First Chicken Harvest, Hay Mowing
Busy time of year. On Monday after moving cows and chickens, we filled this month’s beef herd shares. Then to the hay field to start mowing this year’s first cutting til after 9:00.
We also had our first on-farm chicken harvest of the year this week, so Tuesday we spent a good deal getting the processing area set up and cleaned. Before the kids left for Bible school, they helped Amy and me catch and crate a group of chicks in the brooder that was ready to go to the field. Then Amy and I emptied 5 chicken shelters, crating 275 chickens, and replaced them with the chicks from the brooder. Amy does the catching, and I do the crate carrying. We’re both tired by the time we’re done. After getting the kiddos to bed that evening, Amy sharpened knives til after 11:00 that night to get ready for a big day Wednesday.
Hallie and Wren both wanted to go out with me early to get the scalder turned on. Re-cleaning tables and chill tanks. Then moving chickens and making the rounds before the rest of the processing help arrived. With a strong and experienced crew, we picked up where we left off last fall. However, about halfway through the killing, the delivery truck pulls in with 6 pallets of ORVF beef and pork to unload. But the chicken processing continued. Bella Jane and Hasten stepped up and finished the killing. By the time I got the 100+ boxes into the freezer, the killing was finished and the clean up beginning. These guys and gals are the best.
Leftover ORVF burgers for lunch that we froze after the cookout. Then an afternoon of packaging whole birds and cutting up chickens for parts. We parted almost 150 of them. I was proud not just of our kids but of all the kids. It was a tiring day for all, but they all maintained a diligent work ethic and good attitude, led by the examples of the adults who have been consistently helping for seasons past.
Hasten had mentioned a few times in previous weeks about looking forward to processing days. While agreeing with him, I was thankful to hear him say it. I love this work. I hope our kids inherit the same love for it. He and Hallie both put in a good day. Not just in the processing itself, but in the prep work leading up to it and the clean up afterwards. After helping sweep and spray til then end, Hasten said, “Dad, want me to go water the chickens in the field?” He doesn’t always want to work with such eagerness, and being a boy, I don’t expect him to. But it sure makes me proud when he does.
Hallie, likewise, made my proud by doing whatever was asked of her. She will tell you that packaging chicken backs for stock packs is her least favorite task. But when asked to package backs, she went right to it, trying to package them faster than the parters could supply them. Again, they don’t always want to work, but when they choose to work with a good attitude… I’m grateful.
Then back to the hay field for more mowing. I didn’t do much book listening while on the tractor. What little I heard went in one ear and out the other. My focus was on the tractor and the mower, waiting for something to go wrong. Which it did. The clutch went out on the tractor. Fortunately, the field was opened up enough that I was able to leave it in gear and mow the remaining few acres of the field clutchless. Son of a gun.
Yesterday morning we did some chicken sorting and inventory, then filled market coolers and coolers for Amy’s delivery to the Carolinas today. Mowing to catch up on. Amy mowed around the barn, then I mowed at one of the airbnb cabins. I ran the tedder over all the hay that was down yesterday afternoon. Hopefully today I can get it raked and baled. Last year I got Amy on one of the tractors doing some raking ahead of me while I rolled it. Being a tractor down, looks like I’m going to be doing a lot of hooking up and unhooking. Fingers crossed everything holds up.
Have a good week.
Will