I had spent the entire day trying to go through boxes of paperwork that had piled up during the various moves I've made over the years. I have the mortifying feeling that some of this paperwork hasn't seen the light of day in over a decade. Be that as it may, I decided to do something about it today and was making great headway until about two o'clock this afternoon when I reached the point where I just could not tackle another pile of murdered trees without going stark raving mad. So to clear my brain I decided to get in the truck and just tool around a bit to blow out the cobwebs.
So I loaded up the dog and off we went, headed south. I intended to go to the community about two miles south of me and stroll through Dollar General for a few minutes before going home. Instead I kept traveling and ended up in the town about 10 miles south instead. I figured since I was there I would go to one of my favorite stores just to see what was happening, the feed and seed store. That was probably my first mistake to Mom's way of thinking.
Got in the store and wandered around a bit and as usual drifted back to the chicken section to watch the new baby chicks for sale there (mistake #2). While I was standing there, the store manager (a very nice man who I'm on a first name basis with mainly because I spend a good portion of my income in his store), came by and struck up a conversation. He was talking about the new shipments they had just gotten in today when a small chicken fluttered out of its bin and perched on the rim. Manager shook his head as he reached over and placed the chick back in its bin. "These chicks in this bin have been here a week and they are getting big," he said. "They're feathering out and nobody wants them after they're not cute little balls of fluff anymore. They're starting to fly and cause problems. They're getting in the other bins and I caught one running through the store the other day."
We looked at each other and inspiration struck us both at the same time. "How much?" I asked(mistake #3) at the same moment that he said, "50 cents apiece." Now a 75 percent markdown is just too good to pass up, so all I could reply was, "Done!"
So home I went with 22 chickies in tow (and one very anxious dog). Luckily we had just put this year's first crop of babies out in the brooder house last week, so we had empty tubs. As soon as I got home, I made sure they were clean, put them on their stands and made them ready.
The bricks are to set the waterers on. If they are just on the bottom of the tub, it really becomes a mess. So after this I added chips, waterers, feeders, chicks, tops and heat lamps. Another batch, ready to go. Actually, three as I split the 22 chicks into three tubs.
By the time I got all that done, it was time to go do the outside chickens chores. The feeder was getting low so I loaded up a five gallon bucket with three-way scratch and off I went to the hen house.
After the number of chickens I had went over a dozen it was obvious that the little feeders from the feed store weren't going to be able to handle that many birds, so I went to the poultry supply store and invested in a commercial feeder that will hold a 50 pound bag of feed at one time. It comes with a hood that covers the feeder so that you can set it out in the yard and rain won't get in it, but since it's in the hen house, I found it's easier to work it with the hood off.
When I start pouring scratch in the feeder there is a flurry of excitement from the entire crew and everybody runs to grab a bite. Some just can't wait and will peck at the feed as it pours into the feeder.
After the feeder is filled and everybody is munching away, it's time to gather the day's eggs. Some of the hens will go broody and stay on the nest continuously, even when I take the eggs out from under them. I guess they think they can hatch thin air. Others simply lay their egg and leave.
After the eggs are collected and everybody is in the hen house and roosted up for the night, it's time to close the hatch, shut the door and turn the patrol dog loose for another day. With everything locked up for the night, then the farmer can go relax and count the loot. 29 eggs! A good day's work.
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