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Good to be Back

I can’t believe it’s been three years since I’ve posted to this blog. Things have been really busy on this little farm, and there have been various family issues that I’ve had to contend with, but I have so much to share that I need to get busy writing. So much has happened in three years, globally and here on the farm, that I’m not sure where to start. I’ll go back to what I said three years ago: get right with Jesus Christ, and be prepared to take care of yourself.

Get Right with Jesus Christ

Nothing happening on this planet, no matter how bad it seems, can possibly begin to compare to spending eternity separated from God. You must come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to spend eternity with Him in heaven. I’ll quote the verses I mentioned the last time I posted:

“Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:10-12

Next Steps

I won’t go into gardening advice again here since I’ve covered that information in other posts on this blog, but do start a garden if you haven’t. What I will recommend is that you start stocking up. Now. Today. Keep it simple if you’re on a tight budget. Every weekly shopping trip (or however often you get to the store), start purchasing small amounts of extra supplies. For example, this week, buy ten extra cans of meat (chicken, beef, tuna). Next week, buy ten cans of vegetables. The following week, buy ten cans of fruit. Then get a ten-pound bag of rice or ten one-pound boxes of macaroni. Then get several bags of dried beans. “Oh,” you say, “my family doesn’t eat beans.” Not a problem. Purchase what you and your family DO eat and start stocking up. Don’t forget the over-the-counter medication that you use, feminine hygiene products, pet supplies, paper products (remember the toilet paper shortage during the COVID lockdowns?), and other essential items that you use regularly. Buy a small amount EVERY WEEK. You’ll be surprised at how quickly it adds up.

If your home is tight on storage space, get creative. You can put boxes of canned food under the beds, you can slide storage items under the couch, you can double stack the kitchen cupboards (what you use every day in front and storage items behind). You WILL find space if you look for it.

Also, and this is hard for many people, keep some cash on hand. How much will depend on your budget and your needs, but if things go badly pear-shaped, as the Brits say, some cash on hand will be useful, at least for a little while. If the banking system goes down, cash on hand will make a huge difference. We don’t even have to go as far back as 1929 to look for a financial crisis. The 1987 crisis, Black Monday, involved the stock markets; the 2008 crisis included a stock market crash, a housing market collapse, and an international banking crisis that pulled down several banks, which were bailed out by the federal government since they were considered too big to fail. Recently, there have been rumors that in another banking crisis, the banks will be allowed to “bail in” rather than the government bailing them out. What is a bail in, you ask? Depositors accounts, that’s your money, will become assets of the bank and will be used to fix the situation. Look it up.

Keep an eye on the news

Do NOT let the news frighten you, but do be paying attention to what’s going on. Stay informed. Know what’s happening in the big cities near you because if things get violent, the violence could spread out into the suburbs and beyond. Stay alert and stay safe.

Chickens, Part Two

When you buy your chicks, you will have a choice. You can buy all females, all males, or straight run, which is a mix. Straight run should be an actual mix with some of each, but last year, I bought eighteen straight run chicks and ended up with eighteen males. Yes. So bummed. All but one of them ended up in the freezer because I didn’t want or need that many roosters.

Technically, these aren’t all chicks. The one on the right with its eye open is a poult, a baby turkey. You can tell by the little bump on its nose. I know I used this photo in the last post, but these little guys are so cute I thought I’d use it again.

As your chicks grow, they will be called by new names. The female chicks will become pullets, and the male chicks will become cockerels. Once they are adults, they are then hens and roosters. The pullets will begin laying at around five or six months. This is also the time that you will want to slaughter any roosters (or hens) you don’t want to keep. Once the birds get much older than that, the meat will be tough to eat.

Here’s the thing. Not to be unkind to the males, but once that testosterone kicks in, they spend much of their time fighting each other, and sometimes they will try to mount the hens at the same time, causing the hens some level of distress. You will want one rooster for every five to ten hens for fertilized eggs. More than that is too much.

Basic Care

Your birds need clean water, proper food, and safe shelter. If you don’t have a water source near the coop, or henhouse as I call it, you will need to carry water from the house. If you live in an area with cold winters, you will need an electric heater or, if that is not possible, two waterers so one can be thawing in your house while the birds are using the other.

There are many kinds of commercial feed. Ask at the feed store if you are unsure about which to purchase. I also give my birds cracked corn as a snack. I toss out half a scoop or so into their yard so they can scratch around for it. BE PREPARED FOR RATS. Yes. If you have chickens, you run the risk of attracting rats. They will come after the feed, but they will also carry off small chicks. That has happened to me twice.

The best rat traps that I have ever found are called Snap E Rat Traps. The first time I used them, I set out six traps and caught three rats the first night. After that, I caught one or two a night for two weeks. No joke. By the end of two weeks, I had caught twenty-six rats. One night, there were two rats in one trap! One thing that will help is if your henhouse is not directly on the ground so that the rats can’t dig tunnels underneath. My current henhouse is a small barn and is up on 4×4 lumber on top of gravel.

The henhouse must be predator proof. Raccoons, weasels, bears, stray dogs, and more will all happily break in for a tasty midnight snack if they can. Make sure the structure is sturdy enough to withstand a concerted attack.

These are muddy bear footprints on the door to the barn. The bear had gotten in a few nights earlier by knocking the door handle to the open position, so now I lock the door every night as I shut the birds in. Luckily, the barn is quite sturdy, and the bear hasn’t been able to gain access again.

What to expect

Depending on the breed, your hens will lay around five eggs a week while they are young. I lean toward large breeds that are cold hardy. The reason for a large breed is so that once the hens are done laying (after three to four years), they are large enough to bother slaughtering them for the stew pot. Many farmers cull the entire flock after eighteen months and start over. I keep the girls longer than that because, while they won’t lay as many eggs per week, the eggs will get larger as the hens get older. This is also when you might start to get double yolkers, eggs with two yolks.

I raise brown egg layers. Notice, though, the many variations of brown, from quite pale to a very dark brown. A hen will lay the same color all her life. The color of her eggs will never change.

Breed Choices

I have successfully raised Barred Rocks, Delawares, Sussexes, Rhode Island Reds, Australorps, Silver-laced Wyandottes, and, one of my favorites, Salmon Faverolles, a heritage breed from France. Faverolle hens have beards, muffs, feathers on their legs and feet, and five toes instead of the usual four. Very much fun. I make sure to choose docile breeds so that, in the event the birds need to stay inside because of bad weather, they won’t hurt each other.

The white hens are Delawares. The gray and white striped ones are Barred Rocks. The one on the right with the white feathers edged with black is a Silver-laced Wyandotte. The little brown hen is a Salmon Faverolle. The big black rooster is an Australorp.

There is more to tell about chickens, but my next post is too critical to wait. I’ll get back to chickens later.