offer me that would help in some aspect of breeding poultry.  That's what I hope to do for my daughter, although she might decide chicken farming is not for her and that's ok but if she does continue on and run this farm some day, I want to share with her every little bit of information that will help her produce the best poultry possible and keep the farm running like a well oiled machine.  It's taken my husband and I about five years to get this farm operating as smooth as it does.  We still have room for growth and change and with another helping hand on board I'm looking forward to what the future holds for this little farm.

Larry and I are planning a vacation but with that comes much worry about getting away and turning it over to Heather.  Although we can always be reached by phone, it just makes us a little nervous. So this week the perfect opportunity came up for me to test Heather on the ins and outs of the water system.

I noticed that the stock tank was half empty early in the day which is a very good indication that there is a clog and water running over in the barn somewhere.  So I sent Heather on a mission to investigate and find the problem. The problem is normally feathers, straw or an egg caught in the PVC pipe, so we get a sewer snake, run it up in the pipe and clean it out.  The stock tank is emptied and cleaned out daily, we also run high pressure water through the pipes to clean those out but even with those precautions in place we still have an occasional clog.
Well Heather heads off to locate the problem and in a little while I hear her yelling for help that she had found the problem.  I yelled back, "get the sewer snake and take care of it" just like any good mom would do.  She yelled back, "the problem is a snake."  So I head to the barn to see what I can do.  Heather along with the Black Copper Marans hens are crammed in a corner, she's pointing at the snake and the hens are screaming as if to say, "get it mom!"  It was a very large black snake stuck in the water pipe.  I must tell you at this point that I'm not afraid or grossed out by snakes, they don't bother me at all.  I know your going to think I'm crazy but I reached right down and grabbed the end of that snake and pulled it right out of that pipe with Heather and the hens screaming behind me. The water issue was solved, I'm not sure if Heather learned anything from this situation, I asked what she would have done if this happened while we were gone, she said "I'd left the snake in the pipe."

If you have a lot of chickens it's just normal your going to have mice and if you have mice you have snakes.  I've never so far had a problem with them eating the chicks, I'm sure they are hunting the mice.  We gather the eggs so often that I don't think they have an opportunity to eat them.

I know everyone is saying why didn't you kill it.  I don't like to kill snakes, they eat the mice and I don't have a problem with them.  It's not poisonous and it's a beautiful creature.  I know that's how Eve probably felt also when she ate the fruit from the forbidden tree in the garden. She was memorized by the beauty of the serpent.  I set that pretty snake free and I know I'll see it again because this is not the first time I've removed it from my barn.
I'm not sure if Heather learned a lot from this situation other than her mother is crazy but I know she'll never forget the day mom wrangled the big black snake.
Have a great day and don't kill snakes!
Angie