The chickens are back on pasture as of this past Friday. It's been a soggy weekend, so we were thankful to get them moved from the greenhouse area over to their first patch of fresh, spring pasture. The chicken move typically takes 2-3 hours from start to finish. While we try to be efficient, much depends on the chickens and their agreeing to the move. About 42 of the chickens are less than a year old, and therefore have never been out in the pasture living in the "egg mobiles."
They were not so sure about this!
The first 1-2 nights on pasture are a challenge for us as we train them to go inside the egg mobiles before the automatic doors close (at sunset). That means chasing chickens, catching them, and putting them in by hand. Many of them stand at the edge of the fence, pacing, and looking for a way to get back to the greenhouse. Typically, 2 nights of this "training" is all it takes. We are hopeful for a peaceful evening... with no more chicken chasing tonight!
The automatic chicken doors open at the first light and the chickens are on fresh pasture. It is a wonderful chicken salad bar filled with a variety of grasses along with slugs, worms and grubs. For chickens, this is a wonderful thing.
The egg yolks will take on a deep orange color now that the chickens are eating the fresh grasses. The pasture is like an elixir for chickens.
In spite of the move, the egg laying did not decrease much.
A couple of chickens still find their way over the fencing and back to the greenhouse that was their home all winter. But when dark falls, they head back to the egg mobiles and get in. Fortunately, it only took a couple of nights of retraining.
This is probably the most difficult job on the farm. Moving tons of mulch out of the greenhouse and into the compost piles on the other side of the house. It's all manual labor since we aren't able to get equipment into the barn. There is no need for a gym membership when you live on a farm!
Keith keeps working despite having to still wear his foot "boot" after his surgery.
With so many farm chores to do along with homeschooling and other household needs, the areas around the house can go unchecked. It's been said that, "Whatever you own, owns you..." and that is certainly what has happened with our back decks. I finally decided I was going to tackle this impromptu project and lay much needed weed paper and rocks under these decks.
Fortunately for me, the family all got involved and helped pull weeds, lay paper and haul rocks. We were able to finish a reasonable section of it and I love how much cleaner it looks!
Before and after photos:
And for our reward .... hamburgers on the grill.
Other work happening over the past few weeks:
Greenhouse tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce, spinach, onions, and a variety of peppers are ready for sale or planting.
And outside the garlic planted in the fall is nearly ready to harvest.
Keith worked on planting red clover on several acres this winter. We learned that red clover is a wonderful crop to put nutrients back into the soil, and it germinates best when planted in the snow. On the first day of snow in Feb, Keith was out there spreading seed. Then God blessed us with 3 more snow/melt days... perfect for clover to grow. Another bonus is that chickens love clover! The chickens will be on this part of the pasture once the clover has taken hold.
The large tarp is where part of our potato patch will be. The tarp is just to help us keep weeds in check until we plant and lay mulch on the first section.
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”
Jeremiah 17:7-8
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