Experiments That Worked - Sort of

One of the things about small-scale, diversified farming is that you are always in the middle of change.  There are always new things and there are always experiments.  And many of those things are adjustments to what has gone before because the old methods are no longer sufficient for how things work at the farm at the present moment.

A perpetual project over the years at the Genuine Faux Farm has been poultry housing with safe access to quality pasture.  There were numerous projects where we, often along with other workers or volunteers, built a new shelter solution for the hens, or turkeys, or broiler chickens, or ducks.  

Often, these projects relied on repurposing raw materials already on the farm.  For example, the "portable" broiler shelter shown above was made of cattle panels that came with the farm when we bought it and lumber from a building that had come down.

We attached some handles on the base to lift and move these buildings, but opted to not put wheels on them for a number of reasons.  The end walls were shorter cattle panels that were covered with either tarp or chicken wire to keep birds in at night and predators out if they managed to get past the electric netting that circled the pasture area.

The initial goal was to provide us with something that two people could move periodically so the poultry could have a fresh areas to bed down regularly.  And, it worked.  Sort of.

If the day we moved the building was nice, things worked out just fine.  If it was a day where we had a couple of workers on the farm, it was even better - because four people moved it much easier than two.  But, if it was windy or the ground was wet, things could get a bit sketchy.

The beginning of the end for these (we made two) shelters serving as "frequently mobile" came after one of us slipped in a wet field and fell under the building.  While we avoided any serious injury, it was obvious that changes had to happen.

The end result is that these shelters stayed in place longer, often with straw bedding, waiting for the good days with extra help to move them.  And, of course, when it came time to move to a different part of the farm, we could use a hayrack to take it most of the distance.

These shelters worked well enough for us for several years until, as happens with such things, the base rotted out and the cover broke down.  But, by then, these were relegated as either emergency shelters or as a shade area for poultry during the warmer months.  We moved on to new, portable buildings with skids that we could move with the tractor - and only one person was needed to move these building every other day.

And that's one of the key parts of farming.  Seeking solutions and then improving on those solutions as you learn more or conditions change.

Change a'Comin'

The sun sets alarmingly early now and we're resorting to an alarm clock to help us get up in the mornings.  I find myself waking in the middle of the night, usually 3 or 4 AM because my body is not getting the same clues it was getting even two weeks ago about our progress through the dark hours.  Such are some of the signs that things are changing, and changing rapidly, at the Genuine Faux Farm.

Crazy Maurice is not terribly keen on some of the upcoming changes, or so he told me recently.  And, surprisingly it has nothing to do with shorter days and longer nights.  To Maurice, that's perfectly natural, as is the hibernation process he goes through each Winter.  Believe it or not, Maurice has been around long enough to know that another change, that has less to do with the weather, comes with the turning of the seasons.

The poultry that hang out under his branches will go away.  And the farmers won't visit as often. 

For the last few months or so, one (or both) of us has taken a trek out to the northwest portion of the farm to check on our flocks two to three times a day.  While there, we always greet Crazy Maurice, one of our tree guardians on the farm.

I will admit that many of these visits are short - especially if you consider that trees see time in much bigger chunks than humans do.  But, that works out, oddly enough.  If a tree registers your presence, it tends to remember that you were there for the entirety of a given rotation of the Earth.  At least that's how I interpreted it after some conversations with our Willow.   

If your presence was noted during a day, then you were there for that moment in time that was a day. It doesn't matter so much if you were there for ten hours or ten minutes.  You were there.  You were a part of that time unit and that's a good thing - as long as the tree LIKES having you around.

Now, Crazy Maurice isn't stupid or naive, he just has a different perspective.  Maurice also has a good feel for the difference between quality time and time that isn't quite as... um... quality.  On days where I trot out, do some chores and barely nod in his direction, he might notice my presence.  And if he does, he probably won't consider it a quality interaction.  

On the other hand, on days where I stand out there and listen to his stories or when I teach him new words, Maurice holds on to those events - perhaps more than I do.

Well, Crazy Maurice has been a bit slower to speak recently.  But, when he does, it usually has a wistful tone.  He knows that even the short, low quality, interactions will become less frequent once the birds are gone.  And I did confirm for him that the date to take them to the park was set for this coming Monday.

He tried to be a bit philosophical about it all, reminding me (and probably himself) that he'll be taking his Winter nap soon and won't be able to notice whether I am there or not.  And I, recognizing it all for what it was, was tempted to tell him that I would come out and visit even if the poultry was not out there anymore.  But, I've thought that every year.  And, to be truthful, while I have taken a few trips out there, it's never consistent - because life pulls us in different directions when the seasons change.

Maybe this time, I'll follow through and take a comfortable chair out there for a while on a nice Fall day.  I hope I do.  And if I do, maybe I'll get a new story from Maurice that I can share with all of you.

Maurice Has Company

I've been seeing Crazy Maurice much more frequently lately - at least twice a day - which is much more than we typically visit.  Trees are not usually as attuned to visitors as Maurice, our Weeping Willow, is.  But, we all know that, as far as trees go, Crazy Maurice is positively hasty and much more friendly toward visiting farmers than most trees.

It's not that I don't like visiting Maurice.  I actually find that to be one of my favorite places to go on the farm.  But during busy days, there are other outdoor places that demand our attention.  At least that's true until we move laying hens (or turkeys) out by Maurice.  Then, suddenly, we find ourselves visiting to provide food and water to those birds.  

Maurice reminded me the other day that I really don't need the excuse of these noisy, fluttery, squawky, twitchy, fussy creatures (aka chickens in farmer language).  Actually, the description Maurice used is much longer than noisy, fluttery, squawky, twitchy, fussy...  this was just all I could remember.  You see, trees don't actually have a single name for anything they observe.  Instead, they prefer to describe what they are seeing, hearing and feeling and THAT becomes the name.

And those descriptions are very long because... trees are very observant.  Perhaps you would be too if you were stuck in one place your whole life.

Let's just say that Maurice is often disappointed in the farmers when they complete their chores before he is done with whatever description he is working on.  In fact, I think I heard Maurice trying to describe the farmers to a Cardinal that was perched in his branches and the word "disappointing" was somewhere in the mix.  If a tree is going to make a name (description), it's going to be honest and you'd better be ready for a few less than flattering parts. 

On the other hand, a Cardinal has even less attention span than we do and it took off before our friendly tree could get past two words.  I think Maurice thought a bit more kindly of us after that reminder.  At least I hope that's the case.

Go To Bed Chickens!

 

Go to bed chickens, it is getting darker and the sun has fallen below the edge of the earth.  

Go to bed chickens, the farmer's eyes are getting heavy and he doesn't want to watch you do your chickeny things any more today.

Go to bed chickens, there will be moths to chase and food to eat and eggs to lay in the morning.

Please... just... go to bed chickens.

The laying hens have now spent three nights in the Summer Cottage out by Crazy Maurice, the Weeping Willow tree and resident tree-friend to farmers.  That means the hens have had two nights to test the farmer's patience in a new location as they dawdle about trying to decide if it is time to... go to bed.

The first installment of a short, three-part series is shown above.

The second installment is shown below:

The nice thing about chickens is that they typically will go back to the place where they woke up in the morning.  This makes moving hens relatively easy.  Though there is always an exception or two to the rule that you might have to deal with.  That's why I was maybe a little bit more interactive with the last few birds in the videos.

You see, we have had some adult laying hens decide that the running gear under the Summer Cottage is a fine place to roost too.  While they might be fine there overnight because we have electric netting around their pasture, the birds that roost there often leave their shelter early enough to be in prime owl hunting time.

That reminds me of Clyde.  Clyde was a chicken and Clyde had guts.  We know this because an owl got Clyde one morning and the only evidence that Clyde existed at all were his... um... guts.  

Here's part three of the video series.

I was told by someone some years ago, when I made that joke in a blog, that it was in bad taste.  I am certain if Clyde were still with us, he would agree.  But I bring it up again to remind everyone who does not work with farm animals or nature quite as closely as we do that we witness some not so nice things.  It's part of life (and death) on a farm and one way to help yourself cope is by having some sense of humor about it.

And, by telling the chickens they really do need to go to bed.

Merry-go-round

Since it is Thursday, we are offering this Throwback post from July 9, 2020.  It illustrates how our farming day went at that time.  Of course, things are a bit different this year - and yet, I am surprised how similar it is at the same time.  It's true, we do not have turkeys this year, but we will have broiler (meat bird) chicks next week.  We're mostly done with the seed trays, though there will be a few still for short season greens.

So, if you want a peak into the daily chore list at a farm like ours, read on!

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In early July, the daily chore list can get pretty long.  It's a good thing we have more hours of sunlight to do them in!  We had someone ask us to write a post about what it meant to "do the chores" at our farm.  As with every farm, the chore list has a great deal to do with the time of year and the way the farm goes about business.  For our purposes, we decided a chore was something we absolutely have to do every day or every other day, without fail.  That means things like, weeding, harvesting, planting, mowing, mulching... well, you get the picture... these things don't qualify.  We may do them most days, but it is rarely the same place or the same crop.  We also eliminated things like laundry and cleaning harvest containers.  These are done regularly as well, but I'm not sure we'll impress anyone by including them here.

And, you know us, we're ALL about impressing people.  Yep.

Step 1: Care for the Farm Supervisory Staff
You know what they say - if management ain't happy...

The Inspector will make sure that Step 1 is completed prior to any other task.

The cats (both indoor and out) need to have the ritual of food, water and some nice skritches for the day to start off right.  We have learned, much to our chagrin, that it is not a good thing at all if we skip step 1.

The Inspector will lead you to the location for food and water if you appear lost.

Step 2: Open It All Up
Most of the tools are in buildings.  There are plants in buildings.  If you want to do any work on the farm, you have to start.. er...   Ok, you start by caring for the felines.  But, if you want to start doing work, you have to open some things up.

We'll need some food for the poultry, I suspect it is in here.

Typically, we'll open a series of doors and leave them open for most of the day unless the weather is inclement or there is something we are hiding from the farm supervisors.

We'd better get Eden and Valhalla opened up too!

While we are at it, we have to make sure the plants in the high tunnels don't get to warm.  That usually means we open up doors and roll up the sides.  There are two high tunnels to open.  On a regular basis we run irrigation in the high tunnels (every 3 days).

Casa Verde needs to be opened up as well if there are plants inside!

Sometimes, we actually do a quick run around and let the various flocks of poultry out even before we provide them with fresh food and water.  This is especially true on very warm days/nights.

Interlude 1: Say Hello to the Workers
The bee hives are on the way to some of our next tasks, so we often stop for a moment and say hello.  And sometimes we put water into a shallow bowl or container by their hives. 

The bees usually are too busy humming a tune to return the greeting.

Step 3: Feed and Water Birds
This can often be the largest part of our chores, especially in early June when we have two flocks of broilers, two hen flocks, turkeys and a new batch of broiler chicks.

There be new broiler chicks on the farm!

Each flock is going to need food and water each day.  Well, ok, most days.  Sometimes, new chicks don't go through all of their water in a day and sometimes if there are lots of puddles, the other flocks may not drink the waterers down.

My, the turklets have grown into Turkles!

The birds currently in the brooder room are the turkeys and the broiler chicks.  The room is kept warm and we work to cut breezes until true feathers are forming.  As they grow we might start to ventilate the room more until we move them out.  We check how spread out the flocks are listen for problems - making adjustments as needed.

The henlets are next door.

The henlets (our new egg laying flock) are getting closer to full hen size.  At present, they stay inside the hen room in the Poultry Pavilion as part of the process of getting them to identify this room as their 'Home Base.'  In a couple of days, they will be allowed out into their pasture area.  As with all the other flocks, they need food and they need water.  Once we start letting them onto pasture, we will be opening and closing their room door so they are protected at night and have access to the outdoors during the day.

ah, the Summer Cottage is near Crazy Maurice right now

The hens are out in the Northwest Territories of the farm and are closed up in the Summer Cottage until we go open the door and put up their access ramp.  Obviously, we give them food and water - usually before we let them out so we don't have to dodge birds as we do it.  We normally make a first check for eggs at this time too.

Then, there are the Boyus!

We have two flocks of "Boyus" in the Eastfarthing and they both need to be let out, fed and watered.  On an every other day basis (unless it is way too wet to do so) we move the buildings using Rosie, the tractor so they rest over a new patch of pasture.  Every couple of weeks, we have to reset the solar-powered poultry netting, which includes mowing the greenery down so it doesn't short the fence out.

Step 4: Wet Our Plants
Hey, the plant nurseries of the world get to use that pun all the time, but we also water plants, so we should get to use it if we want!

We have houseplants and flowers on the front and back porches

The potted plants usually need water every other day, unless it is particularly hot and windy, they we'll water each day.  They have enough soil to be somewhat forgiving.

There are fewer trays right now, but they still need water.

The plants in seedling trays need watering in the morning as well.  Earlier in the season, we have them in Casa Verde, in the trailer you see above, on a hayrack and on heatmats in the garage and basement.  These all need watering.  Since they have less soil, they are prone to drying out - so we need to pay attention here!

Interlude 2: Admire a Flower
We have flowers here and there, just so we can take a moment and view them as we go about our daily business.  This daylily opened its first flower for us at the Genuine Faux Farm. 

Ain't it purdy?

At this point, we are done with what we might term the 'morning chores.'  There are numerous other things that might happen during the morning chore set depending on how things stand, but they tend to have something to do with these tasks.

In other words, we can start doing "real work" now.
That might be Rob working for PAN or Tammy working for Wartburg.  Or we might plant, weed, harvest, mulch, turn a compost pile or clean out a poultry room.  Perhaps we'll prepare for a delivery?  The possibilities for the day abound!

Until...

Mid to Late Morning Chores
Well, whatever we decide to do, at some point we need to do a few things that are classified as 'chores.'

Like collect eggs from the hens.

Sadly, we have yet to figure out how to train the hen flocks in collecting, cleaning and packaging eggs.  We get to do that particular chore.  And, if we don't want them to break a bunch of those eggs, we need to visit them more than once in a day.

While we're at it, we'll check the babies.

And, if you have baby birds, you need to check them fairly often as well to make sure temperatures are what they need.  It doesn't take long, but it is just one more thing...

Oh, and about that irrigation you started this morning.  You probably should turn that off.

Oh, and don't forget to water the seed trays in Valhalla too!

Mid-Afternoon Chores
There are common themes here.  Collect eggs, check baby birds and other similar things.

Haven't we seen this picture before?

But, we also have to add - wash the eggs to this list.  It's a chore - that's for sure!

And yes, you should check all of the flocks on a warm day to make sure they've got water and see that there aren't other things going on that need your attention.  And, remember those seedlings in trays?  They might need more water by now!

Baby plants need water, that's a fact.

Early Evening Pre-Chore
So, about those broiler chickens....

Yeah.  These guys.

It turns out that they LIKE to be where their food is.  We take their feeders out of the building every morning and fill them and we put them BACK into the building every evening to encourage them to find their way into the building by the time the sun goes down.  A waterer usually goes in as well.

Why?  Well, we've found that most of the birds will go in without our doing this.  But, when we do put this step in, all but one or two will go into the building without our herding them later in the evening.  Believe me, it's a worthwhile chore to move those feeders now!

End of the Day - Put It Away

Barty and Rosie at the end of a busy day.

We admit that there have been days when we are really tired and there is absolutely no rain in the forecast that we might forego putting some things away.  This is especially true when Barty (the tiller) is on the other side of the farm.  But, most days, all the tools go back under shelter.  Sadly, we are not always so good as to put everything back into its place.  That is another story.

End of the Day - Close it Up
All of those opened doors need to be closed. 

Remember all of the doors you opened in the morning?

  And the high tunnels need to be closed as well.

Time to roll down the sides and close the doors.

We've considered leaving the high tunnels open on very warm nights, but we don't particularly care for dashing out to close them at 2 AM when a thunderstorm with strong winds pops up.  Others can worry about that.  Us, on the other hand?  We'll close them up every night.

Oh!  Better remember that too!

 

End of the Day - Shut It Down

We have learned the hard way that we need to check that all water sources are turned off.  Irrigation that runs for twelve to fourteen hours is not a good thing.

Ah, good the hydrant at the left is off.

 

We have two hydrants by Valhalla, one by Casa Verde and the faucet on the north side of the house.  It may not sound like much, but by the time we are doing our final chores, it is 9:30PM in June and July.  We're usually pretty tired and find ourselves reminding each other to do things like "check truck windows" and "make sure the door is closed" and "did I turn off the water?"  It is far better than climbing into bed and remembering one of these was not done.... and then going out to do it.

 

The henlets are fine.

 

While we are at it, we need to turn off lights for the henlets and give them one last check in.

And turn off lights and check the brooder room too!

 

And, while you're at it.  You should probably put the cat food bowls away so the raccoons don't wreak havoc because they've found them!

 

The Inspector will expect to see you again in the morning.

 

End of the Day - Close Up the Poultry

Oh yes, now we need to close the door on the broilers and the hen flock.  

Most of the broilers are in their building by 9:25PM

 

Broilers are a bit of a pain to herd, so if you can get them to go in on their own, that is best.  Even then, there is usually one or two that will make you walk them around the building a few times before they go in.  With two flocks of broilers, this chore is a times 2.  Just like it was in the morning.

Good night Ladies (and Maurice)

 

The hens are usually in by 9:30pm (or so).  There are often a couple that meander around a bit while you wait for them to go in so you can close the door.  

There is usually a moment of 'reviewing it all' in hopes that we don't forget anything and we aren't forced to get up in the middle of the night to correct something.  We realize some of these things don't sound like much.  But, if you forget them, you can have a fairly big problem later on.  

Good Night Everyone!

If the farmers have the energy - and sometimes even when they don't - they say "Good night" to all of their friends and acquaintances as they see them during the evening walkabout to do chores.

Even the Barn Swallows are mellowing out.

The Barn Swallows are not chittering or performing their aerial acrobatics, but they are preening before finding their roosts.  A Great Horned Owl reminds us he's in the area with his call.  Richard, the Dickcissel gets one more series of songs in before calling it a day.  The monarchs float around the understory of the larger trees until they find their spots.  Meanwhile, the lightning bugs come out and light our way back from closing up the hens.

And the Inspector drops by for one more skritch and offers up a friendly purr.

 We hope everyone has (or has had) a fine day.

Researcher or Research Subject?

I was cleaning the turkey room recently (preparing for a new flock in 2023) and came across something that concerns me a little bit.  I found some paper - and it was not paper that was shredded for bedding.  This paper had writing that had been put there in a chicken-scratch hand... er... no... a turkey-scratch hand that looked like it was intended for someone other than the farmer.

This document had been made to look like one of our turkeys wrote it and we're not sure who might have placed it there.  The alternative - that one of our turkeys actually wrote this - is a bit more disturbing than we are willing to admit.  So, we're wondering if you all could weigh in on the matter and give us some advice.

Here's what was on the paper:

----------------------------

Staff Writer: Ima Turkey

Individuals looking for an entertaining afternoon should look no further than the Genuine Faux Farm. We have found the guy with the red hat to be extremely amusing as he runs around the farm. In fact, we are conducting a study to find out what sorts of actions/sounds he can be made to respond to (see Pavlov and others). Since he is not really an intelligent being (unlike us turkeys), we have no fear that he will figure out that we are conducting experiments regarding his behavior.

 

Observations thus far:

• Subject tends to mumble audibly when one of us flies onto or over the fences
• Subject will hesitate in making a choice chasing us (when we're outside the fence) if we divide our numbers and go in opposite directions
• Subject makes strange "hahaha" sounds whenever we run to/fro our room and the gate in the morning.  We think it is a nervous tic of some kind.
• Subject tends to throw yummy produce to locations in the field where one of us is NOT located, though he does tend to have a left/right/forward/back pattern.
• Subject can be trained to bring more tomatoes and cucumbers by eating them quickly.   Similarly, the subject seems to reduce offerings of other food types if we show less enthusiasm.  Have not yet managed to get ice cream.
• Subject appears to have limited language ability.  Has attempted to respond to "crowd gobbles."  Enunciation is terrible.  We highly doubt the subject has understanding of the meaning of the words.
• Subject has been trained to allow us to drink out of the hose periodically.  However, Muck learned that subject isn't terribly steady with the hose after getting a face full of water.  Subject has not shown consistency in allowing us to drink out of the hose.  We continue to work on finding a proper prompting action to elicit the desired response.
• Subject appears to respond to sunrise and sunset with certain activities, including bringing us food and water at sunrise and coming out to see us into our room at night.  Has apparently imprinted on us.  Though subject does show independence - thank goodness.  Who would want to deal with THAT all day and night?
• Subject has been trained to respond and come into view on certain calls, but appears unaware of the desired response once in view.  We remind ourselves that we must take baby-steps in this process.
• Subject appears to be unaware of our scientific endeavors - our ruse continues to be successful.

We expect to make a final report to the community in December regarding this study.
Respectfully,
Ima Turkey

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Well, there you have it.  Once again, advice would be appreciated.

I don't know what exactly was going to happen in December, but I think it might be a good thing we had a trip to "the park" scheduled before that.

Two "Longest Days" with Significant Events

 

Two of the longest days of year at the Genuine Faux Farm are the ones where we take the turkeys to "the Park" and then to "Freezer Camp" or their "Forever Homes."  And, I am happy to report that both farmers survived those two days in 2022.

These two days were technically Wednesday and Thursday this past week.  But, in reality, it all started on Tuesday night.

Why Tuesday night?  Well, the preparation for how things must go on Wednesday begins then.  For example, we knew the turkeys had to stay in their shelter on Wednesday rather than allowing them back out on pasture.  That meant we had to bring in waterers and make sure they were full and make sure the room was ready for birds that were used to being outdoors.

Yes, the turkeys spent each night in this room.  So, it's not like they were unfamiliar with it.  But, we were certain they weren't going to be terribly pleased with the next day's situation - so we took time to make things as comfortable for them as we were able.

This year, we had a nice little extra activity added to our "take the turkeys to the Park" day.  It came in the form of a trip for an appointment in Waterloo at 6:45 AM for a "medical thing."  No, not an emergency.  Let's just say that when it was scheduled there were likely limited choices AND when you look at this sort of thing three weeks before the event, it doesn't SEEM like it will be a big deal.

But, when you find yourself staring one of the "longest days" in the eyes and you're driving to get to a medical appointment, you have to doubt the wisdom of choosing that day.  After all, this felt like it deserved to be a "significant event" all by itself for Wednesday.  And, if we can help it, we like to spread our "significant events" out a little bit.

Guess we failed this time around.

The other significant event was the trip to the Park with the turkeys.  That event starts earlier in the day.  The truck gets cleaned out and straw gets put into the bed.  The electric net fencing and the charger and grounding rod get removed.  A ramp is located and moved to the building entrace and the truck (Chumley) is moved to that entrance.  There is most certainly more to it than that - but I think you begin to get the point.

Meanwhile, Rob and Tammy both did their level best to work a full day at each of their jobs - Tammy at Wartburg and Rob at PAN.

The actual trip to the Park is actually two trips.  Our flock this year was 67 birds - too many to put into the truck at one time.  So, we load up a batch of about half of the birds.  Drive to Greene from Tripoli (about 45 minutes).  Unload that group.  Drive back to the farm.  Load up the second half... rinse and repeat...

The kicker is that the birds are less stressed by this process (and it is easier for the farmers) if we wait until nightfall to begin.  That's not so terribly late this time of year - but we still found ourselves getting home from the last trip after 11 PM.  

That's just day one.

Day two requires a fair amount of clean up.  The straw has to come out of the truck and then the back of the truck needs to be cleaned and sanitized.  By this time of year, things are a bit chillier so the process is a bit less enjoyable than it is when we take broiler chickens in.  

Well, ok.  To be honest, this process is usually a bit less than enjoyable anyway.  But, it has to be done. Of course, we also have to prepare ourselves by finding all of the equipment we need to load, transport and deliver the birds.  

This year, thankfully, was easier for us than it has been in years past.  We have been moving towards raising turkeys for a couple of "larger accounts."  This year, each of those accounts took thirty birds each, leaving us with only seven.  So, if some of you are wondering why we did not promote the turkeys this year - that's why.  We've been executing some of the changes to the farm and we're continuing to evolve.  One of the many changes we have been making have to do with reducing the labor requirement while still keeping our hand in farming.  

Dealing with trying to sell sixty some turkeys to sixty some different buyers is just one of those things.  It is so much easier to take thirty one place and thirty to another place.  One of the buyers is Local Foods Connection - a non profit that arranged to purchase food from Iowa's farmers and distributes them to families that need that food.  That's a pretty good motivator for us to continue to raise a flock.

Well - there you have it.  We survived two of our longest days at the Genuine Faux Farm in 2022.  I even had enough energy to write a little bit about it at the end of the second day.

The real question is this - was I awake enough to make any sense?  I think it might be time to catch some zzz's.

The Blessings of Poo

The really great thing about the word "Poo?"  It got you to read past the title, didn't it?!?  Ha!  I knew it!

I'm going to start putting "poo" into every blog title to get people to read more of our blog posts.  I can see that this is a fool-proof plan.  This is especially true if I'm the fool and a single post with "poo" in the title constitutes "proof."  And, now that I have your attention, let me bring you back to the topic at hand.

Really, the topic IS at least partially about poo.  Seriously.  Well, ok.  Since I am supposed to be a professional farmer, I should use the word "manure."  If you want to sound professional and evasive at the same time, you can refer to it as "soil amendments" or "added fertility."  But, since I am ALSO a person who is amused by wordplay and general silliness, we're still going to use the word "poo" just because... it's our blog and I CAN.

Portable Poo Factories on the job.

For a couple of seasons, we used an area just East of the permanent hen pasture to start the henlets (our next flock of hens) and/or some of our broiler chickens.  As evidenced above, the area was cordoned off by electric poultry netting and a portable building was provided for shelter.  Meanwhile, several Carbon-based Portable Poo Factories roamed freely in this area.  This section of land on our farm had not been anything other than pasture since we'd moved here.  Well, ok, the first several years it was mostly ragweed and foxtail, so I don't think that really counts.

We tried to include pastured poultry in our rotation as often as we are able, but this was the first time we turned a pasture area into a growing area.  Frankly, it would have been nice if we had a bit more tillable space to do this more often (put things into and take them out of pasture).  But, we worked with what we had.

The irony of that statement is that, now that we've scaled back, we could probably do more of this sort of thing (move land to pasture and move land out of pasture).  It's just going to take some thought and planning to figure out how to make it work from a labor perspective.

Going back to the topic at hand, in 2016 - 2018, we were realizing that we needed to try and get more growing space moved to the interior of the farm (because of chemical drift issues among other things). So, we purposely started putting chickens in this area to build up fertility using the Portable Poo Factories.  After all, if they'll spread it for us AND give us eggs?  

Well, it sounds like a good deal to me.

early March 2018

This area actually had a bit more history since we had to dig a fairly deep trench in the Spring of 2015 to run frost-free water lines out to Valhalla (the high tunnel on the right in this picture).  You might actually be able to see some of the path this trench took if you look carefully and you can definitely still see the remnants of a dirt pile that has yet to be redistributed to better locations in the center.  We were actually gearing up to do some work in this area in March until...

Late March 2018

 

We did manage to put some plastic down roughly where we wanted to add a new growing plot before the white stuff started to fall on the farm.  If you don't recall, we got most of our snow from March 20 to April 20 in 2017/2018.  

April 2018

This really put us a bit in doubt as to whether we would have time to work up the new plot.  First of all, the plot did have a bit of a dip in the middle that was wetter than the rest.  We were thinking we might try to raise that up a bit.  Second, we are encroaching a bit on "old farmstead" area where old foundations (among other things) might be encountered.  We knew there was good soil there as well, but any time you try to work new ground, you have to expect some surprises (both good and bad).

June 2018

Our old approach to work this ground would have been to use the two-bottom plow and follow up with the tandem disk to smooth it out.  But, we had put plastic down, so we pulled it and mowed things as close as we could.  Then, we used Vince (our power harrow) because we were curious as to what it could do AND we were running short on time.  At issue is that we do not want to overwork the soil and lose all the good Poo Byproduct (aka added fertility) that should be in this area.  The result was what you see above. 

We did find more rocks than we usually do on the farm, but things worked up pretty well.  Unfortunately, the delays put us into the period of time where everything was wet.  So, we ended up having to work the field before we should have and the soil structure is now a bit rough and pebbly for the season.

late July

 

Even though these tomato plants went in later than we wanted, they were catching up to the normal schedule fairly quickly.  It was be interesting to see how they compared to similar plants put into another area of the farm in plots that have been worked for a few years (and are closer to the edges of the farm).

 

The net result was that we had much better health and production from these plants.  Part of it had to do with the Portable Poo Factories.  Part of it might have been a bit more protection from some of the chemicals flying around.  This plot became one of our more productive areas from 2018 to 2021 - and we let it rest in 2022.  And, perhaps, I'll move the hens on to this plot for a little while again this Fall?  

All I can say is that it's all good because of the poo.  You're welcome and come back again soon! 

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Much of this post was originally written in August 2018 and is part of our Throwback series.  It has been edited and expanded on in places to bring it to the current day.

Henlet - A Sililoquy

To lay, or not to lay, that is the question

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the double yolk misfortune

or to add to the farm's troubles, by pecking - end them.

The eyes of a hen are placed on the sides of their heads, though we have noticed some are a bit more forward in placement than others - even in the same breed.  It is said that a hen has approximately a 300 degree field of vision.  But, if she wants to a get a good look at you, she will turn her head to the side so she can get you in full focus with one of her eyes.

To fly, to leap -- some more

and by leap we oft end in heartache, suffering the natural shocks that poor flight is heir to. 

'Tis a frustration as flight is devoutly to be wished.

If you have seen Chicken Run, you may have the mistaken assumption that all laying hens are unable to fly because they lack "thrust."  This is largely true for "heavier" breeds of chickens.  But, lighter breeds are perfectly able to fly.  In fact, we have found that the California Whites and the Americaunas on our farm are much more capable of attaining the appropriate thrust for some flight.  There is a reason we have six foot tall fences around our main hen pasture.

However, just because you can fly, it doesn't mean you are particularly good at it.  Don't expect any aerial acrobatics out of a hen.  Sometimes, our hens will misjudge their attempt at flight and run into walls, doors, humans... other hens...

Let's just say that innovators of airplanes and helicopters did not use a chicken as a model for figuring out ways to fly.

To sleep - perchance to dream: hey, there's a bug!

For in that sleep my breath in snores and whistles may come

After we have shuffled to our perches, and gripped them with our talons.

Chickens actually do have an REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep cycle that indicates the capacity to dream - possibly catching some tasty six-legged things in their sleep or soaring over the treetops, since they typically can't do that in reality.  While sleeping, we have noted that some birds will 'snore' in various fashions.  Some will emit a long whistle, not unlike some of the exaggerated sleep sounds found in cartoons.  

And, as far as perches are concerned, there has actually been research on what the best perches for a chicken might be.  At the Genuine Faux Farm, we tend to favor 2 x 2 square boards that are slightly rounded.  Some birds prefer other surfaces in the hen room and a few prefer staying on the ground.  In fact, if you look closely, they may not be gripping that perch as much as you think once they settle in!

There's the respect that makes calamity of a rooster's life.

For who would bear the snips and scorns of hens,

The crows are long, the proud rooster's song rings about the farm.

Ignoring dawn's delay, wearing the insolence of his office.

Stu and Stwo are the names of our current roosters on the farm (they want you to spell it right - after all, "Stew" would not do).  They are Americauna roosters and they display a fine ruff of feathers around his neck and a pretty decent set of tail feathers. Of particular note is Stu's amazing, extendable neck.  While most chickens can extend their neck out, Stu can go from the resting position you see above to holding his head up a good six to eight inches higher when he straightens up.

One of the things we have noticed over time (and several roosters) is that roosters can have a wide range of temperaments.  Some can become overly aggressive towards both the hens and humans.  Others can be bullied by the hens (a recent rooster never had a chance to grow out a full tail because the hens kept pulling out the feathers).  Some crow a lot and others not so much.  

The biggest reason we keep one or two roosters with our flock is the reliable "alarm" call that you can learn to respond to.  No - I don't mean an "alarm clock."  I mean a call of alarm.  Once you learn the language of the rooster(s) in your flock, you can learn the difference between regular flock noise and a call that indicates there is a problem that requires a farmer's intervention.

To cluck and scratch under the blue sky, but that the dread of something swoops down,

for we live in the country, where a traveling hawk passes by and returns, 

the rooster's call makes us scatter from the ills that may befall us - perhaps to fly to others that we know not of?

thus being chicken makes cowards of us all...

It is true that hawks, owls and other flying predators can be a problem for a laying flock.  But, if you watch closely, the rooster and some of the hens will often turn an eye to the sky to watch for problems.  In fact, in our flocks, we typically have one or two roosters and seventy or more hens.  With that sort of situation, it is not uncommon for a couple of hens to take on more aggressive, protective roles to supplement the rooster's role.

It is also interesting to note that a flock can learn which sort of predators they need to fear (such as the hawk over head) and those they might be able to intimidate (such as Inspector).  If you look closely, you can see that the hens who are warning Inspector away have extended their necks.  The hen at the right is a flock caretaker in our current flock and will usually lead a charge towards our poor cat - who just wanted to come say "hi" to the farmer who was taking pictures of hens.

While you might think hens are really pretty smart (and they are in their own ways), please consider that there are reasons for some of the stereotypes.  We have seen chickens in the pasture get surprised by something as innocuous as a leaf falling.  One hen gets startled and that leads to a whole flock running for cover!

We hope you enjoyed Henlet - A Sililoquy.

Alas -fair Ophelia!