The one constant this week has been the increasing intensity of green around the farm. The grass seems to be growing by the minute, and the weather is changing just as fast. We have had mornings well below freezing, 35 and raining, high winds and sunny and 70. On Monday I picked up our beef from the processor in our little enclosed trailer. The trailer has lived many lives on our farm and was our first “shop/barn” when we bought the farm and we had no buildings. We purchased the trailer as a part of the farm from our friends Art and Gladys. Art passed away this year and his memory lives on for me in the many ways he has left his mark on this land. I think of him every time I use this trailer.
On my trip home from the processor I had a special occasion to think of Art. I was just entering Westport, NY only 20 minutes from the farm, when I heard a loud thump and then the “thwomp, thowmp, thwomp” of what sounded like a flat tire. Sure enough when I pulled over the tire was flat and a full pallet of frozen beef sitting on top of it. My first thought was: I bet those are the same tires that were on this trailer when Art bought it years ago. I pulled off the road and assessed my options. It was a beautiful sunny warm Monday morning and I silently thanked Art for his trailer and farm.
This was not the first time I’ve had a breakdown, but it was the first time I’ve broken down so close to home. As I was fetching my tire changing tools, my friend Courtney Coleman happened to be driving by and he stopped to see if he could help. As it turned out, his timing was perfect, because I realized I did not have the correct wrench to remove the spare tire from the trailer! Courtney greeted me with a big smile and a chocolate chip cookie, the perfect remedy for my rattled state. Thank you Courtney for finding a wrench and other helpful tools to get me back on the road. And thank you for the good company and cookie.
We have also been busy preparing for the next batch of chicks to head to the field. That is still more than 10 days away, but we have to build one more field coop. We started welding the base frame together this week. We weld as much of the frame inside the shop as we can to stay out of the rain and wind, which make welding much more difficult. Fortunately, before welding the parts together, I consulted some notes from the last time we built these, and was reminded that I had to drill more than 30 holes then through the metal frame on my knees with a hand held drill, which was very tiring. This time around, we put the metal tubing on the drill press, which saved me, and the drill bit some aches and pains.
By the end of the week, we had the frame finished and got started on bending the hoops. Next week we will finish the frame and then cover the structure and make sure all the little details work — like water, hanging feeders, doors and vents, etc.
These coops are a critical part of how our chickens are raised. It is certainly simple to have one big barn and have the chickens stay there. Climate control, efficiency, and ease are all in favor of a big barn. By most estimates, 99% of all chickens in this country are raised this way, even the Organic Chicken you can buy at Whole Foods are raised in a barn with “access to the outdoors“, which basically means they have a yard off the barn where they can be outside “in the course of their natural behavior.”
Our Organic Chickens are raised indoors for the first 3 weeks of their life when they need warmth and climate control to survive. Then they spend the rest of their lives on pasture in our shelters/coops that allow for protection from inclement weather, but also access to fresh air and pasture every day. The coops allow us to easily move each group of chickens every single day so they always have access to fresh pasture.
Reber Rock Farm Blog 