Time for a well earned break. Lunch at the park.
Follow along our adventure as we make the transition from corporate city life to the world of natural farming. Each day brings a new experience and brings us to a deeper understanding about the life and spirit that made America great. At our farm we do our best to give the animals we raise a natural, free, happy, stressfree lifestyle. Our mission is to learn and share how to manage a farming operation that is both profitable and humane.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Egg production increasing
Our new flock of hens are steadily producing more eggs everyday! After we moved these girls to our farm their production dropped as expected due to stress of move, feed change, routine change, etc. But over the last few weeks the are returning to normal.
Our target for this flock is 10 dozen eggs per day peak. As of now they have increased to 8+! Not bad for January! They are much happier too, more relaxed , and in the routine of recognizing us. Their fights have decreased in frequency and intensity to what I would call normal henhouse squabbles.
The quality of egg has improved also. Yolks are a darker denser Orange, the shells are thicker, fewer are cracked or broken in the nest.this means healthier birds, and more nutritious eggs .
Stress is hard on birds, so we are very glad to see their improvement . Another part of their improvement is the feed. This is a testiment to our new soy free nutrient dense "scratch and peck" feed line and its superior nutrition. Another added bonus is that they have found the part of the pasture where the horses eat and. .. well. .. you know. In this area is found the birds most natural diet, bugs.
If you would like to give our eggs a try just call, email, or come by the farm. We have plenty of eggs ready to go.
Monday, January 2, 2012
The truth behind butterball !
If you have ever purchased a butterball turkey, this is a must see. This video shows clearly what your dollars went to support.
Butterball Abuse: An undercover investigation exposing animal cruelty.
This is NOT unusual. These videos exist for most major factory farms of any animal type. The problem is the system of factory farming. The answer is not vegetarianism, but the return of the small family sustainable family farm.
I urge you, for the sake of our nation seen in the eyes of God himself, to find a local farm and buy your meat there. Do not support this cruel cancer destroying the dignity of our nation. If you believe in a creator, I ask you.. . What must he be thinking seeing this abuse of the power he granted mankind and those that knowingly support it.
Our animals at little sprouts live out their lives in comfort, with the best foods and accommodatios possible. They are allowed to be themselves, following their instincts, enjoying their lives. We invite visitors to drop by anytime. Our farm is open and available , no need for hidden cameras .
Don't go vegitarian , go sensible.
Butterball Abuse: An undercover investigation exposing animal cruelty.
This is NOT unusual. These videos exist for most major factory farms of any animal type. The problem is the system of factory farming. The answer is not vegetarianism, but the return of the small family sustainable family farm.
I urge you, for the sake of our nation seen in the eyes of God himself, to find a local farm and buy your meat there. Do not support this cruel cancer destroying the dignity of our nation. If you believe in a creator, I ask you.. . What must he be thinking seeing this abuse of the power he granted mankind and those that knowingly support it.
Our animals at little sprouts live out their lives in comfort, with the best foods and accommodatios possible. They are allowed to be themselves, following their instincts, enjoying their lives. We invite visitors to drop by anytime. Our farm is open and available , no need for hidden cameras .
Don't go vegitarian , go sensible.
Chickens and GPS, a marriage I forgot
Yes, chickens have a near perfect GPS built in to their little heads. I knew that.. I really did. But today I neglected to honor that point and the result is, a couple hours of chicken herding, chasing, catching, etc. Let me explain...
It started because the suxxox have managed to easily escape their fence. They actually pushed the wires apart on the chicken wire (we used the large weave wire to save money) and slip through at will. That presents a big problem becasue the new golden laying hens were only 50 feet away. When we went out to feed the goldens, the suxxux would escape the fence and run over to share a bite. The goldens, being mature birds, would not allow that and instantly gang up on the little half grown suxxox, sometimes 20 adult birds on one little hen. A very dangerous situation indeed. So... I decided to move the goldens to the other pasture to give the suxxox some distance and room to roam without life threatening consequences.
Sounds like a good idea, right? well.. if only I had waited for nightfall.
I wanted to use the beautiful sunshine and moved the golden chicken trailer across the pasture in the afternoon. The first indication that I had made a bad choice was when I got halfway to the destination and the birds that were following turned back. Sure enough, as the sun set the situation got worse. The birds absolutely refused to leave the LOCATION that the trailer was in. Their GPS kicked in and started "nesting" on the ground where the trailer was sitting for the day.
Hunter, Kaelyn and I spent a couple hours well into the dark evening herding, then chasing, than catching birds to move them to the new trailer. IT was fun, but quite a challenging chore. We succeeded in all but about a half dozen that had nested up under the suxxox coop. We can get those tomorrow.
The point to the story is, chickens nest by GPS location, not surroundings. If you move their coop too far during the daytime they will refuse to use it and nest where it WAS insteaad, on the ground, a nice dinner snack for a predator. The way to avoid this is to move hte coop at night, after they are all inside. Then all you do is.. move hte coop. The next day the wake up, their GPS is reset as they leave hte coop, and everything is perfectly fine.
So.. yea... note to self, never move a coop in the afternoon.
Oh my back!
It started because the suxxox have managed to easily escape their fence. They actually pushed the wires apart on the chicken wire (we used the large weave wire to save money) and slip through at will. That presents a big problem becasue the new golden laying hens were only 50 feet away. When we went out to feed the goldens, the suxxux would escape the fence and run over to share a bite. The goldens, being mature birds, would not allow that and instantly gang up on the little half grown suxxox, sometimes 20 adult birds on one little hen. A very dangerous situation indeed. So... I decided to move the goldens to the other pasture to give the suxxox some distance and room to roam without life threatening consequences.
Sounds like a good idea, right? well.. if only I had waited for nightfall.
I wanted to use the beautiful sunshine and moved the golden chicken trailer across the pasture in the afternoon. The first indication that I had made a bad choice was when I got halfway to the destination and the birds that were following turned back. Sure enough, as the sun set the situation got worse. The birds absolutely refused to leave the LOCATION that the trailer was in. Their GPS kicked in and started "nesting" on the ground where the trailer was sitting for the day.
Hunter, Kaelyn and I spent a couple hours well into the dark evening herding, then chasing, than catching birds to move them to the new trailer. IT was fun, but quite a challenging chore. We succeeded in all but about a half dozen that had nested up under the suxxox coop. We can get those tomorrow.
The point to the story is, chickens nest by GPS location, not surroundings. If you move their coop too far during the daytime they will refuse to use it and nest where it WAS insteaad, on the ground, a nice dinner snack for a predator. The way to avoid this is to move hte coop at night, after they are all inside. Then all you do is.. move hte coop. The next day the wake up, their GPS is reset as they leave hte coop, and everything is perfectly fine.
So.. yea... note to self, never move a coop in the afternoon.
Oh my back!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Blog Hits all time high
Our humble blog finished 2011 with december being the busiest month to date. Google logged 3725 pageviews during the month of december. The next highest month was april of 2011 at 3671 pageviews.
Its encouraging to see so many people around the world interested in small sustainable farming and the products it produces. What a great way to start the new year!
Its encouraging to see so many people around the world interested in small sustainable farming and the products it produces. What a great way to start the new year!
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