People do not want to buy chickens in the heat of the summer. I don't blame them one bit. I do not want to raise chickens in the summer either but I have about 150 to 200 left. I don't even know what I got, hows that for management. The doors have been open so much and chickens run in and out, coming and going and the sure fire system we had of banding the legs in conjunction with the age and rotating the chicks from brooder #1 to brooder #2 then to yard #1 and finally ending up in yard #2, flew out the window on the second hatch.Now I have 4 month olds running with 4 week olds, in the gardens, with the geese, with the dog, in the goat pen and even under the house. Complete disorder. And with my OCD like mind set where everything has to have a place and a order, I just put my head in my hands and go back in the house. Out of site out of mind I guess.
Just ask neighborlyplace, a blogger herself and one of the MDR blog readers that came by last night for a tour of the Mini Farm and to buy some chickens. Her first words were "Oh, Wow, there are a bunch of them".
The good thing is if I cannot sell them then in the fall I will a bunch that are laying and can sell them as layers. People want layers so I am sitting good I guess.
It did not help that I needed to mow and clean up a few things the last storm blew around. I am not making excuses but it is hot. When I work in it all day, the last thing I want to do is come home, mow and clean the back yard. I guess that is on the books for this weekend.
Thank all yall for stopping by wishonshootingstars. It is nice to have people I never met show so much support for this young girl who is just now starting life. She will need everyone's words of wisdom and encouragement as she leaves home for the first time. Yall are real friends even thou I don't know what you look like. You can take this to the bank, if you need anything you just email or call me.
Thanks again.
I have about seven hens now with chicks. My chickens are free range. I expect about 30 of the new chicks will make it to adulthood. My flock varies from 20 to 50 or more, depending on how harsh the weather is and a number of other factors. But eggs and chicken are good to eat. If I can't eat all the eggs I feed them to my dogs. Nothing goes to waste.
ReplyDeleteLike Arsenius just said, I like me some good 'ole fried chicken. If I didn't live so darn far away I'd be backing my truck into your driveway, my freezer needs chicken.
ReplyDeleteAnd, you're more than welcome on the sweet daughter. She has a sound base from which to work.
Thank yall for commenting.
ReplyDeleteWhen I say go to waste, I mean to be eaten not thrown away. I know that is not wasting but if I can't incubate them or sell them then they are a waste. Meaning no money can be made from them. I do not sell fertile eggs because of the summer heat so I end up having to eat the potential profit margin.
If I need to eat the chickens I will, but then there is waste again. When they are at killing age I will have more in them than what you can buy the hormone chicken at the store. I know mine are all organic, free range and better for you but in the end looking at it from a business point of view, if I eat them I am loosing money.
Turn the cards here and if I keep them to long and do not sell them and then have to eat them at a older age, I lost even more money.
It is just part of the chicken business and the problem is I hatched out for to long this season.
And Stephen, Your not to far away. If you need fresh chicken that bad I bet we could work something out. Your just right over the hill at the pond.
It's always a balancing act in agriculture. Will you have product when the market is ripe? Will your have a market when the product is ripe? Will it rain? Will it ever STOP raining? So many factors beyond your control. But we love it, don't we?
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I have lived it my whole life HossBoss. I don't know nothing else. I have to love it.
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