Chickens, Chicks and Babysitting Florence Henderson and Betty White

Preparing the wagon.

Will helping Daddy haul the wagon.

 Last Monday we decided it was time to get the chickens out on pasture and prepare our garden for Spring. The hens had made the garden next to our house their winter home for a multitude of reasons; they would be close so we could keep an eye on them, the garden would get the benefit of some added fertilizer, electric was nearby for adding a light and a heater for their water dish, and I can easily take kitchen scraps out my backdoor to them or bring milk from the parlor.

Heifers come see what's happening

Setting up the fence

Chickens settling in.

So after 5 months in one spot, Ben hooked out "gypsy chicken wagon" up to the tractor, inflated the tires and drove it down the road to the heifer pasture. Now I move their electric netting fence around each day so they get new piles of manure to dig through and about once a week we will move the entire wagon. There are many benefits to moving the chickens around; they help control parasite and insect problems in the pasture, they fertilize the field, they get some added nutrients from sourcing some of their food from plants and bugs and we get more nutritious eggs. Mother Earth News recently re-published their own findings on the added health benefits of "free-range" eggs.
So once the girls were out on pasture we started getting our old stationary coop ready for new chicks and some weeklong guests. Saturday evening one of my co-workers brought up her two city girls, Florence and Betty to stay for a week while she visits her daughter and grandkids down South. While Florence and Betty seemed a little upset that their Mom didn't want to ride for 12+ hours in a car with them, I think they are happy hanging out on the farm. It may not be the luxurious life of downtown Owego, but they are experiencing a vacation of sorts (more like camping.)

Yesterday marked the arrival of a batch of new chicks from Murray McMurray Hatchery, and we are very excited to check on the babies several times a day.
Will loves his new babies, but has to be reminded regularly that you have to be very gentle and little boys are not allowed to pick the chicks up. Aunt "Daisy" came today to pick up her share of the chicks, a Blue Andalusian, one Silver Laced Wyandotte, two Auracanas and one Golden Laced Wyandotte. That leaves us with 57 chicks, 12 of which are Delaware roosters that we will be raising for meat. We also have some Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys on order from Agway to try raising this Summer.