Eggcellent - Sepember 4, 2021
I was so delighted. A friend from church – Albert (not his real name) – invited Laur and Jasper and me to visit their family farm. An egg farm. He told me that they were about to have 11,000 baby chicks arrive. Might Jasper like this? I knew Laur and I would find this fascinating. And Jasper, on learning about this opportunity, started counting his “sleeps” before we went to the egg farm.
When we got there, Albert and two friendly dogs greeted us. Jasper is frightened of dogs – he just doesn’t have any experience with them – so was a little hesitant. It helped to learn that the boy dog was also named Jasper.
Off to meet the baby chicks. We sprayed our shoes so that we didn’t track in anything harmful to the new arrivals, and into the chicken building we went. The cheeping of 11,000 chickens is not exactly soothing background music. But it’s not unpleasant either. Jasper got to hold a chick or two. Very sweet. The operation is quite impressive. There was no smell at all and the chicks were adjusting nicely to their new environment, running around and cheeping.
Next up, the pullet barn. Again, we sprayed our shoes. And went into what seemed like the control centre. It was a hub of activity. We didn’t go in with the hens because we had visited the chicks and they had all just been vaccinated. I cannot imagine vaccinating 11,000 chickens… Mind you, during my decades of cat rescue I’m sure I’ve vaccinated a thousand or two felines.
Each hen lays almost an egg a day. Assuming 9,000 hens, that’s about 8,800 eggs per day. Jasper was not all that interested in the hens, though he could see them through the glass window. But Laur and I were super interested in this one LARGE hen that seemed to have a rather large comb on her head. We were told by one of Albert’s grandsons that this was a rooster! Oops!
I asked how there happened to be a rooster in the hen house. He explained that every once in a while, a male baby chick arrives with the females. And even as males mature, the females don’t mind at all. It seems to have a calming effect on them. I’m sure the male doesn’t mind either!
I love that not only Albert’s son but also his three grandsons love this farm and work at it. One lad was taking the eggs, as they came off a conveyer belt, and putting them into very large cartons. I was amazed how perfect they all were. One of the grands explained to me that this was no accident. The hens’ abode is controlled for temperature and humidity. And the hen food is plentiful and super nutritious.
The part Jasper loved the best was watching the eggs come off the conveyer belt and being put into the packages. He could have watched that all day. But the grandsons had work to do, so off we went on the next part of the tour. Seeing the tractors!
Jasper got to try out about four different models. If he lived on a farm he might be riding around with his Mom or Dad in the tractor at this age. And a few years later he’d know how to drive one!
Cooling off in the tractor barn were two shy tiger-striped kittens who I would so loved to have brought home. One had the bobbed tail which can be the sign of inbreeding or a remarkable escape from a coyote. There was a black cat who was great with kittens who I’m sure will “pop” any day.
Jasper loved the cats and didn’t quite understand why they weren’t as friendly like housecats. We didn’t want to tell him that most cats that show up on a farm were likely ditched by their owner and have had to fend for themselves for some time before finding a nice barn where they’ll be given food and water.
And why wouldn’t you spay a female cat to prevent more litters? Because farm cats don’t live all that long. So many predators. “The circle of life” and all that jazz. But the lives they have are amazing – catching mice, exploring the farm, playing with kittens, and sleeping wherever they want.
Time to go. Our friend Albert gave us a bag of mini-potatoes from his garden. We cooked them up later that day. Pure gold.
*****
Nothing is wasted on this farm. The chicken manure goes into the soil to fertilize the grape vines. Yes! As well as running an amazing egg farm, they also grow great quality grapes.
Our friend Albert chuckles, “You don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket.”
When we got there, Albert and two friendly dogs greeted us. Jasper is frightened of dogs – he just doesn’t have any experience with them – so was a little hesitant. It helped to learn that the boy dog was also named Jasper.
Off to meet the baby chicks. We sprayed our shoes so that we didn’t track in anything harmful to the new arrivals, and into the chicken building we went. The cheeping of 11,000 chickens is not exactly soothing background music. But it’s not unpleasant either. Jasper got to hold a chick or two. Very sweet. The operation is quite impressive. There was no smell at all and the chicks were adjusting nicely to their new environment, running around and cheeping.
Next up, the pullet barn. Again, we sprayed our shoes. And went into what seemed like the control centre. It was a hub of activity. We didn’t go in with the hens because we had visited the chicks and they had all just been vaccinated. I cannot imagine vaccinating 11,000 chickens… Mind you, during my decades of cat rescue I’m sure I’ve vaccinated a thousand or two felines.
Each hen lays almost an egg a day. Assuming 9,000 hens, that’s about 8,800 eggs per day. Jasper was not all that interested in the hens, though he could see them through the glass window. But Laur and I were super interested in this one LARGE hen that seemed to have a rather large comb on her head. We were told by one of Albert’s grandsons that this was a rooster! Oops!
I asked how there happened to be a rooster in the hen house. He explained that every once in a while, a male baby chick arrives with the females. And even as males mature, the females don’t mind at all. It seems to have a calming effect on them. I’m sure the male doesn’t mind either!
I love that not only Albert’s son but also his three grandsons love this farm and work at it. One lad was taking the eggs, as they came off a conveyer belt, and putting them into very large cartons. I was amazed how perfect they all were. One of the grands explained to me that this was no accident. The hens’ abode is controlled for temperature and humidity. And the hen food is plentiful and super nutritious.
The part Jasper loved the best was watching the eggs come off the conveyer belt and being put into the packages. He could have watched that all day. But the grandsons had work to do, so off we went on the next part of the tour. Seeing the tractors!
Jasper got to try out about four different models. If he lived on a farm he might be riding around with his Mom or Dad in the tractor at this age. And a few years later he’d know how to drive one!
Cooling off in the tractor barn were two shy tiger-striped kittens who I would so loved to have brought home. One had the bobbed tail which can be the sign of inbreeding or a remarkable escape from a coyote. There was a black cat who was great with kittens who I’m sure will “pop” any day.
Jasper loved the cats and didn’t quite understand why they weren’t as friendly like housecats. We didn’t want to tell him that most cats that show up on a farm were likely ditched by their owner and have had to fend for themselves for some time before finding a nice barn where they’ll be given food and water.
And why wouldn’t you spay a female cat to prevent more litters? Because farm cats don’t live all that long. So many predators. “The circle of life” and all that jazz. But the lives they have are amazing – catching mice, exploring the farm, playing with kittens, and sleeping wherever they want.
Time to go. Our friend Albert gave us a bag of mini-potatoes from his garden. We cooked them up later that day. Pure gold.
*****
Nothing is wasted on this farm. The chicken manure goes into the soil to fertilize the grape vines. Yes! As well as running an amazing egg farm, they also grow great quality grapes.
Our friend Albert chuckles, “You don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket.”