R.I.P Buddy

Life on the homestead is generally a fun, rewarding, and often maddening experience.  It's amazing to be an integral part of the cycle of life going on around you; to know that the food you are putting on the table comes from a developing balanced ecosystem (aka permaculture).  Also, the knowledge that our animals are raised humanely, in the manner God designed them, is a huge blessing.  Not only is it better for the environment and better for the animals, but the food is more nutritious as well.

But, it's not always sunshine and laughter.  I was speaking to a colleague at work who is almost a vegetarian because she just doesn't like the idea of something having to die so she can eat.  Death is always a part of life.  The minerals in your vegetables come from the soil and the soil largely gets it from dead animals.  Accepting that is part of living on a farm.  But, it isn't always easy.....

Buddy's Story

I was out in the garden Thursday morning and got a call on my cell phone.  (I was using its iPod to listen to The Survival Podcast while I was out there.)  It was a post office about 50 miles from our house.  "We have your chicks.  Where is <my hometown>?"  When the post office doesn't even know where you are, that's a pretty bad sign.

I told them roughly where we lived and they hatched a scheme to pass the chicks off from post office to post office to get them to our town.  To me this sounded like a bad idea.  In and out of the A/C; truck to truck, handler to handler.  It sound like a recipe for sick chicks.  So, I piled the kids into the Suburban and off we drove to get them.  The post office had them for about and hour and a half from the time the called me to the time I picked them up.  In that time, 2 Barred Rock pullets succumbed to the cool temps in the climate controlled post office.

Healthy chicks:  to the front is a Rhode Island
Red cockerel, left a Barred Rock pullet, the
others are Rhode Island Red pullets

Another hour and a half and we were home.  The chicks still living were moved into their brooder, but we noticed that one of the Rhode Island Red pullets was having trouble standing.  We decided to brood the bunch inside with our little sick one treated for splayed legs and in her own "hospital box" inside the larger brooder.  (The treatment for splayed legs involves using a band-aid or first aid tape to hobble the legs and bring them under the chick so they can develop the muscle tone to stand normally, if you want more info, comment below and I'll help you out.)  She did well the first day, drinking her sugar water, taking some honey off my finger and eating some.  By day two she was trying to stand, but still having trouble.  She seemed determined to douse herself in her water dish at every opportunity, so we spent a lot of time holding her near the brooder lamp so she'd stay warm enough.  She was noticeably smaller than her brothers and sisters.  My older son named her his "sick little buddy."  So, Buddy she became.

This morning she was still alert but unable to stand.  Thinking that she was likely vitamin deficient at this point, we fed her some more honey and ran out to the feed store and got her some nutri-drench.  My daughter stayed home to rescue her from her tendency to wet herself and get chilled.  When we got home, she was much the same.  My husband picked her up to examine her and noticed she had worn the skin off her knee standing on it and her bone was exposed.  The knee was totally dislocated and there was no sign of the attendant tendons.

So, we decided to put her down.  When you've spent so much energy keeping an animal alive, it's never easy doing what needs to be done.  But, death is always a part of life and little Buddy will become soil soon, to nourish life anew.

Salmonella Outbreak

The CDC is reporting an outbreak of salmonella that has sickened at least 39 people in 12 states.  It appears as though the outbreak can be traced to a single mail order company, but chicks from this company are sold through at least one feed store chain.  They aren't currently identifying the company or the chain, so if you've purchased any chicks this year, please be careful.  Here are some basic safety tips for handling chickens (and any livestock for that matter):

• Always handle the youngest birds first.  Young birds have an immature immune system and can be sickened by diseases from an older bird.
• Avoid eating, drinking, smoking, or touching your hands to your face while working with your birds.
• Never nuzzle or kiss your birds.
• Wash your hands with soap and water (or use hand sanitizer) immediately after working with birds.

These rules apply whenever you are working with your birds, feeding or watering them, in their enclosure for any reason, working with manure that has not been composted at high temperature, or cleaning equipment used with them.  The CDC also recommends that the very young (under 5 years old) and very elderly do not handle birds at all.  In my experience this isn't a very realistic expectation with  a backyard flock, but these groups are the most likely to get sick, and if they do become ill they are the most likely to experience severe complications, including hospitalization and death.

For the full CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/altona-baby-chicks/052711/

Please remember that salmonella can be transmitted to the egg, so eggs of infected chickens are likely to be contaminated, and chicks born to an infected chicken can also be carriers.  Chickens can live normal an productive lives while carrying salmonella infections.  Some possible signs of salmonella include:

• Diarreha, lethargy, and/or going off their feed
• Excessive thirst
• Hatching eggs that develop normally for a few days, then suddenly die
• When dead birds are examined, the liver, spleen, kidney, and heart can appear to have suffered damage
• Remember, in chickens, it is possible for salmonella to be present with no outward indications

If you suspect salmonella in your flock, tests are available.  I would recommend contacting your local veterinarian for more information.

One parting thought--Remember not to wash your eggs unless they are excessively dirty.  If you do wash them, use them right away.  Eggs have a protective bloom on them that keeps the potential little one inside safe from outside diseases.  Washing removes this bloom and can force bacteria through the porous shell.

Chickens. Eat. A. Lot.

Went out to feed the chickens today and they were completely out of food again!  Mary only half filled their feeder yesterday morning.  Looks like I'm going to have to go to filling it every day.  There are 33 growing birds right now, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  But still, I mean, wow.  They are going through about 7 lbs of food a day, on top of what they are foraging.  I may have to move into grinding my own feed sooner than I thought.

I'm going to take a minute here and look at the costs of chicken raising, now that I know what little piggies they are. At $12-$14 for a 50 lb bag, that seems like a lot of money to put into chicken.  I've got 3-5 weeks before they are big enough to butcher.  Doing the math, that's $2-3 in feed per chicken, so I guess it's not terrible.  I got them for about $2  each, so I'm looking at about $5 for a broiler/fryer that will weigh out butchered at about 4-5 lbs.  A dollar a pound for free range, antibiotic-free meat is a bargain.

I didn't include here the cost of the range shelter, equipment, or the fencing.  We actually built the range shelter from scrap wood we had and left over shingles and tar paper from fixing our roof.  So, the only cost there was $5 in paint.  The fence right around their enclosure was also built at no cost because we used left over fence posts and poultry netting from when we had ducks, and left over tent stakes from some old tents to stake the fence down.  We did buy the electric poultry netting, that cost $140.  The solar energizer, wire, ground rod, and incidentals cost about $200.  For feeders, waterers and brooders we spent about $60.  So, the total cost there was about $400.  We had a real problem with our ducks roaming the neighborhood and we have very brave skunks, so I didn't want to take any chances.  We are going to keep chickens for eggs though.  The useful life of the equipment and fencing we bought should be about 10 years, so that amortises out to $40 per year.  Once we start laying, I'll calculate that cost into the eggs, as well as the cost of the chicken coop when we get it built.

You could do it much more cheaply.  My sister in law kept her chickens in her fenced in back yard and bought a prefab coop for about $200 I believe.  If you were only keeping meat birds and had a fenced yard, you could get by with just the feeders, waterers, brooder, and a place for them to get in out of the sun and rain (a tarp or an old dog house would even work.)  A word the wise here--if you raise Cornish X of some type (we don't) they will need a roost and they will generate a huge pile of droppings where ever it is.  Cornish X are hybridized meat birds that can get to 6 lb butchering weight in as little as 6 weeks, but all they do is convert feed to meat.  That means they sit around and poop.  A lot.

The benefits of being an early riser

Okay, first, I am *not* an early riser by nature.  10am is a great time to get up as far as I'm concerned.  And, I'm married to a night owl who goes to bed at midnight or later on a work night.  So, getting up early is not easy for me.  I made the effort this morning because I still had some things that weren't planted and didn't feel like doing my outside chores in the forecasted 100 degree heat.

So, I was up at 6:30 this morning (hush those of you who think this is not early).  I had my coffee and read a wonderful devotional in The Word Among Us.  Today's New Testament Reading is Acts 20:28-38.  St. Paul is leaving Ephesus after a 3 year ministry there.  The devotional reading focuses on Paul's care for the weak in the Church there.  Here's an excerpt:

Every community, every congregation, even every family has its own "weak" members....  These are the ones Paul singled out for special attention, for he knew the fundamental precept that those who are more graced should care for those who are in need--not take advantage of them or ignore them.

Such a philosophy goes against our human nature.  Those who move quickly find it irritating to slow down for those who lag behind.  It can be hard for someone with a quick mind to have to explain things to someone who just doesn't et it.  Instead of puttin ourselves in their shoes, we tend to imagin them in ours:  "If that happened to me, I would surely have handled it better."  But when we do this, we exercise the judgment that belongs to God and fail to extend his mercy--a mercy that belongs to the strong and weak alike.

This could have been written about me.  It has to be hard having me for a mom.  I just pray that God will help me to show mercy to my children and encourage them, even, perhaps especially, when they do the same dumb thing for the 9,000th time.

Speaking of which, did you know that an electric fence is pretty ineffective at keeping in starving chickens?  I had the kids feed and water the chickens yesterday and, well, let's just say it's a good thing they don't do it every day.  I went outside to see 2/3 of the babies and all of the pullets (who should not be able to fit) had squeezed through the electric poultry netting and were foraging in our side yard.  So, I spread some feed out on the ground and woke my 13 year old (14 tomorrow) daughter to come out and watch them as they ate, and fill their food and water properly.  I, by the grace of God, did this without yelling or getting snarky once.  And, you know what?  I think she learned the lesson of how to care for them properly better for it.

Oh--and a bonus--they all went back inside the fence with no complaints or stragglers.  That is truly a miracle.