Pictures of cute chicks.

This post is pretty simple.  Chicks.  Lots and lots of cute chicks.  Enjoy.

Money for nothing and your chicks for free

 Hatching out chicks isn't just a fun and educational activity that results in the production of ridiculously cute baby chicks - it is also a cheap way to replenish your flock of layers and produce a crop of roosters for meat.  The average laying hen costs about $2.50 from a hatchery.  That may not seem like much, but when you're talking about a flock of 30-50 hens (or more) it amounts to some significant money.  It may take a hen many months to earn back that $2.50 by laying eggs, because while she may earn $3-4/dozen of her eggs, she eats a lot of costly feed in that time.  A rooster can easily cost $5-6 in feed to reach butchering weight, so shaving off a few bucks from the very start helps. 

It isn't just about money, though.  Hatching eggs also gives the small chicken farmer the ability to control the genetics of his or her flock.  By choosing a strong and healthy rooster with the traits desired, and collected eggs for hatching from only your best hens will result in a healthier and more productive flock in the future.  Then there's that other benefit: having a whole bunch of peeping peeps.

The eggs just keep coming!

We are getting a great supply of beautiful brown and green eggs right now.  Production is picking up with the longer days.  Little known fact: chickens lay more eggs when the days are long and fewer when the days are short.  In spring time we get a big pick up in egg production and in winter it dies down.  To keep our hens in production through the winter months we set a light on a timer to simulate a little bit longer day length. 

Things are growing!

Not growing outside yet, of course, but there is life under the grow lights.  We have started seeds for the cold and frost tolerant crops like cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and some herbs.  When the ground starts to thaw out we will transfer them to the garden.

In another week or so we will start our main crops, like tomatoes and peppers.  We're itching to get them growing!

Welcome to our website!

This website will  be dedicated to chronicling our experience producing local food to be sold from our home and at the Pierre, SD farmers market.  This site will be updated with entries about what we grow, how we grow it, and how we cook and eat it.  Hopefully we will receive feedback from you: our customers, friends, and family.  There will be times when we update often, and times when we update sporadically due to busy schedules.  We will try to keep it more often than sporadic.  Hopefully you enjoy the insight regarding the production of your and our food, and find the information presented to be useful and appealing.  Cheers!