Baby Chicks at the Learning Farm

Our Baby Chicks Have Arrived!

by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

During the past few weeks, we’ve been spending tons of time preparing for the arrival of our new baby chicks!  This is not my first time to be involved in raising chicks at the Learning Farm, but it is my first time to plan, coordinate, and manage the effort.  Who knew there would be quite so much to do?!?!? 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining.  I was very much looking forward to this opportunity.  But taking this on while also continuing to care for our current adult flock of chickens, as well as our small “backyard chicken” flock – well, it’s a lot to juggle!

Long before we started our chick preparations, I spent innumerable hours reading, researching, interviewing and taking copious notes on the best ways to raise chicks.  Of course, no two experts agree on how to best do everything – so to help organize it in my own mind, I decided to make a table (which grew to 8 pages in length!), comparing the various words of advice and suggestions.  From there I could more easily compare and choose what made the most sense to me.

One huge task was simply cleaning up our winter hen house (now to serve as our “chick house”). There was also equipment and supplies to procure and prepare.  We already had some items here on the farm that had been used with previous flocks of chicks; they needed to be located and then cleaned and sanitized.  Other items needed to be purchased new.  Once everything was gathered and ready, we began the set up the brooder. 

About 9:00 a.m. last Sunday morning, I received a phone message that the chicks had been shipped. If all went well, they would arrive on Monday morning (and I would receive an early morning phone call from the post office letting me know that I could come pick them up).  I came into work on Sunday afternoon to finalize preparations, and by late Sunday afternoon, all was ready and waiting.

 

I went to bed on Sunday night with the anticipation of a child on Christmas Eve.  Sure enough, at 5:30 a.m. the phone rang.  “Your chicks are here!”  I assumed that I would be able to come and get them right then, but the post office staff said that I needed to wait until they opened at 8:00 a.m.  L

After a quick breakfast, I got dressed, made a stop at the farm to make a final check on the temperature of the brooder and to let Anya know that she could now fill the chick waterers – then headed to the post office! 

 

One hundred chicks shipped in one medium-sized box.  Wow!  I had forgotten just how small chicks are when they’re only 1-day-old!

 

I timed the arrival of these chicks in part so that our first two summer farm camps – Little Sprouts and Sweet Peas – could have the opportunity to see them before their camps ended.  I knew that timing would add a lot of work to an already busy time on the Learning Farm – but I wasn’t fully prepared for just how much work these babes would be!  Which is why this post is a bit belated – coming nearly a full week after the arrival of our chicks.

My goal is to make briefer, more frequent posts during the coming weeks – along with photos – so that you can share in the fun, watching our new girls grow up! 

 

 

 

 

One hundred chicks to care for and raise to adulthood!  What a journey it will no doubt be…

 

Chicken Jokes!

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Who over the age of five hasn’t heard this joke?  The most common reply is, "To get to the other side."  But I've also heard a few other silly replies, such as, "Because she didn't want to lay it on the line."  :)

Kids love silly jokes, and so do I!  I often end our chicken tours, chicken camps, and other chicken-focused presentations with a few chicken jokes -- and I have a list of "a dozen" chicken jokes that I usually share.  But at the end of our spring Great Garden Gang camp, during our end-of-camp celebration, some of the campers shared some new chicken jokes with me -- ones that I had never heard before.  And some of them were quite clever and very funny.

The idea came to me that perhaps I should start adding to my collection of twelve, and to see just how many chicken jokes I could collect.  A hundred?  Two hundred?  More?  

So, do you know any chicken jokes?  Would you be willing to share them with me?  If so, please send them along -- either by posting them as a comment on this blog, or by emailing me at sgaughan@prairiecrossing.com.

Let's see how many different chicken jokes we can pull together! Egg jokes count, too! 

Q.  Why was the chicken bad?

A.  Because she hatched from a rotten egg!

Egg-cellent!  :)

Baby Chicks!

Baby Chicks – 
Coming to the Learning Farm!

by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

This afternoon I ordered 100 baby chicks of six heritage chicken breeds for the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm!  I’ve been reading and researching and planning for this for what seems like a very long time.  I’ve gathered a ton of information, as well as most of the necessary equipment and supplies – but somehow actually making the order today was very nerve-racking for me.

Am I really prepared to raise these babies?  I helped out 2½ years ago, when we started our last flock from 1-day-old chicks – but I was only one of several farm staff that checked on them daily, to make sure they had enough food and water – and once I helped clean up some of the chicks that had paste-y butt (yes, that’s exactly what it sounds like!).  But I was not the person responsible that time, I was just helping out.  Now I am the one responsible, and the idea makes me more than a little nervous.

But it also makes me incredibly excited!  We are going to have chicks on the Learning Farm soon – and I’m going to be up to my ears in fluffy, tumbling, peeping baby chickens!  Yes, I’m nervous – as any “new parent” would be – but I can’t wait!

Be sure to check this hen blog regularly for chick updates and photos!

Do Chickens Eat Snakes?

A Snake for all Chickens!

by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

What an interesting new experience for both me and the chickens yesterday!

During some of his tractor work in our farm fields, Luis found a medium-sized garter snake lying dead nearby.  Although there was only a small trickle of blood near its mouth, Luis suspected that he probably unknowingly killed the young snake with the tractor and/or whatever farm implement he was pulling behind it. 

Not wanting the snake to have died in vain, I asked Luis whether I could feed it to the chickens.  He readily agreed, but also asked if I thought the chickens would be afraid of it.  I didn’t.  Chickens are omnivores, and I expected to watch a game of chicken tug-o-war.

I brought the snake over to the flock and tossed its lifeless body over the electric fence.  The chickens had, of course run over to me expecting a food handout, but they were totally unsure whether or not this thing I had tossed in was food or not. 

Several of them gathered around, staring at it.  You could just hear them saying, “What do you think it is?”  “I don’t know.  What do you think it is?” 

“Do you think we’re supposed to eat it?”  “I don’t know.  It doesn’t look edible to me!” 

“Try it.”  “No way!  You try it!”

After waiting and watching for a while, I decided that maybe showing them more of the snake’s blood and guts would help.  So, I took the snake out, cut it in half, and tossed half of it back in again.  I receive the same comical response.

Finally, one of the “less-chicken” chickens pecked at the limp half-snake-body.  By doing so she, of course, caused the snake’s body to wiggle, and all the watching chickens simultaneously jumped back in surprise.  I could barely contain my laughter.

After another moment, another chicken (or perhaps the same one) took another stab at it – and finally decided to pick it up the wiggly object and try it out.  Then the chase was on.

I’ve seen this happen many times before when one chicken has something to eat that everyone else wants to share.  The “lucky” chicken is chased around and around the chicken yard – until they either give up the treasured morsel, or it’s stolen away, or they manage to finally eat all or part of it.

In this case, the brave snake-eating chicken was able to elude her pursuers – and finally gulp down the entire half-snake-body.  It was kind of amazing to watch. 

But then I started to worry about that much snake inside one chicken’s crop.  So, I took the remaining half-snake-body, cut it into four smaller pieces, and tossed them into the chicken yard – and this time watched four different chickens enjoy their snake-treat without any hesitation!

Spring Great Garden Gang Concludes

Learning About Chickens (and more!)
during Spring Great Garden Gang Farm Camp
by Anya O’Halloran, PCLF Farm Camp Assistant

The Great Garden Gang Farm Camp participants have been busy working and learning at the Children’s Garden.  They have learned much about soil components – how, why, and what we compost, the journey of a seed from seed to plant, and some chicken chores required to care for a flock of chickens.

During each session of camp, participants receive a demonstration relevant to that day’s topic.  For seed day, Farmer Sharon did a skit with the campers on how a seed grows into a plant.  The kids were the seeds (in the process of turning into plants), while Farmer Sharon was the farmer as she explained the nutrients, sun, and rain needed for the seeds to grow!  This simulation was a big hit! 

Campers also do hands-on farm and garden tasks.  This Great Garden Gang broke up the soil in the Children’s Garden beds in preparation for planting, added ingredients to the compost bins, planted calendula seeds in pots, and collected eggs and held the chickens (always a farm camp favorite!).
 

Throughout the camp, participants work in their camp journals.  The journal included a scavenger hunt for things found around the farm, a worm worksheet for our worm observing activity, crossword puzzle, word search, supplemental diagrams, coloring pages, and more. 

Great Garden Gang was educational, active and fun!  Each camper came away with something new that they learned or did during camp!

Thank you, campers, for being a part of the Spring 2013 Great Garden Gang Farm Camp!

Visit our website (http://www.prairiecrossing.com/farm/learning.php)
for information about our summer camp offerings and to register. 

 

 

 

Pastured Poultry at PCLF

Hens on Pasture!

by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

On Tuesday, May 14, our chicken flock finally moved from their winter hen house and run, to the egg mobile and pasture.  We were later than usual in getting them out, in large part due to the cold spring and lack of greens growing in the fields. 

We placed them not far from the Children’s Garden for their first pastured location – a great spot for them to be during our Farm Connections event on Saturday, May 18.  Today, after two weeks, we moved them to a new spot of pasture directly behind the Children’s Garden.

 

 

There are many advantages to pasturing chickens.  The hens have access to fresh growing greens, as well as the insects and worms that live among and below those greens.  And the chicken manure the girls leave behind is an excellent fertilizer for whatever will be grown there later in the season.

 

There are also a few potential disadvantages.  The egg mobile can never be quite as secure against predators as the winter hen house is.  And moving the egg mobile, electric fence, feeders, waterers, etc. etc. etc. every couple of weeks does take a bit of time and effort – even with six of us working to make it happen this morning. 

 

 

It’s so very worth it to me, though, every time I see the girls wandering through the vegetation, scratching about in their own unique sort of "chicken bliss"...

A Chicken Poem

All I Need to Know in Life I Learned From My Hens

a poem by Michaele Oleson of Sprout ‘n’ Wings Farm

submitted to Countryside Living Magazine, 2004

Wake up early, stay busy, rest when you need to.
But always stay alert.

Visit your favorite places each day.

Scratch out a living.

Routine is good.

Plump is good.

Don’t ponder your purpose in life – 
your brain is too small.

Accept the pecking order and know your enemies.

Weed your garden.

Protect your children fiercely – 
sit on them if you need to.

Take them for walks,
Show them little things and talk constantly.

Make a nice nest.

Share it with friends.

Brag on your accomplishments.

Don’t count your chicks before they hatch.

Protect your nest egg.

Test your wings once in a while.

Squawk when necessary.

As you age, demand respect.

Leave a little something for those who care about you.

Chase butterflies.

Eggs with Asparagus and Mushrooms

Cooking with Eggs Again!
by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

On Sunday I attended my favorite antique fair in Elkhorn, Wisconsin.  In addition to many, many antique venders, this fair also has a few farmer's market stands.  Once I'd made it through all the antiques (which took about 4 hours!), I stopped to see what foods they had to offer.  

The asparagus immediately caught my eye.  Spring is asparagus season -- so if you want to eat with the seasons, this is the time!  




On the very same table they were also offering several types of mushrooms -- including my favorite, baby portabellas!

I immediately envisioned some scrambled eggs with the addition of sauteed asparagus and the portabella mushrooms. Of course, I already had the necessary eggs at home -- so I decided to buy some of both the asparagus and the baby bellas.  As I made the drive back home, I was looking forward to dinner that night!

As evening fell and it was time to start the cooking, I sauteed some onion and garlic in addition to the asparagus and mushrooms.  And once the eggs were scrambled, and the veggies added, I topped it all with a bit of Monterrey Jack cheese. 

Ah!  A simple, but most delicious feast!