What have I been doing?

Well, I have enclosed a little photo to give you a clue. This is the sign at the entrance of the chicken houses, to let you know the farm name. In case you didn't know why I chose the blog name that I did, now you do!! Last year I planted marigolds around it and made it a little "fu fu ee er" (sound it out, it's pretty phonetic). This year, I decided since only the neighbors (the 4 houses past us on our road) and the deer saw it, that nobody would miss their absence. Well, I do, so NEXT year, I am thinking about planting a perennial!! I saw my last posting date and that was Tuesday. It is only Thursday but I have had THREE different people ask me why I hadn't posted... We have been SOOOO busy, and I've been in a little bit of a slump, but I am working on it! The Wisconsin trip was GREAT, as I have said time and time again, but we are SOOOO paying for it now!! We saw Shane yesterday morning when we were up at the houses doing our work, and he didn't walk back into our house until after 10 pm. He never got off of the bobcat, because he was shoveling "litter" (that's a pleasant word for chicken poop) onto this conveyor belt that's really tall, that took it up and dumped it into our farmer buyer's 18 wheeler. We had to clean out this time, and we already had 2 cleaned out last time. To give you an idea of "how much" dukey we were surrounded by, it took NINE tractor trailers, to collect all of the "litter" we were removing from ONE house. While Shane was in one house shoveling, I was in another spreading salt. OK, stop reading here if you are very fashioned minded or weak of heart, as you won't be able to stand what you are about to see! heehee! That is me, in the fashioned minded old state trooper t-shirt, dusk mask on, hair back in a pony tail, as I had just pulled off my do rag. Graceson took that picture, she is a little photographer!! You won't want to miss those LOVELY black boots that are peaking up from the bottom of the photo. As you can see, chicken farming is not for the weak, nor for the glamorous... Take a look at those red things that you see hanging from the ceiling. Those are feed pans, and the birds have to fly up when they are hungry. I'M KIDDING!! All of the lines are raised so that we can clean. When we set up, they'll all be on the floor, and you'll see those in a minute. Garrett and I put 49, FIFTY pound bags of salt into that hopper that is behind me.

To the right, you'll see the GREAT view that I had!! These are my chickadees!! They are sitting in the bucket in front of the tractor, as we are going from this house, to the next one to lower lines and to fill feed pans. Notice the "do rag" that Garrett is wearing. As I've told you before, that is a mandatory "fashion accessory" that we don on the farm. Bandannas are QUITE the handy item, and I'll tell you why in a minute...

To the right here, you'll see the lines down on the floor, and those feed pans filled with their food. Garrett and I put about 800-1000 lbs of grain in those pans. After the first 7 days, it is automatic, but the first 7... ooo wee!! I took a picture toward that end, because you can see the bay door open. There is an identical side behind that goes to another bay door. They are equal to 2 football fields end to end, under roof. Needless to say, by the end of the day yesterday, I was walking like a lowercase 'r'!! But... we're ready for babies to come tomorrow!! We'll get 27,000 tomorrow, and then we'll get the other 82,000 on Monday. This is just a small taste, of what I've been doing since we returned home. I don't know if it makes you never want to leave, or never come back!! Of course, each afternoon, I've been going to town to take Garrett to football practice. From that, I think I have learned that I don't like taking him. It seems to me, that the coaches are simply making them run until they throw up, although everyone tells me there is a method to the madness. I just hate to see them sick, they're 12! I want to run and pet them, get them some gatorade and fix them a pallet, but alas... Shane's uncle told me one time at Christmas when Garrett was very small, that I was the equipment manager. That meant my job was to keep the uniform clean, and my mouth shut... I can wash with the best of them, but as for the latter... you decide about that!! I was very pleased today though, that the "black flag" was flying, meaning the heat index was too hot for them to practice. It was 105.

OK, do rags... a MUST for the chicken farmer, but POSSIBLY something that you may need, and have never thought of it!! 20 uses for the bandanna... DO RAG-wear around your neck(you know, like a cowboy-I'm not sure why they do that)-head band-sweat band(you know, around your forehead like in Flashdance)-face mask(in case you want to rob a bank) tied around your head to clean house (you know, like an Aunt Jemima bonnet)-wrist band(perhaps in your colors if you are in a gang)-around your ankle(s) (OH COME ON, you lived through the 80's too!)-a sling (you may need to stabilize your arm in a pinch)-if you are skin and bones, perhaps a halter top, like in "survivor" after they've been on the island for 30 days, and their stomachs are eating themselves-tourniquet (you never know when you need to stop bleeding of a limb)-bandage-snot rag(hankie is probably a better word here)-sweat rag (lots of things get in your eyes, including sweat)-ice pack-hobie sack (yes, we have packed things in them, just not attached to a stick)-belt (this requires a thinner friend)-a fashion accessory for you canine friend-blind fold- and a dust mask(you'd wear it like you were robbing a bank if you didn't have your REAL one)! So, you may want to go out today and buy some bandannas. We already have them in all colors and patterns!! Thanks for sharing a day in the life of a chicken farmer's wife! love to all! Jerri