by Chiron
Our new chickens in their new home!
In the late winter, we sell our old chickens to neighbors and friends, then clean out and improve the chicken coop.Then we wait for the new chickens to come.
Our chickens for this season arrived early last week- a flock of 300 Rhode Island Reds born down in Virginia. I put them all into their new home and pretty soon they'll be laying delicious brown eggs. We are crossing our fingers for them to start laying enough eggs to bring to market soon, but so far, they are focused on settling in. We will update you when we have eggs!
Our chickens for this season arrived early last week- a flock of 300 Rhode Island Reds born down in Virginia. I put them all into their new home and pretty soon they'll be laying delicious brown eggs. We are crossing our fingers for them to start laying enough eggs to bring to market soon, but so far, they are focused on settling in. We will update you when we have eggs!
Example of the nuc hives
The day before the chickens came, I picked up and installed our three new bee hives. The bees are a Minnesota Hygienic / Carniolan cross that had been pollinating fruits in Florida. This year I decided to order our colonies in the form of nucleuses, or "nucs", which are basically an already-functioning mini hive with a mated queen, worker bees, eggs, honey, pollen, and built-out wax foundation. I transferred the five frames from each nuc into standard 10 frame Langstroth hive bodies. These three hives joined our sole surviving hive on the Hilltop area of the farm. I also bought two more to put in my own backyard, bringing my personal hives up to four!
Chiron and the hives
In other news, we have had a bit of crop and equipment damage recently due to deer. Huntingdon county is very rural and mountainous- a perfect place to raise little fawns. I honor and respect the deer. They are more free than we will ever be. They don't have to wake up to alarm clocks, fix their cars, shave their faces, or do the dishes...But it can be difficult (sometimes nearly impossible!) to protect our crops from deer damage. Unfortunately for the deer, the only certain way to stop them is to hunt them.
Late one recent Friday, I took two deer off of the farm to dissuade others from grazing on crops and destroying plastic mulch. After field dressing the deer, I promptly butchered them, getting some very nice whole cuts of venison. I let very little go to waste, and even ground up over thirteen pounds. Now the carnivores on our crew can indulge! Kept the tenderloins for myself, of course.
Late one recent Friday, I took two deer off of the farm to dissuade others from grazing on crops and destroying plastic mulch. After field dressing the deer, I promptly butchered them, getting some very nice whole cuts of venison. I let very little go to waste, and even ground up over thirteen pounds. Now the carnivores on our crew can indulge! Kept the tenderloins for myself, of course.
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