My Experiences: Chicks!!

Well by now if your not catching on, I help feed about every morning then go check calves. I love getting to check the ones in the field, because I feel like I get to see a new view every day. Here's today favorite scene. Those calves are just so cute!

Checking calves.

Next we worked a lot on getting the chicken barns all ready. Baby chicks come at 4 so we only had a bit of time to get them all set. First I helped Caleb change the motor in the feed line, which wasn't to big of a deal, until it didn't fit right so the heads of the motor had to be changed. We then pinned paper up to the lines to keep the little chicks from running under the fork lift when they bring in the other chicks.

Caleb trying to fit the motor in the feed line.

The feed lines spilled out so the chicks can find the feed right away.

Starting to fold up paper.

The right line all folded up.

Perfect path to get the fork lift down.

These are the beetles we were spraying for but they seemed to come up a bit in the one barn, so Corey went back out and sprayed by hand a bit before the chicks came.

Corey taking the fan front off thats broken.

We had to change bulbs in the barns.

All loaded up to take supplies to each office. They both get two tool boxes, a pick it upper, a stack of buckets for dead chickens and 2 gallons of this stuff that changes the pH in the water at some point in the process. It has no medicine or antibiotics in it. Mike explained that its like puting barn lime in a barn, it helps control the bacteria.

All the water line pipes and valves on the wall and a foot bath in front of that.

Filling a foot bath down at the cattle barn.

I went and tested the bulls electric fence to make sure it was working, one bull keeps getting out. At 8,000 volts it's putting out plenty! Its a low impedance fencer so even though its such a high voltage its a very short shock.

I took the tire off the lawnmower that had a big bulge in it.

This is my ear after I got sunburned and it blistered then scabbed and was bleeding. Gross, I know.

So this is what I've looked at the past few days even though its been warmer.

Smart chicken is the company that harvest the chickens for the Standly's. Normally when chicken is harvested its put in water once all the feathers are off. Thats why disease is such a big deal in chicken plants because they are sharing the water bath. The Smart Chicken company started as another company that went bankrupt because of lies but was then revived by a new business man who is doing a pretty good job it seems. So... The difference with Smart Chicken is that instead of that bath of water they get shackled immediately and go through I high tech air chill chamber. So you know the nasty chicken water under the chicken when you take it out of the package? It's because they have that water bath they seep water out gradually as they sit on that styrofoam. Smart Chicken take pride in the fact there is no water under that chicken when you unwrap it from the grocery store when that package says No Water Added it means 0 water added.