...the farm work began, and it hasn't stopped or slowed at all! *note the date of the last post
Oh man, want to hear about the most trying 3 months of our lives, read on...
The learning curve has been steep, going from 5 chicks to 350 chicks - its like a whole other animal, its a small herd. The psychology of a small group of chicks vs a larger group is nothing alike. Same goes for 4 week old chickens, and 8 week old chickens, 5 is fun - 350 is insane...at least at first.
I never look forward to the holiday season, but this one was particularly complicated. Not sure if it was the planets aligned in a specific sort of way or just the culmination of several small things that resulted in an epic shit-storm! Looking back it was probably all the anticipation and fear of a HUGE life change, an opportunity we've been longing for finally about to begin.
January 1st came quickly, we had the first couple of weeks planned out because Cameron really only had to focus on building everything. So a few weeks of building was nothing new, not having to "go to work" (at a job) everyday made him wake every morning easily & ready to work for himself. Towards the middle of January, and what was the coldest week of the year, we got our first group of chicks. Our egg layers & first meat birds arrived, we were so confident and excited placing the order....
...but realistically we were running into questions that even google had no idea how to answer and these chickens were eating wayyy more than we ever imagined a tiny little chicken could eat. With the freakish New Mexican weather we had temperature swings that couldn't be weakened despite all our efforts. We had issues with predators: neighborhood dogs, cats, & skunks...who would steal off with a chick or 10 given the chance. $1000 worth of electric fencing was stolen off the property also, leaving our birds totally unprotected. The calf on the property got in the habit of getting into the chicken feed before we arrived in the mornings...he even got a bucket stuck on his head once (that was more adorable than annoying). There is an male emu without a lady to love who became way too interested in us...and if you've never seen an emu hump, believe me, it is terrifying!
One of the main problems was the distance, we live in town 25 minutes by freeway to the farm, so despite a few nights we contemplated car-camping in 14 degree weather, but since it's not our land we didn't feel comfortable. We'd arrive at the crack of dawn and leave after dark but the majority of our issues occurred between dusk & dawn. A few times we showed up after midnight to see how the chicks were handling the cold, to check to see what kind of patterns we noticed and hopefully could correct. But still...being able to hop out of bed, throw on boots & a coat and run out to check on the chicks at 3am would've helped us manage better...or sleep better at least.
In his books, Joel Salatin says 'find an older farmer to pair with who has experience and you will have the body and energy to do the work'. We tried this, the main problem is that the farmer we paired with doesn't know anything about chickens and he'll be the first to tell you that. Our agreement didn't really work out as planned so we are currently in the process of leaving that land...it is a significant set-back but we have learned a lot!
Lessons learned:
...its all an adventure anyways, and for us as long as we have each other everything else is just versatile details.
forever grateful, forever growing*
-jennifer
Oh man, want to hear about the most trying 3 months of our lives, read on...
I never look forward to the holiday season, but this one was particularly complicated. Not sure if it was the planets aligned in a specific sort of way or just the culmination of several small things that resulted in an epic shit-storm! Looking back it was probably all the anticipation and fear of a HUGE life change, an opportunity we've been longing for finally about to begin.
January 1st came quickly, we had the first couple of weeks planned out because Cameron really only had to focus on building everything. So a few weeks of building was nothing new, not having to "go to work" (at a job) everyday made him wake every morning easily & ready to work for himself. Towards the middle of January, and what was the coldest week of the year, we got our first group of chicks. Our egg layers & first meat birds arrived, we were so confident and excited placing the order....
...but realistically we were running into questions that even google had no idea how to answer and these chickens were eating wayyy more than we ever imagined a tiny little chicken could eat. With the freakish New Mexican weather we had temperature swings that couldn't be weakened despite all our efforts. We had issues with predators: neighborhood dogs, cats, & skunks...who would steal off with a chick or 10 given the chance. $1000 worth of electric fencing was stolen off the property also, leaving our birds totally unprotected. The calf on the property got in the habit of getting into the chicken feed before we arrived in the mornings...he even got a bucket stuck on his head once (that was more adorable than annoying). There is an male emu without a lady to love who became way too interested in us...and if you've never seen an emu hump, believe me, it is terrifying!
One of the main problems was the distance, we live in town 25 minutes by freeway to the farm, so despite a few nights we contemplated car-camping in 14 degree weather, but since it's not our land we didn't feel comfortable. We'd arrive at the crack of dawn and leave after dark but the majority of our issues occurred between dusk & dawn. A few times we showed up after midnight to see how the chicks were handling the cold, to check to see what kind of patterns we noticed and hopefully could correct. But still...being able to hop out of bed, throw on boots & a coat and run out to check on the chicks at 3am would've helped us manage better...or sleep better at least.
In his books, Joel Salatin says 'find an older farmer to pair with who has experience and you will have the body and energy to do the work'. We tried this, the main problem is that the farmer we paired with doesn't know anything about chickens and he'll be the first to tell you that. Our agreement didn't really work out as planned so we are currently in the process of leaving that land...it is a significant set-back but we have learned a lot!
Lessons learned:
- Start slowly and don't let anything or anyone pressure you into growing any faster than you are comfortable with.
- Stick to the plan, this doesn't mean the plan isn't adaptable to reality, but the plan will always be there to rely on and refer back to.
- Agree on a budget and then double it because there are a million other things you're going to have to buy that you can't even imagine needing before starting a venture like this.
- Keeping backyard chickens is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING like having a poultry farm.
- Trust your instincts, the animals will communicate with you & red flags are there for a reason.
...its all an adventure anyways, and for us as long as we have each other everything else is just versatile details.
forever grateful, forever growing*
-jennifer
Wow! You have been busy! Thanks for the update, I've wondered about your chicken farm. You have the Perseverance, and I hope some luck and the right opportunity come your way so that your plan becomes a successful reality. Best of luck to you!
ReplyDeleteAhh Pat you are so kind! Thank you for your encouragement! It has indeed been crazy and we got some plans that will hopefully work out so stay tuned :) Hope you and Tommy are doing well!
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