Chicks at 2 weeks old

Chicks at 1 day old

Chicks at 14 days old

I had to show you all the photos side by side so you can really get a grasp on how fast they grow.  After just 14 days they are almost fully feathered and have more than quadrupled in size!  Tomorrow I will be moving them out of their brooder and into a larger space, but I will still have heat lamps on them for the next week.  At about 3 weeks they will be ready to go out on pasture and start eating their greens!  I finished getting their field shelter all set today.  I'll include some pictures of it soon.  They'll be staying inside it at night and free-ranging during the day protected by an electrified net that I can easily move to make sure that they are always on fresh pasture.

At The Green Faire 2011

We were invited to set up a display for our farm at this year's Green Faire at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Akron.  The theme for this year was ethical eating, and the displays focused on fair trade, sustainable agriculture and other related topics.  We shared our table with Debbie Fox, a good friend of ours that runs the White House Gardens CSA.  Right next to us was the Crown Point Ecology Center's display.  They are one of the largest CSA's in the area, and also do research projects and educational programs.   There was a wonderful turnout, and we were so happy to meet many new people.

We want to say thank you again to the volunteers of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Akron's "Green Team" for putting such a wonderful and educational event.

Broilers at 1 week

The picture at the top is of the broilers at 1 week old!  If you look at the previous post you will see the picture that I took of them at 1 day.  They are a hybrid that has been bred for fast growth, and a big appetite.  It is the same breed that you are used to seeing on the supermarket shelves, but these birds will soon be allowed to roam free on organic pasture unlike their brethren which are kept in confinement to accelerate growth. Many people would not even recognize the body of a traditional breed of chicken that has not been bred to produce a plump body with a wide breast.  The picture below is of the new pullets (young hens) which are about two months old now.  They grow much slower than the meat chickens, but now that they are 2 months old they have been getting to venture outside a little during the day.  They should be laying eggs in a couple more months.  

The first chicks of 2011 are here!

It was an exciting day around here yesterday.  We got the first batch of chicks for this season.  They're all safe and sound in their brooder where it's a toasty 95 degrees under the lights.  They'll need that kind of warmth for about the first week, and then we can begin to taper it off.  They'll need to be in the brooder there it's safe and warm for about three weeks before they can be moved out to the pasture where they'll be exposed to the elements.  

Brooder's all set, chicks arrive tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the big day! I get the first batch of chicks tomorrow, and this is a picture of the brooder. We bolted together a couple of galvenized steel sheets to form the circle, and the lid I made is 1/2" hardware cloth. I'm determined to keep any rodents away from my brood! This is where they will live until they are about 2-3 weeks old at which point they'll need more space and be moved to a different part of the barn for about another week until they can go out on pasture. Underneath the box where the light is coming from it's a tosaty 95 degrees. That's just about right for day old baby chicks, but there's plenty of room for them to roam around if it gets too warm. Check back tomorrow for pictures of the new chicks!

Honey bottling and Winter Greens

Well there's lots going on at the farm! I've got the first of the broiler chicks coming on april 5th and the preaparations for their brooder are just about complete. Susan's honey business has been booming lately. Above is a picture of Ed and Samantha bottling in the honey house. You can find it on store shelves at Mustard Seed Market, and most recently Heinen's. Get in touch if you want more details on getting some off this delicious local honey! Below is a picture inside the high tunnel where some winter growing has been going on. Lots of salad greens, and there's some kale down there somewhere too! It's technically spring now so warm weather is almost here. Stay in touch!

The hens are back in their summer home!

After 3 long months of being cooped up in the barn for the winter, the hens are finally back on the open range again. Of course they weren't confined the whole time. I would open up the house for fresh air and leave the door open on warmer days, but when there was snow on the ground they were just not interested in setting foot outside, even if it was above freezing during the day. These hens stay at my parent's house not at Schmidt Family Farm where I will be raising my meat chickens this year. They have plenty of layers of their own over at Schmidt's so if your coming to pick up meat birds this summer you should definitely plan on picking up some of their eggs, honey, and vegetables that will be available.

I don't have much of an update on the organic certification other than the application has been submitted, and all that's left to do now is wait for inspection. I'm told that may not be until June, but the chickens won't be ready until then anyways. The pasture that they will be raised on is still under organic certification, just not the livestock production. It's all in place though, and the first chicks will be here in just 2 weeks!