October Babies

We just received and opened our package of our new baby chicks!  Aren't they cute? 
How do you count 50 playful chicks chirping and moving around?  You take a picture and then count 'em!

Earlier this year, there was a bird flu that killed thousands of turkeys in the Midwest.  So hopes of ordering any last spring to raise for Thanksgiving and Christmas was not going to happen.  The hatchery's were all sold out for the year.  

Now that Thanksgiving is just around the corner, it's time to start thinking about what I'm going to serve for the holidays, right?  Well, not really.  I should have planned this months ago.   

 Unfortunately, because I waited too long to place my order for turkeys in the spring, (although I didn't know what was going on) we won't be eating turkey on Thanksgiving and Christmas!

 This is sad!!  

"Tom", the "star" of our Thanksgiving Dinner, 2014, growing up on fresh pasture.

So now what am I going to do?

Hm................chicken!!  The next best thing, right?

 After growing our own turkey, it's hard to go back to buying one from the store so we'll have to wait until next spring to start growing some more.

Last year was our first Thanksgiving that we celebrated here on our farm.  And, last year was the first time, I ever prepared and roasted a turkey (and I'm old)!   Smiles!

It was a real treat to be able to raise our own turkey.  We've done quite a lot of chicken processing in the past so processing a turkey, we thought, should be pretty much the same, other then the size of the bird.  And even though "Tom" was was quiet a bit larger than a chicken, everything went smooth.

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Ever since we've been married, we've been able to see both side of our families for all the holidays.  We lived fairly close to each of them so it was easy for us to split up the day; one family earlier in the day and the next in the evening.  So because of that, I've never had the opportunity to host a holiday at our home other than a few Christmas Eve's--which I loved doing.

But that's okay!!  I'm not complaining, because I sooooo enjoyed going to see our families and spending the holiday's at their homes.  And I knew that someday, I would get the chance to be the hostess, so I just needed to be patient.

Now here I am. 

At my age, you would think that I would be over wishing that my mom and grandma were still here to prepare our holiday meals for us, but I don't think I'll ever be over it.  I really miss those days now that they're gone, but I'm so very thankful for the memories that I have.  They always made those times very special and their homes were always so very warm and inviting, and now I have the opportunity to follow in their foot steps.

 Do you think it's too late to start our own family traditions?

I don't think it's ever to late for us, or anyone else for that matter.

It's just that the transition might be a little difficult in the beginning.

Oh, I can only wish that I could go back and really thank them for all that they did to make our holidays a special one, but I can't.  So, it's time to look to the future and start making some new memories here on the farm.

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We processed young "Tom" about a week before Thanksgiving last year,
and let him sit on ice until the "big day". 

Wow!!

I have never tasted a turkey like this before!  

It was kind of funny too, because, we had Grandpa Mickey, Uncle Mark, Aunt Karen, and the girls for the Thanksgiving weekend.  Of course, I was nervous to have them share in our meal with us for my "first Thanksgiving".  Especially since they're "suburbanites" and the star of the Thanksgiving meal was a turkey that we had raised.

Even though my husband and I were born and raised in the suburbs, we've always longed for the country and did many things that suburbanites don't usually do. So Uncle Mark and his family knew who they were dealing with here.

And because of that, I'm sure Uncle Mark and Aunt Karen were a little nervous about our turkey too, but they would never have told us.  Smile. 

When the time came for us to sit and enjoy our meal together, I think we were all surprised at how amazing the turkey was!

 We didn't do anything to this turkey to make it taste the way it did except give it a place to roam free under the sun, drink clean fresh water, and eat as many bugs and creepy crawling things that it could. 

Tender, juicy, and Oh!  So tasty! 

Now, how am I ever going to break it to them-- and my family--that we were not going to be having turkey again this year?  I don't know?!?  Especially since Esther just told me that Uncle Mark said that he and his family were not going to come back again this year if we did not raise our own bird!   

"What!"  I thought. 

Do you believe he just said that?

Well, I haven't told anyone this yet, but this year, it's going to be chicken and all the trimmings for the coming holidays!  And a chicken is a bird, right?  

Anyway, everything will be just fine--right?

Yes.

 It will.

 I will be, because Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for what God has given us.  And, if it's not going to be turkey, then................

We'll be thankful--for chicken! 

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(If all goes as planned, our little chicks will be in the freezer in about 8 to 10 weeks.)

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This is a photo of a confinement turkey house in Australia.

This is a picture of how these birds live.  I wanted to link to the website, but I can not.  No human being should see the way these animals are treated.  Everything that we can touch and hear and see and smell and taste is a gift from God and we should treat it that way. 

This type of farming is also done in the United States of America.  In these houses, the birds never see the light of day and you have to wear a mask to even enter the building.

October 2015
Sandy

Chickens on the Go

Kind of a side view of the trailer.

     Here is the beginning stages of the our new chicken house on wheels. 

     It's built on the base of our old pop-up camper that we used to camp in when the kids where younger.  Boy, did I love that camper!!  It was an old Starcraft camper from 1984.  It wasn't in fashion anymore, but it was very "homey" and I loved it.  It was hard for me to let it go, but I had too. It was beyond repair according to my husband, and I didn't want to believe it!!

     In April of 2009 we were headed west for a week of luxurious condo living and skiing at the Grand Timber Lodge in Breckenridge, Colorado.  We were sooooooo excited!!  We started saving money about two years before our trip so needless to say we were anxious to get going.

     But we sort of had a dilemma.  How were we going to move 12 people over 1000 miles in our 15 passenger van along with all the skis, boots, poles, food, winter clothes, and more for our family?  We couldn't really rent a trailer and we didn't want to borrow one, so what were we going to do?

      Well, along with my husbands creative idea and family input, we decided to use the base of the pop-up camper that had been sitting in the back yard for a while.  Because the camper was in bad shape and we couldn't use it anymore, Landon went ahead a while before and ripped it apart and scrapped what he could so that the only thing that was left was the frame and the wheels.  Then he parked it in the back yard to "store it" until we could come up with a use for it. 

     Well, that day finally came and we knew just what to do.

     So, in less then a week, we had our new "storage transport on wheels" built, electrified, and painted and we were off!! 

     Nothing like waiting until the last minute to do a project, huh!?!  Yea, we're bad at that!!

     Once we all took our seats in the van and started for the mountains, I realized that there was no way we could have done this trip without the camper. 

Colorado mountains here we come!!

The only picture I could find with our newly built trailer.

Landon, Barrett, Shane, and Dakota

     After our Colorado trip, the new trailer became our transport for camping trips, day trips, and moving junk trips and then it became our doughnut trailer to transport all of our "stuff". 

     And after years of use, it had to be retired because it was beyond repair, again.  But we haven't forgotten about it and once again it was ripped up and thrown away; all but the frame and the wheels.  And at this point, the "scrap" is waiting to be hauled over to the burn pile.

     And so the building begins again.  This time into our mobile chicken house.

     This is Tanner's project and so far so good.  He's had very little construction experience, so along with his dad and his brothers input, he's off and running.  And what a great way to learn!  Sure he's had to change plans here and there as we talk about things, but that's okay.  He'll get it done and done well. 

     As far as the details go, we can talk about that later.  But since the floor is already done, I can tell you that it's made out of expanded metal so that when the birds "mess", most of it will fall through the floor and fertilize the ground as the house moves across the pasture.  And, it should be easy to clean also.

     Tanner says that he should be done with it by the end of this week, so we'll see.  I hope so, because I'm anxious to get it it filled with some baby chicks!!  We would like to get one more batch of chickens grown and processed before winter sets in.

     Oh, and just a quick question before I sign off.  Have you ever eaten a chicken that was grown out on fresh pasture?  If you haven't, you're in for a treat!  It's hard to explain how fresh and clean these birds taste.

The front of the trailer.

August 18, 2015
Sandy