Preparation, rain, culling

Since it would take me a couple hours to get things set up for the twenty or so chicks Mama ordered, we had to choose a night to get that done. A night that I would not be able to participate in Vacation Bible School. We chose last night. That might not have been the best decision, but that was the decision. With that choice made, I fed and watered and filled feed barrels as the sky grew more and more dark. It had been overcast most of the day, but we had gotten no measurable rainfall. I suspected that was about to change. With the thought of rain coming I elected to move a partial bale of hay out of the barn – where it has sat for months – and into the paddock for the boys. Rain tends to limit my tractor access at the barn. But we are out of the hay we have been measuring out to our herd and with the low rainfall there is very little to eat in their paddock. That choice of timing may not have been my most enlightened moment. As I was driving the tractor back to park it, the rain started. The forecast was for 0.03” of rain.

The fact that we were getting rain was a complete surprise. When that rain began to fall in earnest, we were shocked. We ended up getting two inches of rainfall. It was much needed and greatly appreciated. Of course, the once dry bale of hay I had retrieved from the barn was now thoroughly soaked. The boy goats will still eat on it for the next week or so, but I felt a little foolish at the choice I had made to get it before the rain started. At some point it would have gotten wet because I have no place to set it out where it would be protected from the rain. I never intended to supply large bales of hay to the goats, but I may have to explore that idea. The fact that the bale got soaked in the first ten minutes it was set out was completely unexpected.

Having been caught by the rain, I parked the tractor at the back of the property and headed to the coop from there. I had planned to be inside the coop working while it rained so as the rain began, I worked on installing our chick rearing cage in the coop. When I got to the point that I needed some hardware and tools it was raining so hard I did not want to venture out from under cover. I waited for fifteen minutes or so before I took a feed sack to use as an umbrella to get to the house. The rain continued for almost an hour. It would slack off then come again in force. As it looked like it was ending, I ventured to the shop and from there to the boy’s shelter. Had it not been for the igloo in that “shelter” all our goats would have been soaked. The force of the runoff filled the structure with water. The holes in the used metal roofing let a fair amount of rain drip into the roofed area. The lamb would not get into the igloo. He was soaked. Standing in the place of least leakage. I felt sorry for him. I have a lot of work to do if I intend to keep the boys in our herd dry.

Once I had the tools and screws to complete the work in the coop, I aimed myself that direction. It did not take long to get everything secured in place. I have set the coop up to be adaptable to multiple arrangements of roosts and cages. Mama was content to have everything in place for her chicks. They should arrive tomorrow or Thursday. My only concern is the issue we are having with snakes. I am not sure how to combat that, but I am sure we will figure something out when we need to.

Since we have one side of the coop closed off to the flock, Mama and I decided to do an experiment to see if we can determine who among our mature birds are laying. So, last night, Mama had me catch four chickens and put them in the isolated side of the coop. Based on the number of eggs laid, we can begin to cull our flock to get rid of the older non-producing hens. Since Mama has regular customers now, we need to be able to meet those orders consistently. This is the second step in that process. First, ordering replacement chicks. Second, eliminating non-producers from the flock. Mama really dislikes that part of farm life. But she did give me permission to process the older chickens if I would like to. First, we will offer them to Alex and his family.

Alex has always assured us that the older chickens make the best soup.