9 months before an egg is on your plate:
We start in September looking for new chicks, we work to ensure that we have eggs year round. The way we accomplish this is by purchasing new chickens each year so as one year's chickens go into retirement and slow down laying we have a new flock of hens just starting their laying journey.
8 months before an egg is on your plate:
In October we get the call that our chicks have arrived at our local post office. You can hear them chirping in the background. We go out to our chicken barn and turn on the heat light in the pre-set brooder box, laid out with pine shavings, organic chick starter feed and add warm water with a little nutri-drench and then head out to pick up our cute little bundles of fluff. Thankfully the post office is only three miles away from us, making the last leg of their journey to the farm short. Once they are here we open the boxes and one-two at a time introduce them to their new surroundings showing them food and water. The first three days we keep a tight eye on them checking to make sure they are settling in and not showing any signs of shipping stress.
7 months before an egg is on your plate:
As they grow and feather out we reduce the heat lights and begin to open up the brooder box and give them more space to roam. We watch starting at this age that they do not all pile in one corner otherwise they will crush each other. We transition them to egg layer feed and they enjoy being chickens.
6 months before an egg is on your plate:
We began introducing our new girls to our current flock. This disrupts the pecking order and egg production from our established girls will drop lower for a time.
5-4 months before an egg is on your plate:
We start to receive fairy eggs, they are small and so cute but you would need a lot of them to make an omelet. They are about the size of a quail egg at best and sometimes as small as a dime. But it means that our new girls are starting to mature and they are starting to lay eggs.
36 hours before an egg is on your plate:
The new girls are laying and starting to produce a more consistent egg size. Eggs are collected twice and in peak seasons three times a day. Within 36 hours they are washed and sorted and those that meet the grade are packaged into cartons for the next market day.
Eggs are dirty, sometimes cracked, some are too big, some too small, odd shaped, pecked or eaten and never make it out of the nesting boxes. We have chickens every year that lead us on an egg hunt to find their new favorite laying places around the farm. Not all are fit to finally land in a carton with our label on it. Our second oldest Griffin has taken on the job of washing and sorting all of the eggs. He has always enjoyed chickens and been our chicken kid.
The packaged cartons are stored in our farm store, in summer they go straight from being washed to the truck and off to a local farmers market. Where hopefully you purchase your favorite farm fresh eggs and bring home to your family and enjoy at your table.
Daily:
We do chores twice a day at minimum which includes fresh water, feed, bedding, egg collection, check live traps for predators and signs of predators. We also keep an eye on the barn and fence looking to see if any repairs need to be done. We are always working with predation issues and trying to keep out possums, skunks, foxes, coyotes, hawks and eagles. We keep a few roosters on hand to help with safety as well. We keep an eye out for any health issues, such as bumblefoot, and injuries.
Comentários