We are a small Hobby Farm with just a HINT of insanity. Maybe a tad more.
Nestled near the foothills of the Blue Ridge, we raise and sell poultry, hatching eggs, and goats.
My husband, Gregg, aka the Voice O' Reason, keeps me alive and off the 6 o'clock news. Our daughter, Rebekah, is special needs - which mostly means she's way smarter than most. We also have a daughter, Elisabeth, and a son, Ben. One married, one about to be.
That should sum things up enough to follow along.
The broiler chicks arrived this morning! 31 peepers all healthy and happy. They are currently in the brooder box having their first meal. Cost up to this point: $38.50 for the chicks (quite a deal) and $29.69 for the fifty pound bag of "Organic Soy-Free Broiler Feed" for a total on day one of $68.19. That breaks down to $2.19 per chick. This doesn't include supplies I already had such as the heat lamp/bulb, brooder box, bedding, feeders/waterers, and electricity. We shall see what the cost will be on day 56 (8 weeks) which is when I plan to butcher the first of them. Yes, you heard me right. We are there. I have allll these chickens in my back yard and I'm going to Wal-Mart to buy franken chickens pumped full of heaven only knows? The plan is for me to butcher them. I will do the first. If it turns out to be too much of a chore (hearteache) I will take them to Musckrat Hollow and have them processed there.
You may have noticed there are no cute pictures of baby chicks with flower hats. My intent is to take very good care of them, but keep them as farm animals and NOT pets. I am determined. I am, after all, a farm girl. I was raised on a thousand acre working farm. Raising and butchering farm animals is not new to me. I just have not done it in a while because I haven't had to. I bought my chickens at the grocery store in nameless bags. But in this economy and with the stuff now going INTO the chickens from the grocery store, it's crazy for me to not do this. So. We're off! Join me on the adventure. :0)
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