13JUL27

Greetings from Baker Heritage Farms:

Well, it has been a wet week, with Friday delivering about 5 inches of rain throughout the day. We have still been unable to bring hay up for the chickens.

It seems that our Fire Ants thrive on rain. Last year we did not see many mounds around the farm, but earlier this year they started showing up again. Now, they are all over. We can only presume that they like the moisture the rains bring.

Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis Invicte)
Courtesy of OSU

Why are we concerned about Fire Ants? First, they hurt when they bite. They are small and tend to attack you in great numbers, and you do not need to be standing on their mound (of course, it is hard to stand anywhere on the farm right now without standing on one of their mounds). Second, the feeding on the young tender growth by fire ants occurs through the year, causing damage to soybean crops, citrus, corn, okra, bean, cabbage, cucumber, eggplant, potato, sweet potato, peanut, sorghum, and sunflower crops during critical times of growth. They can even move into your house if there is enough rain. Prior to the heavy rainfall Friday, we had isolated problems with them in our house, but Friday they started coming in droves.

A good percentage of the south is quarantined due to the Fire Ant population. The items quarantined include live plants, hay, soil, firewood, soil moving equipment, and unprocessed plant products. The southeast corner of Oklahoma is still in the quarantined area, and LeFlore county is the northern most portion of the state that is under the quarantine.

The problem at Baker Heritage Farms - we are following organic standards and most of the control methods require unapproved chemicals, so we are just living with them for now.

Due to the rain, not much work was done on the farm this week. The turkeys are proving to be a handful. As they grow, they fly higher into the trees at night to roost, and some of the higher branches spread to the outside of the fence line. We are finding the majority of the turkeys outside of their pen each morning. While they are fairly easy to roundup and get back in their pen, they are starting to fly into the chicken pens, which is not good.

We are currently trying to come up with a solution; however, with the size of the pen, its location in the trees, and the configuration of the fence line, we are facing an uphill battle.

The chickens still have their escape artists, but they are not so bad. While we are afraid the turkeys will get into the woods behind the house, the chickens tend to stay close to home. We are currently looking into enclosing the chicken pen with shade cloth, using PVC piping to frame the cloth.

With all the rain, we have wasted a lot of feed. Even though the feed is under cover, it still gets wet, either from blowing rain or wet birds. The chickens are very picky and will not eat wet feed (and it is not good for them as it starts to ferment quickly). The turkeys are not quite so bad. We are looking at ways we can build low cost feeders that will provide cover, keep the feeders further off the ground, and provide full-time access.

We are also looking at converting the little barn into a hen house. It is only a couple of feet away from the current hen house and it will allow us better control over the nesting area (as well as keeping it dryer). It will entail cleaning out the big barn and moving some of the stuff from the little barn to the big barn.

We are getting more eggs as each day passes. Debbie is now using them for baking so we will see how that goes. Once we have an ample supply, we will start sharing them with others before actually selling them (right now they are still to small to sell).

Donald and Debbie went out and picked up more chicken feed today (250 pounds) as well as poultry grit. The chickens are going through a 50-pound bag about every 4 days. Fortunately, the turkeys do not go through as much.

Until next time, Blessings to All from ...

Baker Heritage Farms

"We can't all be heroes, because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by." Will Rogers

Plot Development Starts, Part I - Chickens

Plot development has started at Baker Heritage Farms.

Heritage chickens will initially be raised for egg and fertilizer production. Eggs will supplement family food needs while providing a healthier product, with excess eggs being donated to local food banks and sold on a small, retail basis. Chicken litter will be used as fertilizer on various produce plots as well as for making all natural compost.

If successful, 2013 operations will including raising additional chickens for breeding and meat production.

Our initial choice for chickens is the Silver Laced Wyandotte.

Silver Laced Wyandotte's are the original Wyandotte variety. They have a heavy body and small rose comb. The hens are hardy, energetic and faithful layers. They were admitted to the American Standard of Perfection in 1888 and originated in New York. They work well in either confinement or free range.

• Average Size: Hen - 6.5 pounds; Pullet - 5.5 pounds; Rooster - 8.5 pounds; Cockerel - 7.5 pounds.
• Purpose: Dual, egg laying and meat production.
• Egg Color: Brown
• Average Egg Production: 200 per year.
• ALBC: Recovering status, considered a sustainable heritage chicken breed. 

Chicken Coop

Due to the variety of animals expected to be raised on the farm, isolating animals is a priority. As a result, the plot chosen to house the chickens needed to be in an area that would not be used to house other poultry or stock and would be isolated from other types of poultry. The area chosen for the plot to house the chicken coop is behind the main home. While the goat pen will be on two sides of this plot, cross contamination should not be an issue (more on the goats will appear in a future post).

The pen will be approximately 1,000 square feet and will contain a hen house. It is anticipated that 25 Wyandotte Silver Laced pullets will initially be purchased by mid to late March. The pen is ready to be fenced once the hen house is constructed.