The Chicks are Here!

Bet' cha can't watch this clip without a smile on your face! Go ahead try!

Oh and by the way, I don't want to hear any wise-cracks about my fashion statement! I gave up worrying about how I look years ago. When you live on a farm/ranch fashion goes out the door like yesterday's trash. Function rules, not fashion.

Enjoy the video!







For those of you who missed my first column in the Gering Citizen Newpaper I have reprinted it for you below!

Day old Chick!

Spring is also one of the busiest times here on the farm. My first batch of chicks will arrive from the hatchery at the end of this week, all 200 of them. It is really quite the sight, 200 newborn chicks. I'll never forget my oldest son's expression the first time we received chicks in the mail. We had the box sitting on the kitchen table and careful removed the top and he said “WOW! Looks like a huge box full of Easter peeps!” If you've never had the pleasure of witnessing a box full of day old chicks, you really are missing out on one of life's greatest miracles.

The chicks are shipped directly from the hatchery the day they are hatched. When they arrive at the post office, our postmaster calls to let us know that the mail truck has come and the chicks are waiting for us. I think they are relieved at the post office when I come to get them. You would not believe how much noise 200 chicks can make. They sing a steady chorus of cheeps and peeps that can really get on a person's nerves. It's amazing how long the 6 minute drive from the post office seems when you have a truck full of peeping chicks! If you make a loud noise, like telling them to be quiet by yelling above them, they all instantly cease to peep for about 30 seconds, but then one of them will peep once and then they all start again.

When we arrive home, next begins the task of introducing them to water and their new home, the brooder. It truly is amazing that the chicks receive all the nourishment from their eggs that they need for their long journey. Can you imagine any other newborn that does not eat or drink for two days after they are born? Introducing each chick to water can seem like a never ending task. I usually set a bucket up on end in the brooder so I have somewhere to sit during this process and place the box just out side the brooder where I can comfortably reach it. You want to get nice and comfy because this is going to take a while. You carefully take each chick out of the box and gently dip their becks in the water. One, two, three, four, five...20... 30... 40... 50... clear until you get the very last one... 200! Not long into the process, you have several chicks running all over the brooder as fast as they can and running in and out of your legs and feet just as happy as can be.

We've been raising pastured poultry for five years now. If you would have told me I'd be doing this for a living six years ago I would have laughed in your face. I use to be deathly afraid of chickens. You can read about my sister's possessed chicken that could run as fast as a freight train in my blog. I look forward to this column and sharing a part of my life with you. I hope to humor you and interest you. Please feel free to join me at my blog www.CountryChickenGirl.blogspot.com or at our website www.OpenABar2Ranch.com. Come on out to the country! Visitors are always welcome. I always say that “a day in the country is worth a month in town!”