This is Celeste, Bengt’s oldest daughter, I’m here to help you on taking care of baby chicks. First, you need to pick out your chicks, I use Murray Mcmurray Hatchery but you can use any hachery! Than, you have to pick which type of chicks you want to buy. After that, you need to get prepared for the chicks to come so you need to get a bag of baby chick feed, water, dishes, a heat lamp or source of heat, and a house for them until they get old enough to explore. When they get home put them in their pre-made house with food, water, and a heat lamp. Then you return every 1-2 days to refill their food and water dishes,and eventually you’ll have full grown chickens!! Please also take in mind that you will have to expect at most 10% of your chicks to pass away before they are fully grown.
Ok, so now that we’ve discussed that matter, you can hear about MY baby chicks! First off lemme tell you that one of mine died. =( It was a pom-pom chick aka Golden Polish. We have one little chick who isn’t doing good, she/he has spaz attacks my dad thinks it has to do with it’s nervous system. Other than that my flock is doing great! I bought 2 Dark Brauhmas, 27 Barred Rocks, and 4 (now 3) Golden Polish. We had to get up at 5 in the morning over spring break while visiting dad!!!!
Licensing complete! Thanks to the lovely ladies of the Washington State Department of Agriculture. Customer notifications are prepped and we have the tentative schedule. I’ll be sending them out in the next few days. If the weather would only cooperate as well, I’ll be thrilled. One of the ladies is coming back out on our first day of slaughter to check on us, but it sounds like things should go pretty smoothly. I’m so happy!
It’s been a little bit exciting around these parts!
Over the weekend we made a wrong turn and ended up driving around the back of a local grocery store. I pointed out a commercial fridge/freezer out by the broken baskcarts and wondering aloud if it worked and/or was available. Bengt quickly got excited and when we went inside to pick up whatever it was that we were buying we found the supervisor and asked. She had no idea what the deal with it was and suggested we call back on Monday for the manager. So we called back Monday but the Dairy guy had left so the manager said to call back on Tuesday morning. We called back on Tuesday morning and the Dairy guy was out sick, but the manager seemed to be impressed with our deligence and the thing had been sitting outside so he said we could take it. We figured it probably didn’t work, but it was worth trying, so we threw it in the back of the car on our way to work.
When we got home Bengt eagerly set it back up right on the patio and we let it sit overnight for all the fluids to settle. Wednesday morning he fired it up and low and behold, by last night, it was 28 degrees! It actually works!
Behold! The Misc. Farm egg fridge!
Right now it’s sitting on our front patio, so we need to move it in to the garage, but this was one of my big worries about increasing our laying flock. We can hold about 16 dozen eggs in our fridge, but we lose an entire shelf of storage and that wasn’t going to scale well for increasing our flock (we normally have 4-8 dozen eggs in our fridge at any given time). This is perfect AND FREE!
Big Agri gave something back to little agri this week (with out knowing). I call that a win! Bengt already has plans to make new signage for it 
In other news I got the call from the Washington State Department of Agriculture Inspector in our area to start our licensing/inspection for on-farm slaughter. I have an appointment with her for next week to do the licensing paperwork and walk them through our set up. Then they will come out again on one of our slaughter days to inspect/observe us in action.
I was honestly quite nervous about the whole licensing/inspection thing. We are a small farm and are slaughtering only 20-25 chickens for consumer sales, partly as a trial to determine if it’s “worth it” to do in the future (both financially, fiscally, and legally). You hear all the horror stories about how government is run by big bussiness and the little (wo)man is being pushed out, but so far every person I’ve dealt with in Washington State government in regards to our little farm has been incredibly friendly and helpful. The inspector was great over the phone, helping me come up to speed on what to expect. I’m actually looking forward to their visit because I think I will learn more from them.
Lastly, the garden was tilled up last weekend and last night we planted the peas and got the stakes pounded in for their trellis. It’s officially gardening season!
We finished the hoop coop early last week and moved the meat birds in to their new “home”. The tarping could use some work, but I was trying to save a little using some tarp scraps we had. Despite the ugliness it seems to be keeping the chickens dry (if not terribly warm). We will probably rework the tarping soon. Otherwise the chickens seem much happier to be out of the brooder. We expected to need to move the coop with the tractor but instead moved it both with the truck and by hand and it’s pretty easy to move (on flat ground anyway). We need to reinforce a few things, but otherwise I’m quite pleased.
The tractor is supposed to be back this week, but it was also supposed to be back last week and a few weeks before that. The dealer/service seems to find something new each time they look at it. I’m not terribly pleased with them right now. We’ve not had it for almost two months. Thank goodness we don’t rely on it at this point.
I’ve got almost all of my seeds started that need to be started indoors at this point. The girls even planted a few while they were here so I have some rather early corn (it was Eva’s choice) so we’ll see how that holds up. I’ve already had to pot it up. About the only thing not completely sprouted are my peppers, but that’s pretty normal. We are scheduled to start direct sowing and getting things ready to transplant in the next few weeks so it’s time to break out the tiller and potato boxes.
My parents made a surprise visit this week, up from Oregon. They brought a goat stanchion my Dad had made for us as a holiday present. My Mother always insists on being put to work so I took a day off of work and we made quick work of some outstanding chores:
- Trim goat hooves: This has to be done regularly and has historically been a two man job because we didn’t have a goat stand. It’s MUCH easier to do with the stand and some grain to distract the girls.
- Clean chicken coop: We do a full litter change of the cedar shed chicken coop by the house about twice a year. We also scrubbed and sanitized their feed and water, scraped down the roosts, and refilled everything including their oyster shells and the bedding in the nesting boxes.
- Fence and reseed backyard: This isn’t really farm related but needed to be done. Last year’s leaves suffocated the grass and the chickens have been keeping it well turned and any hint of reemerging grass eaten. The moss was starting to take over as well. So we fenced it off from the chickens so we could add some garden lime and reseed. Once everything is established the chickens won’t be able to keep on top of it.
- Planted more seeds: It was time to start my tomatoes and peppers inside. So far the only real failure I’ve had for seed starting was some chives and onions, but I already have chives so that’s not a big deal. I may try starting onions from sets since starting from seed is so problematic.
- Scrubbed the back patio: Chickens traverse the back patio alot and even like to hang out right outside the back door. This leads to lots of “presents” on the patio. I still need to scrub off the front patio.
It wasn’t really on the chore list, but Mom tends to bring out the gardener in me. We broadcast a bunch of “wildflower” mix and seeds I’d saved in to the front flower garden now that it’s been fenced off from the chickens. Maybe I’ll have a cut flower garden after all!
About the only spring chores that are left right now are to do the spring cleaning of the goat shed (waiting on the tractor for that), finish the hoop coop, and to prep the garden. We are off work next week so I’m sure there will be lots of activity.
One of our farm projects over the last couple weekends has been to build a “hoop coop” for the meat birds. Our intent is to use it as a chicken tractor for them.
After doing some research, Bengt settled on roughly using this design. I think in part because we already had the necessary stock panels. We use them for creating temporary pastures for the goats occasionally and have plans to use them more permanently in the future.
Our parts list:
- 5 1×4’s ($3.82 each)
- 4 2×4’s ($2.76 each)
- 1 box of medium fence nails ($3.24)
- 1 box of large fence nails ($3.34)
Grand total of $40.10 with tax. I don’t remember how much the stock panels actually cost us, and the poultry netting, zip ties, hinges, and latch are things we always seem to have around. I think we also came out with an extra 1×4.
We still need to put up the tarps, roosts, complete the front wall with poultry netting, and add a “handle” for the tractor to pull it. Unfortunately we also realized that we did the bottom wrong and will need to add skids. The plan is for the meat birds to move in to the hoop coop this next weekend. I’m a little nervous because it’s been getting relatively cold at night still and this design provides less protection from the colder temperatures than the range house.
Baby chicks have arrived (again)! Our 36 Cornish Roasters arrived early this morning along with F3’s order. We got the call at 5:11am and drug ourselves to the post office. We ordered enough to score a “double-wide” box this time! As usual they tumbled out of their shipping box and went right to work eating and drinking like little fiends.
I also realized I had forgotten to mention that this past weekend we went to a bakery that was selling off food grade barrels (from storing artificial sweetener) for rain water catchement. It was a steal compared to the $80 or so most folks charge for olive barrels that have been turned in to rain water catchement so we stocked up and got a couple for F3 as well.
We are excited to work on this project since it will (hopefully) alleviate the need for hauling quite as much water up and down the hill, especially now that the pink flock is up there by the goats. The goal is to catch the water in large enough quantities and then truck it up the hill to keep us going for as long as possible. We are only starting with a few while we work out the system. I’m hoping to be able to build a gutter system on the goat barn so we can collect water up there as well.
Seed starting is under way in our kitchen. In an effort to spare some counter space I got out my trusty folding craft table and have it strategically placed under the skylights. I had quite good luck starting seeds under the skylights instead of supplemental lights last year so I’m trying it again, although I’m starting earlier this year. We’ll see how it goes. I’m using a warming mat on and off since we heat with the wood stove meaning the house temperatures aren’t particularly consistent. I’m using the GrowVeg.com planting time lines which has been really handy. I have both the backyard garden and the raised beds all laid out. It definitely appeals to the planner in me.
Right now I have some greens, leeks, and onions starting. The greens, arugula and mustard, are up and the leeks/onions are just starting to emerge. Next up I need to start: eggplant, cabbage, lettuces, and more greens. I need to dig out more seed starting trays though. They are all still buried in the greenhouse and garage.
Our next flock of chickens is due some time this week. We moved “Pat” the rooster up behind the goat barn with the rest of “flock #2″, otherwise known as the pink flock now, so we could clean and sanitize the brooder box. After repeatedly looking for appropriate leg bands for the chickens I gave up and went the zip tie route. It’s cheaper and accessible. As I understand it the challenge is that they can tighten further and cause damage so we’ll keep an eye on them. So “flock #2″ was given the hot pink zip ties. I plan to give our spring break laying flock the yellow zip ties.
“Pat” got his own special blue marker so we can keep an eye on his integration. He really didn’t know what to make of the situation having spent his entire 3 months of life in the brooder box. First he challenged every hen that approached him (and they came right back at him) which resulted in a small cut above his right eye and several mouth’s full of feathers. He seemed to settle down a little when he realized they weren’t out to get him in the first place. We took care of some other chores when an unexpected downpour occurred. We ran up the hill, because we’d left their feeder out of the shelter, to find “Pat” standing around indignantly in the rain. Bengt ushered him in to the roosting range house in the hopes that he’d pick up on the routine the hens had long since figured out.
The crazy downpour definitely left everyone out of sorts. Bengt was shoveling the brooder box contents in to the compost pile and I had come inside and taken off my filthy socks. When I heard the rain start, it was an instant WOOSH and I went running around the house all out of sorts trying to find clean, dry socks and an appropriate coat so I could run outside to help. Later that night, Bengt went to close the chicken coop by the house for the night and only found 10 chickens (12 live in that house). I had trouble believing a predator had made off with TWO hens, particularly when we were around doing chores all day. He made a quick round around the house and discovered two hens snuggled up against our front door (on the porch). It took some orchestration between the two of us to convince (or carry in one’s case) the two nervous, nearly blind hens to walk to the back of the house to the coop in the dark and rain. They probably would have been okay on the front porch, but I can’t imagine they’d have liked it any and I certainly don’t want to encourage it.
So the brooder box is all clean and we have a new bale of shavings standing by. Sometime this week we will get the 5:30am wake up call from the post office informing us our chickens are ready to be picked up. These will be the snowy white meat birds, and are due to be grown enough to move out of the brooder box by 4 weeks, just in time for “flock #3″ or the “yellow flock” to arrive, the last of our laying birds for this year. I’m really not looking forward to two more rounds of “failure to thrive” but what can you do really.
Our “new flock” which maybe I should just start referring to as “flock #2” is now 11 weeks old. It’s crazy to realize they are about 3 months. They are due to start laying at about 6 months old. We came through everything with 21 hens and 1 rooster. Yes, another rooster.
A few weeks ago we moved them out of the brooder box and in to the fenced garden as a holding spot until we could go pull some temporary fencing for them up behind the goat barn (today’s chore). One of the last chickens I picked up to carry from the brooder to the backyard screamed something awful when I had a hold of her. It was a bit strange, but not entirely unusual. Just as I released her over the fence with the other’s I saw a gaping wound at the base of her tail feathers. I was mortified as I realized I had blood on my hands and jacket sleeve. No wonder she was screaming, I had been holding her such that I was probably touching the wound. I started yelling for Bengt in a panic (don’t all these stories involve me yelling to Bengt in a panic?) and he came around with the last two chickens. I pointed out the one with the wound and we watched as another hen walked right up and starting pecking at the bloody area. The one with the wound just went in to a submissive pose and allowed it. Chickens are so mean! Bengt went in to the garden to retrieve her and we immediately went in to chicken hospital mode. Once he had her I took a look at the wound and it was about the size of a half dollar and there was no skin. You could clearly see the muscle structure entirely exposed. It was terrifying. We put her back in to the brooder box and raced off to the feed store to look for antibiotics and get her clean shavings. The best I could come up with to do was to give her a clean environment, boost her natural healing process, and hope. So we did exactly that. We couldn’t find an appropriate antibiotic so we gave her a dose of tetracycline before realizing that it wasn’t going to really help (it’s for respiratory infections) and quit. We tried to find iodine tincture to rinse the wound, but it’s nearly impossible to purchase these days since it can be used for nefarious purposes and eventually I gave up in utter frustration. As the days went by she appeared to be healing so we just kept her isolated and let her body do its own thing.
A week or so later some friends and I were outside and heard a strangled crowing sound. I thought it was Boots, our current rooster, on the other side of the house but it seemed like it was coming from the garage. I was certain that the chicken in the brooder box was a hen (I don’t know why) so I dismissed it. The next weekend we were stacking wood and filling the wood bin and it started up again. This time it was clearly coming from the garage. Sure enough I caught “her” in the act. Darn it! I’ve never known a rooster to crow so early, but granted my experience is somewhat limited. He was only about 2 months old at the most. I don’t need another rooster! Add to that, that it appears to be an Americana rooster. We have a somewhat love/hate relationship with the Americana/Araucana chickens. They lay beautiful eggs and the variety of plumage makes them interesting to look at but they are a light breed so even the rooster is hardly worth slaughtering and we haven’t found them to be particularly hardier or, uhm, strong on predator evasion? We often joke about the saying ‘you only have to run faster than the slowest’… they are clearly often the slowest.
So the new rooster is still in the garage and likes to crow at us in the evenings when we come and go doing chores. We are trying to decide on a name for the rooster. So far we’ve toyed with “Pat” on account of the ambiguous identity. We closely examined his wound a few nights ago and it is all covered with skin and emerging feathers except a small spot about the size of pencil eraser that still has a scab on it. It’s going on 4 weeks now I believe. We plan on keeping keep isolated until the next flock of baby chicks arrives (the meat birds) and are hoping we can reintegrate him with his flock after that. We certainly don’t “need” another rooster but hopefully he’ll help protect them… that is if they don’t try to kill him again.
We are proponents of using the whole animal when the decision is made to slaughter. Like many folks this wasn’t something we were exactly used to to start with. Slaughtering our own chickens last year defintely encouraged us to start doing a little more research in to the uses of “offal” (or giblets in the case of chickens). This will be at least a two part post with the first being mine…
Chicken stock:
Necks and feet make particularly unctuous chicken stock when combined with your left over cooked carcasses or raw backbones from parting out a whole chicken. (Heads can also be used in stock making.)
The best trick I’ve learned with regards to homemade stock is to start a freezer bag for vegetable ends and pieces and add scraps to the bag as you make other meals. Your vegetable bag can contain: “butts” of celery, carrots, and onions, onion/leek/shallot skins, herb stems, garlic pieces, and/or any other vegetable or herb pieces that you would enjoy flavoring your stock. It’s a great way to use those vegetables that aren’t appealing enough to go on the plate but are far from spoiled. I also start freezer bags for chicken carcasses and pieces, as well as separate bags for fish/seafood and beef. (When buying whole seafood make sure to ask for the heads, backbones, and tails when having them filleted. There is loads of flavor in there still.)
When you acquire enough material, normally a gallon freezer bag is a good amount, of vegetables and/or meat you are ready to make stock.
Add to a large stock pot, necks, feet, carcasses (broken up as best possible) along with a few carrots, onions, and celery OR your vegetable scraps bag (frozen is fine) along with 5-15 peppercorns, 1 or 2 bay leaves, and small amount of salt. Add enough water to cover the material by several inches. If you prefer a lighter stock, add more water. If you want a denser stock I recommend reducing it further, see the next part about “demi-glace”, rather than using too little water. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer uncovered, on the stove top or wood stove for as many hours as you have patience for, or a minimum of 1 hour. Strain and discard the solids. You will need to either skim the fat from the stock for immediate use or cool the stock and remove the solidified fat (easier). We freeze our stock in vacuum sealed bags for later use. Be aware that your homemade stock will likely cool to a gelatinous consistency. This is due to the actual gelatin in the carcasses and feet in particular. It will add a body and depth to your stock that you’ll never get out of canned broth or bouillon cubes. We prefer to under salt our stock so we do not risk it becoming too salty as it reduces and instead salt the stock in its final application.
A note on chicken feet: chicken feet have to be “declawed” and the skin removed before cooking. You can normally tell if this has been done if the feet are a pale, creamy color instead of a yellow or grey/brown color. Scalding the feet will allow the skin to be peeled off pretty easily. The claws have an exterior claw kind of like a cap that can be removed by pulling the wrong direction on the claw. This also helps insure that the feet are clean and no dirt remains.
Chicken “Demi-glace”:
To maximize storage space and for more versatility, we simmer our stock for a couple hours, strain and discard the solids as before, and then return the stock to a simmer on the stove top to reduce further to create a “demi-glace”. Once reduced to our liking, we cool to remove the solidified fat, reheat to liquefy, and pour the demi-glace into silicon ice cube trays (the solid plastic ones are hard to get the sauce back out of once frozen). We freeze the trays, and once frozen, remove the cubes to a zip top freezer bag. The demi-glace can be “rehydrated” to a stock by adding water, or can make a wonderful quick sauce or rich gravy as needed. The cubes make it very easy to grab just a little bit at a time.
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