Baby Chicks!

We received some baby chicks in the mail this week and Gretchen is very excited. However, it wasn't all good, as we did have some die. Gretchen ordered 19, and arrived in the mail and we didn't know they were at the post office until the next day, so it made it a little hard on the chicks. We will most likely order some more chicks, as we hope to be able to offer eggs to customers this summer at the farmers market. We currently get around 6 eggs a day, and once we are at full production we will most likely get around 20 a day.
Currently these chicks are in a box in our basement with a heat lamp on them as baby chicks are very sensitive to the temperature at this age. I will try to take some pictures of them as they keep getting older.

Seperation

This weekend we separated all of the pigs. In this picture you will see that the mom is on the other side of the fence. Everyone seems to be doing well so far. Now pigs are very fun to have around, however they sure do not herd very well. It took us a while to get one of the older pigs into a different section. One of the moms is getting a little fat (A little like myself), so we will have to ration feed her, so she can lose some weight. The younger pigs you see in the pictures they will start to get open feed which means they can eat as much as they want and when they want. Also in the picture is a feeder, which we will start filling up in a couple of days. We don't fill that up right away, because even though we separated them, we need to give them a couple of days to make sure they do not break any of the fence. The weather is getting to really feel like spring, as it was 73 today. It get a little tricky with our fire because sometimes it gets cool in the evening, so we have to start a fire and then it might make the house really hot. However, we still haven't used propane for heat since the first week in January. Very exciting.

Okay I am behind

I know I haven't written a blog in a while. However, right now is the easy stage. I guess we did have a little drama because our electric fence shorted out, so that meant we had little baby pigs in the yard. It was actually very cute, and really not that big of a worry because we knew they would go back to their mothers. Then again, they started eating some chicken feed, so we had to find the short. I looked and looked and I could not find it, but then Gretchen was able to find the short and it was back to working. What happens with electric fences is that if it touches any kind of metal it will short out and then not work. It happens from time to time and can be a pain, because then we have to walk the entire fence line just looking for the spot.

So this weekend, Kansas won the Big 12 tournament. Yes you have learned today that I am a KU basketball junky. I love it. It is the one time that I can act like a child and just have a good time. So that means my favorite time of the year is next weekend and it is the NCAA tournament. Lets all cheer on the Jayhawks.

Walnut Valley Farmers Market

Today I went to a meeting with the Walnut Valley Farmers Market. This is just a small farmers market in Winfield, and they have a goal of 20 vendors. We are going to try and see if we can get involved in this market. We plan on selling free range eggs, sides of pork and vegetables. Now I have never grown a garden before so this could be a very humbling experience. Right now I am trying to put together a list of items to plant and see if I can do this. Now if anyone has some advice please let me know.

We also plan to sell some T-Shirts at the farmers market as we have already had some requests for our Squeaky Toy Farm T-Shirts. So look for us there this summer. A website will be up soon!

Kansas Free Range Eggs

It is getting warmer out and the sunshine is staying around longer during the day! A hint of spring is in the air and we are so excited. Not only are we tired of all the mud, but the added sunshine means we are starting to get eggs again. Part of a chickens production depends on the amount of sunshine during the day. During the shortest days of the year we did not receive any eggs, but now were are getting around four a day.
Now are chickens are free range as we open their henhouse in the morning and they are free to roam anywhere on our property. Research has shown that the nutritional content of eggs from genuine free-range hens (hens that forage daily on a grass range) is superior to eggs produced by conventional means. These studies report higher levels of Omega 3 and Vitamins A and E, and lower levels of total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and Omega 6.
So lets cheer for a breakfast of eggs and sausage! It is just a good feeling knowing when I eat this meal that both items came from our farm.

Eating Like a Pig

Everyone has heard the term, "eating like a pig", well after having some pigs you can understand how that term comes about. Now pigs are different than other animals in that they do eat until they are full and will then stop eating. Other animals will actually just keep on eating and it can cause death. Actually once we wean the piglets from their mothers we will then have a feeder with feed in it and they can eat as much as they want. The mothers then will be on a ration feeder, because just like humans they can tend to eat too much and get FAT! (But I can't blame them because I enjoy food also). If you look at the picture here you will see the little ones eating some feed and just making a mess! They eat like pigs because they just get it everywhere. The pigs right now are eating feed and also still nursing from their mothers. We will actually wean them between 6-8 weeks of age, instead of 2 weeks which a lot of confinement operations do. We just want it to be as natural as possible.

The weather is actually much better today and it looks like the week ahead will be much warmer! Lets hope so, because cold and snow is not any fun for working on the farm!

Wine on Valentines Day

As we appreciate the fact the people buy local and look for our products, we also like to support local businesses. This Valentines day we went to a local county winery, called Windswept Winery. It was a wonderful wonderful evening and if you ever get a chance, you should make the trip. Not only will you be able to enjoy the wonderful wine, but you will be able to talk to the owners Randy and Rebecca. This dinner was a five course feast and it was fabulous. Now I am by no means an expert on wine, however this night I had my first experience with food being a perfect fit with wine!

My next blog I will give you an update on the baby pigs and they are as cute as ever.