When Laying Hens Get Too Old

For those of you who are not terribly aware of the world of chickens, and chicken farming, there are laying hens, those raised for eggs, and there are meat birds, known as fryers.

Laying hens are at their peak production for about two years. They will lay one egg every 22-26 hours, reliably, until they are about two years of age, at which point their production will decrease.  Please note that is an average figure.  Our hens at home are five years old now and still laying eggs, but certainly not every 24 hours.

The question, for those of us who raise layers for production, is what to do with the hens once they are beyond their peak?  If we are raising them to sell their eggs, to recoup our expenses, it makes no sense, financially, to hold onto them once they have crossed that two year threshold.

We do have options; none of them are optimal.

We can butcher the birds for meat, but most layers offer tougher meat than fryers.

We can try to sell them to others wanting backyard birds for enjoyment.

Or we can butcher them, like so many major bird corporations, and use their remains for feed for other animals i.e. dog food or cat food.

I have over 100 layers at this moment, and by summer’s end they will all have reached the two year mark, so what do I do with them?  I will be incubating new eggs in the fall so I have new layers in the spring of 2020, but what about the old girls?

I haven’t decided, truth be told.

If you have suggestions I would love to hear them.

Bill

Small Farming: A Labor of Love

I had a friend from the farmers market stop by last week.  She and her husband have a farm in the town of Mossyrock, about an hour away from Olympia.  Anyway, she was in town so I showed her the farm and talked chickens with her.

Our son’s farm, where our chickens are, is about ten acres.  My friend’s farm is 200 acres.

Let this fact sink into your brain for a moment: 200 acres and it’s just Lydia, her husband, and her one-year old daughter taking care of it all….35 head of cattle…50 chickens….50 sheep!  And I’m pretty sure the one-year old does not contribute much of a helping hand.

Welcome to the life of a small farmer in 2019.

If you have never farmed there is no way for me to describe the amount of work involved with taking care of so many acres and so many animals.  It is backbreaking, gut-wrenching, heart-stomping work, and it is never-ending.  You literally never get a break from the work.  There are animals which rely upon you for their existence. There are feedings and watering and milkings.  There are fences which always need mending, there are buildings which always need fixing, and there are vehicles which always need repairing.

The one-year old daughter would be a full-time job for me.  I can’t wrap my brain around the daughter PLUS the farm duties on 200 acres.

Owning a farm is owning an expense sheet which never diminishes.  The costs are never-ending, and they continue whether you are making money or going bust.  The cost of feed alone is discouraging.  The cost of building materials can induce tears.  And heaven forbid something major break down, like a tractor or a milking machine.  Heaven forbid there is a rupture in a water line, or a tree falls and crushes sixty feet of fencing. Toss in vet bills and those tears can turn into a waterfall of remorse.

My point is this: God bless the family farmers!  They deserve our support. They have earned our respect.  If you ever find yourself questioning why some local produce or meat is more expensive than the stuff at WalMart, remember this blog posting.

Bill

Maintaining the Balance of it All

I mentioned some of this on my other blog, Artistry With Words, so if you also follow that one, I apologize in advance.

Maggie and I went out to the farm the other day, which is not news since we do that every single day to feed the chickens and collect eggs.

Just before we reached the main gate I looked off to my left and saw the coyote which has been killing our chickens of late.  He was standing in a hollow about one-hundred yards from us.  Maggie did not see him.  So I parked the truck on the farm, now maybe two-hundred yards from where the coyote had been seen, and Maggie and I got out of the truck.  Maggie sniffed the air once and took off running in the direction of the coyote.  Mind you, we could not see the coyote from where I parked the truck, but Maggie was aware enough of the scent, carried on a gentle breeze, and she was off and running.

It was an amazing moment, really.  Of course I am aware that animals have keen senses, but to actually see just how keen, firsthand, took my breath away.

Things like that happen all the time on the farm.

Did you know that chickens have independent eyes? One eye is constantly looking at the ground in search of food; the other eye is always looking for predators.  It’s pretty cool to watch if you find yourself on a farm someday.

There’s a llama out at the farm, and the two sheep that are at the farm instinctively stay close to the llama for protection. Two difference species which somehow understand their roles in a partnership.

Walk up to that llama and the first thing she will do is put her face directly in front of your face, and I’m talking two or three inches.  She is smelling you, determining whether you can be trusted, and one thing you can do, to build that trust, is to gently blow air in the llamas face.  I swear I’m not making this up. I’ve done it, and that llama will come to the fence line to greet me whenever I’m at the farm . . . because she trusts me, and I passed the greeting ritual with flying colors.

It’s all just fascinating to me!

There are also guinea hens on the farm, and peacocks, and when they sense a predator is nearby (usually the same coyote) they will join in on a chorus of high-pitched screeching to warn all, and as soon as that screeching commences Cleo, the farm dog who lives there, will come racing out of the home to chase off the coyote. Who needs ADT Security when you have guinea hens and peacocks?

It is all random as hell and yet I sense there is a purpose to it all.  My job is to discern what that purpose is.  My job, as a part-time farmer, is to figure out what my role is in this play, to figure out how I can best work within that setting so it will flourish.  I do not want to upset the natural balance; I want to be a part of it. I want my footprint to blend in with the coyote tracks and the llama’s breath.

Just random thoughts, on a January morning, in Olympia, Washington.

Bill

The “Buy Local” Topic

A FEW ODDS AND ENDS TO PONDER

If you are an average American, most of the food you purchase at the grocery store has travelled about 1,500 miles . . . at little more if you live where I live in Olympia, Washington . . . perhaps a little less if you live in Des Moines, Iowa.

Most of the organic grains used to feed animals in the U.S. come from China and India.

Only about 0.7 percent of the roughly two million farms in the U.S. are certified organic.

It takes approximately three years of jumping through governmental hoops to gain an organic certification.

268 companies in the United States account for 95% of the nation’s 305 million laying birds.

2.2 percent of the farms in America own 1/3 of the available acreage.

Nine of every ten small farms in the U.S. require an infusion of off-farm income to survive

YOU DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS

Here’s the thing: I don’t much care what you believe, or don’t believe, about farming, but I do believe it is important that you at least have facts upon which you base your beliefs.  The odds and ends mentioned above are facts.  They are not fake news.  Draw your own conclusions about it all.

WHY DON’T PEOPLE BUY LOCAL?

First off, a lot of people do buy local, and I say HOORAY to them for doing it.

But there are a variety of reasons why someone might not buy local; some are valid; some are hogwash!

• The product is not produced locally, but is labeled by a local processor
• Local products cost more (may or may not be true, by the way)
• Trust brand names rather than small, unknown farmer
• It is more convenient to shop at a supermarket and buy brand names
• Don’t have the time to shop around for local products

And on and on and on . . .

WHY BUY LOCAL?

This question is best answered by Michael H. Shuman, author of the book Going Local. “Going local does not mean walling off the outside world. It means nurturing locally owned businesses which use local resources sustainably, employ local workers at decent wages and serve primarily local consumers. It means becoming more self-sufficient and less dependent on imports. Control moves from the boardrooms of distant corporations and back into the community where it belongs.” (Shuman 2000)

Don’t shoot the messenger!

FARMERS MARKETS

Having said all that, I’ve learned quite a bit while being involved with farmers markets. There will always be people who like to skirt the rules and who are not quite as forthcoming with the truth as we would hope them to be.  Even at farmers markets.  I’ve known farmers who claim their product is organic when in fact it is not certified.  I’ve known farmers who play the word games, like “cage free,” when in fact their chickens spend their entire lives in a garage on a cement floor.

The best words of advice I can give you is get to know your local farmers, or at least do your research to find out about them. I would love to say that all local producers and farmers are scrupulous, but that is not the case.

Have a great week, and thanks for stopping by.

Bill

 

In Awe of Farmers

I’m kind of a history nerd.  It probably comes from being such a shy, introverted kid long ago, spending so many days alone with my books.

I mention that because occasionally, when I’m out at the farm, I can’t help but think of the early pioneers to this area, those folks who first settled in the Puget Sound area back in the 1840s and 1850s. Some came out of a sense of adventure, but most came because they wanted a better life, and back then land was being given away to anyone willing to develop that land into a working farm.

Now imagine, for a moment, coming to the end of a 1,500 mile journey and standing in front of 160 acres of undeveloped land, fir trees so high they blotted out the sky, undergrowth so thick as to prevent passage even on foot.  I have only one question about those folks: how in the hell did they do it?

There’s nothing like cutting down a 200 foot fir tree to make you question your determination.

There’s nothing like plowing, by horse and plow, fifty acres or so of untamed land with roots as thick as your waist and rocks the size of boulders blocking your path.

How in the hell did they do it?

Even my grandfather, back in the 1950s, the last time I saw him, tending a fifty acre farm by himself and an old Lab, Rolly, day in, day out, 24/7 thank you very much.

How in the hell did they do it?

Today there are approximately 2.1 million farms in the United States, 88% of which are small family farms. A small family farm is defined, by the government, as one less than 100 acres.

Have you ever walked a 100-acre farm?  You’ll be exhausted doing so.  Running a 100-acre farm is back-breaking work, folks.  Our son and his wife have a ten-acre goat farm, and that’s exhausting.

The bottom line of all this: God bless the small farmer!

Listen, I know food is cheaper at WalMart and Costco, but if there is any chance you could see your way to stop by a farmers market or roadside stand, please do so and support them with a purchase.  They deserve your patronage if for no other reason than their food is fresh and healthy, and they worked their tails off to present it to you.

How in the hell do they do it?

Bill