This time of year it seems everyone is making travel plans. Gotta get the plane tickets to visit your great Aunt Gertie, gas up and check the family vehicle to make sure it can make the 6 hour trip to visit the in-laws, perhaps a tropical getaway with a lighted palm tree to substitute for the traditional conifer of the Midwest and a quiet holiday. The list goes on.
I listen with understanding as people reach out to various pet sitters in the community, making sure that their precious pupper or their precocious feline is given a comfortable place to "vacation" while they are away. Sometimes that means a posh boarding kennel with heated floors, TV's with cable, yummy treats and other times it means having a "stay-cation" where the dog(s) and/or cat(s) remain in the owners' home. So many different options if you have one or more of the more common "inside" pets.
All of that changes if you have livestock.
Before my "farming days" I would call a friend, ask them to watch the two dogs and two cats I had and it was a mutual understanding, "I watch yours, you watch mine" with no money exchanged between us and minimal amount of work on either of our parts.
Now, it's more like bargaining. The conversation usually goes like this, "Hey, hope you're well - need to ask if you can watch the three dogs and two cats...*pause here*… and the 40 standard size chickens and guineas, 5 tiny breed chickens and, uh, oh yeah, two ducks for a short weekend." Awkward silence and then a look of relief from the other party as I add, "oh, and I'll pay you."
I am extremely blessed that I have two young persons that are in 4H that live nearby. They are super responsible and their folks are there to make sure that every detail is taken care of. They are of "farming cloth" which, in my mind means that we all help one another. I'm also very grateful that it doesn't cost me a small fortune to ask for their help.
That being said, it doesn't take care of the guilt that I feel while I'm gone that I know that water will have to be carried the 150 feet or so from the house down to the barn (I still am working on getting water down there), birds will have to be let out in the morning and shut in at night, eggs will need to be collected, feed will need to be filled, etc. All of this plus the two meals that the dogs and cats will need to be fed each day.
The amount of time that I spend away from the farm is minimal in a year - I believe this year I will be away 4 nights total. This time away is far greater than what other farmers get to experience - too many things can go wrong when one is off the farm. The "vacation" that farmers experience is in the time between when the crops have been harvested (though planning continues), animals have been sent to market (though there is clean up and checking fences, etc. for the next group), or the equipment has been checked over, maintained and cleaned for its next use.
Like I said, I am blessed that I have these two young people to watch my tiny farm while I take some time away but I know that soon they will go on to other things - college, family, etc. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the few days that I get to see a change of scenery and still rejoice that the best part of being out on the farm is watching things grow, and the sunrises and sunsets. Oftentimes those are better than any view you would see on a tropical island (cheaper too!).
Monday, December 16, 2019
Monday, December 2, 2019
Just a Little Patience
It takes patience to be a chicken farmer. Patience for the
little fluff balls to grow up to laying age (around 16 weeks old or so),
patience for that first egg (it's supposed to be around 16 weeks but can go anywhere
from 14 to 20 weeks)– that is IF you’ve gotten a hen from your local chicken
supplier and not accidentally a rooster, and patience in waiting every day for
that wonderful shelled nugget that is produced by a fluffy bottomed hen.
I remember clearly that first egg that I received from my first group of birds. All of these birds had middle names of my grandmothers and were named; Henrietta, Mildred, Eleanor, and Gertrude. It was Henrietta who laid the first egg. She was an ameraucana breed hen (white in feather color)
and laid the prettiest blue/green egg and that was what I found that late summer day in 2015. Granted, this egg was crushed when I found it but I was still so excited that all of the waiting had paid off.
It would be weeks for the rest of the group to join Henrietta’s production and soon I had 4 eggs waiting for me to gather at the end of each day. This was wonderful! I could sell surplus eggs and pay for the feed that these birds gobbled up so eagerly.
This was a new enterprise, until the days turned shorter and the weather turned colder. Suddenly, I was lucky to find one egg in the nest box let alone the original four. I was completely stunned! What had happened? Why weren’t they laying eggs? Grocery stores always have eggs – why couldn’t I?
A few clicks to Google and I found out my answer quickly enough. Birds cease laying in the darker months because that’s not the time to raise young (what an egg is ultimately for). Nature has its way of making sure that everything is given the best chance at survival and hatching a young chick when the days are short would mean that the temperature would be less than cordial to a tiny peeping egg with feet.
Fast forward to today and I always know the inevitable drop off in lay is going to happen each summer when the egg boxes are full of all sorts of colors of eggs (and yes, they all taste the same as a regular egg). I’m still always a bit shocked though when that trip to the barn suddenly yields four eggs instead of 22+.
I’ve tried to supplement with light, given them yogurt, given
them cayenne pepper; any number of tricks I’ve read will increase laying but
the girls are adamant for having their winter break and that’s just fine with
me. My only frustration being that because the eggs are so good – I don’t always
have them to sell to folks.
It won’t be long though before the days become longer and I walk again from the barn with a full egg basket. I eagerly wait for those days so that when someone asks to purchase, I have the right number of eggs just steps away from the house. I just have to have patience until then.
 |
The Original 2015 Flock; (from left going clockwise),
Henrietta, Mildred, Gertrude and Eleanor
|
I remember clearly that first egg that I received from my first group of birds. All of these birds had middle names of my grandmothers and were named; Henrietta, Mildred, Eleanor, and Gertrude. It was Henrietta who laid the first egg. She was an ameraucana breed hen (white in feather color)
and laid the prettiest blue/green egg and that was what I found that late summer day in 2015. Granted, this egg was crushed when I found it but I was still so excited that all of the waiting had paid off.
 |
| First Egg from The Flock |
It would be weeks for the rest of the group to join Henrietta’s production and soon I had 4 eggs waiting for me to gather at the end of each day. This was wonderful! I could sell surplus eggs and pay for the feed that these birds gobbled up so eagerly.
This was a new enterprise, until the days turned shorter and the weather turned colder. Suddenly, I was lucky to find one egg in the nest box let alone the original four. I was completely stunned! What had happened? Why weren’t they laying eggs? Grocery stores always have eggs – why couldn’t I?
A few clicks to Google and I found out my answer quickly enough. Birds cease laying in the darker months because that’s not the time to raise young (what an egg is ultimately for). Nature has its way of making sure that everything is given the best chance at survival and hatching a young chick when the days are short would mean that the temperature would be less than cordial to a tiny peeping egg with feet.
Fast forward to today and I always know the inevitable drop off in lay is going to happen each summer when the egg boxes are full of all sorts of colors of eggs (and yes, they all taste the same as a regular egg). I’m still always a bit shocked though when that trip to the barn suddenly yields four eggs instead of 22+.
 |
| A Summer Yield of Eggs |
It won’t be long though before the days become longer and I walk again from the barn with a full egg basket. I eagerly wait for those days so that when someone asks to purchase, I have the right number of eggs just steps away from the house. I just have to have patience until then.
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