My First Week as a Chicken Farmer
What a crazy and fulfilling first week it has been! Despite almost nothing going according to plan (because that’s life sometimes), I have an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and joy. I feel that I have found my purpose, with an incredible support system backing my every move. That’s pretty dang cool! I also want to be transparent about what we do here because knowing your farmer means you know exactly what you’re putting in your body!
There are so many wonderful and hard things about farming, perhaps the hardest being dealing with loss. Right off the bat, we experienced a transport issue that resulted in a pretty significant loss. Freedom Ranger Hatchery was very generous and offered to send another batch to make up for what happened (which wasn’t their fault). In the meantime, I still had over 100 chicks to care for!
Pulling them out, one-by-one, I dipped their beaks in the water dish to ensure everyone knows where to get hydrated.
After water and food, it’s important they know where to get warm. Their initial instinct was to gather in a sun spot right in front of the door. Luckily my sister was able to come help me get a board up in front of the door after they trapped me outside. Then I was finally able to get them snuggled under their heat plates.
Over the next few days, we had below freezing temps and struggled to keep the brooder temperature stable. The chicks will tell you what they need just by observing behavior, so I knew we were in a good zone when everyone was content laying in or out from under the heat plates.
Thankfully, they also grow REALLY fast. As they start developing feathers, they get hardier and better insulated. These little wing feathers started popping up at 3 days old!
The next important task was to come up with a new plan for an automatic watering system. The first two attempts were a leaky mess, but we finally got the constant fresh water flowing!
Before I knew it, it was a week later and we’re starting it all again! The newbies had a much smoother start and are doing well!
These guys will stay fenced off for about a week before we try to start integrating them with the rest. The difference just one week makes is pretty huge!
It was a jam packed week full of fun and chaos, much more than I can really fit in one post. But I can’t wait to keep learning over this growing season, and bring you all along with me!
