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The Summer Season at the Farm

6/14/2017

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One of the wonderful things about farming unlike certain professions, hobbies, or jobs is that it is seasonal.  Each time of the year brings its own rewards and joys as well as challenges and work.  As we are now done with spring and into summer, let me share with you what summer is like on Red Team Farm.
 
Everything has come back to life.  Trees are green.  The grass is growing tall.  Birds are chirping.  We are getting in chicks and calves are being born.  It’s just wonderful.  Oh yeah there is also flies, oh the flies.  Wasps, evil little critters sent here to inflict pain on me.  Heat and sweat.  I don’t mind showering two plus times per day.  Flowers are blooming and Liz is picking wildflower bouquets for the house.  As you can tell summer has it’s pluses and minuses, some are worse than others.
 
As we come out of spring and winter it is the time for new life.  We try to calve in April and May because that is what mimics the wild animals around here.  We don’t have to worry about losing calves in the snow or ice.  Unfortunately in February of 2016 we did lose a calf in the snow.  In order to prevent that we are more careful with exposure to the bull.  

We also start getting our meat birds in as 1 or 2 day old chicks.  These little yellow squeaky puff balls are so cute.  They come in the mail and we go pick them up from the post office.  They stay in the brooder with a heat lamp for about 2 weeks until they are ready to go outside and experience green grass, fresh air, and sunlight.  Then after 8 short weeks they are off to the butcher and into the freezer.  We keep meat birds during spring, summer, and fall.  These are the seasons with fresh grass and favorable weather for them.
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The cows are in full rotation around the pasture every couple of days.  We manage their grazing through temporary electric fencing.  They are needing their water tanks filled up regularly since the heat in starting to crank up.  Setting up the new fencing takes about 30-60 minutes and involves lots of sweat, but seeing them frolic in their new paddock is great and brings joy to the heart.

The egg laying chickens are rotating behind the cattle as a part of the integrated pest management system.  They also have their new buddy Hank, our Livestock Guard Dog, hanging out with them for protection.  Every morning they get let out and every evening shut up.  The hens know to put themselves up every night, I just need to shut the door.  However with the sun setting so late as we approach the summer solstice this chore gets done late at night.
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​The pigs are in their couple of acres with water and feed.  They forage and waller around all day.  They are the easiest keepers and lowest maintenance. However, going into the woods where they are kept can be an exercise in seeing how many ticks and how much poison ivy I can get.  Long pants and tick checks are a must.

​We are just now getting into the grind of summer and will be through September.  We take comfort in knowing that it will let up in the fall and winter will be a time for relaxing.  We enjoy the animals, the hard work, the farmers’ markets, the lightning bugs and late sunsets while we have them.  It is important to remember to enjoy this season while we have it, because when the wind chill is 0 degrees we will be looking forward these warm summer days.
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Egg Laying Chickens vs. Meat Chickens

2/23/2016

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Many people ask and may not realize that there is a difference between the birds that we raise for meat and the ones that provide us with eggs.  This is something that may have been common knowledge in the 1800’s, but with many people no longer living rural areas, this knowledge has been lost.  Let’s start a quick farm education course.

There are two types of chickens that you will find on a farm: one is for laying eggs and the other is for producing meat.  For egg laying birds, you can see an example of some of the breeds we having running around our place in the pictures below.  Many of these breeds have been around since the 1800’s.  These have been bred over the years to make sure they are weather tolerant and do a great job laying eggs.  The come in all variety of colors and body sizes.  Their eggs will also vary in size and color from white, tan, brown, green, speckled, and everything in between.  Although the exterior color may vary, the taste and nutritional value does not vary by breed.  The taste and nutritional value are impacted by diet and environment.
There are a few more questions that we get commonly asked about egg layers that we would like to answer as well.  Some people ask if we need roosters to have eggs, and the answer to that is no.  Roosters help provide protection for the hens and fertilize the eggs if we decide to hatch any.  The eggs being fertilized does not affect the the taste or texture of the eggs.  The hens will lay eggs regularly for the for the first 2-3 years of the their life.  After that their production starts to drop off and become irregular.  It takes the hens between 4 and 6 months to start laying their first eggs from the time they are hatched.  

The other type of bird you will see on our farm is the meat bird.  We use what is called a Cornish Cross or a Cornish Rock Cross.  This is considered an F2 hybrid bird.  It is not created with science or gene splicing, just breeding.  It is the result of two hybrid chickens creating an offspring.  They have been bred to grow big and fast with lots of meat.  They are what is called “double breasted”, which basically means they have large breast muscles.  The double breasted is something that almost everybody likes and is familiar with.  The opposite of “double breasted” is “razor breasted”.  This is the type of build you will see with the egg laying chickens.  They have a prominent sternum and not as much meat on their breast.  The meat birds are all white and grow very quickly.  We harvest these birds around eight weeks old.  This is old enough to produce a good amount of meat, but young enough that the meat is still tender.  A few pictures of our meat birds are below.
We hope this helps to clear up any questions that you may have about the types of chickens you see running around our farm and others.  Now you know where your chicken meat and eggs come from.  If you have any additional questions please comment below and we will be glad to answer them.
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    About Me:

    I am big red head who loves God, loves his wife and loves to work the land.

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