Cornish Cross and New Hampshire's

New Hampshire

 

Cornish cross

Well it is raining here this morning so I thought I would update everyone to what is going on here on the farm. It has been kind of slow here this week as we have been waiting on the hospital to finally get Uncle Ken's surgery completed , They canceled Wednesday's appointment and moved to Friday and when we got there Friday they canceled and sent us home once again, But that is another story.
Monday did not start out well either as I some how knocked the firewood truck out of gear and it rolled over the mountain about a hundred yards and hit a Maple tree head on, not a good start to the week. On Tuesday and Wednesday Kenny Ray and I worked on the Poop Coupe [mobile chicken coop] we may have the only vinyl sided chicken coop in Ross county. We did separate the Cornish Cross chicks from the New Hampshire's chicks. I like to start them together as the New Hamps scratch around and eat a lot of grass and bugs and the Cornish Cross imitate and learn.


First egg

I sit and watch the chicks every morning , I with hold the feed from both groups and they eat grass and bugs after about thirty minutes I put in the feed the New Hamps just ignore and keep scratching , the Cornish Cross attach the feeder they now eat about two pounds a day and the New Hamps eat less than a half pound a day. They are both three weeks old and the Cornish Cross are double in size already. I had some New Hamps get out of the cage Tuesday morning and Doc the beagle hound help me herd them back into the cage.
The free range Buff Orpingtons began laying there first eggs this week and we have been taking turns to check the coupe for eggs.
Our Guinea disappeared for about three days and I figured she had started laying and was nesting. Day four Kenny Ray found her and she was laying on fourteen eggs, it takes twenty eight days and hopefully we will have some Guinea's.
We have now have orders for ten of the twenty five Cornish Cross for the October 16 date.
We also have orders for half of the fifty Freedom Ranger chickens for the second week of November. If you are still wanting some please email and I will hold them for you.
brewerandsonsfarm@yahoo.com

Mobile Rabbit pen and chicken coop

Welcome to the preview of our rabbit breeding stock pen on the left and on the right will be for the chickens to roost the nest box's will be on the front wall in the center walkway. And a water tank mounted on the front with a downspout connected off the roof to collect rain water for the animals. It is built on a old truck bed trailer which was donated by my friend Larry Ritchie. The two sides are wire meshed floors so the manure will drop thru to the ground. The pen then moved as necessary to spread out the manure and avoid poop overload. It will hold only the rabbit breeding stock one buck and two doe's, the breeds California's which we should have next week sometime. The fourth cage will be for the young after they are weaned and then moved out on the grass in a pen similar to the movable pens used for the meat chickens. The chickens are in the brooder now, 26 New Hampshire's another dual purpose heritage breed chicken, excellent eating and great brown egg layer.
They will be moved to the mobile coop and turned out on pasture in a couple of weeks. Where they can get all the bugs and grass they want, which is a recipe for the out of this world eggs.  We will have fresh meat rabbits by late fall, the New Hampshire's will not be slaying until next spring. Which as been my goal for the farm to be in full production spring 2014.

Seek and you shall find

Knowledge is a wonderful and dangerous. And the government and the big food corporations are afraid you will find out the truth. But you must search for the answer's and weary of any group that does a study. First ask yourself who paid for the study? And who did it and why. I would recommend some reading for anyone interested in food. Books , Holy cows and Heavenly hogs by Joel Salatin or just about anything he has written will open your eye's.Movies, Food inc as well

as King corn.

The information in these couple of movies and books will open your eye's as the direct correlation

in the dramatic rise in our country's health. But you have the power if you are willing to use it.

Attend a farmers market or a local bee keepers meeting .

Patronize a local you pick apple orchard or strawberry patch , pick extra and freeze for winter use.

Read the labels of everything you purchase and learn what those chemicals are, just type in you web search engine.

Support local farmers and arm yourself with knowledge

I would ask for everyone to get to know and support a local farmer. You have the right and responsibility to know what you are serving your family at meal time. Or even better dig up your backyard for some tomato plants onions and cucumbers to supplement you food bill.

Build yourself a chicken tractor for your backyard and get a couple of hens for your own eggs you do not need a rooster. In fact my wife says they are the perfect pet she can let them out in are fenced back yard and they never leave and if you leave the door to the pen they put themselves up at night. Ask your self this Question the next time you are in the supermarket

" how can they ship a ripe melon from South America and it not spoil? or a tomato anything for that matter. If you buy local not only are you getting a a fresher better tasting tomato, you are reducing your carbon foot print. just think of all the petroleum it took to get a melon from Guatemala. Learn to preserve any excess . There is not a better filling in the world at night when you lay down than knowing you have a cupboard full of canned green beans and tomato sauce of a freezer full of Brewer and sons pastured chicken.

Our poultry

We raise Cornish cross chickens which are bred for their large breast and growth rate. We are experimenting with a new chicken this year called Freedom Rangers or Label Rouge a Chicken developed in France for their high quality meat. The one thing I have noticed about this breed is they eat more grass and scratch for bugs a lot more aggressively than the Cornish cross, but they will require more time to reach maturity, only time will tell. This is our first year with Turkey's , I currently have 6, three bronze at 8 weeks of age and three Broad Breasted white.

I was always told by my father that they are hard to raise, but they seem to be doing well. I have noticed that turkey's area a more social bird they like company, and they love grass they get excited every time I move their pen to fresh grass, they seem to purr almost like a cat.

My family and I welcome you

I am a misplaced farm boy living in the suburbs fighting his way back to the land. My family and I have been raising chickens for ourselves and a few friends for the last 2 years. We are now ready to share our journey with your family as well as the best chicken you have ever placed on a serving platter. My sister Lisa began our journey when she began to research how our food is processed in this industrial world. We finally began to see that the government does not care

about quality all they want is cheap food. They have even watered down the organic standard to allow corporations to mass produce so called organic food. All you have to do is look at the background of the people in charge of the food policy in this country, and you find that must of them have a food conglomerate background including some supreme court judges. People vote ever time they purchase an item that is scanned at the supermarket. We must do better for our families as their life depends on it.Their is a direct consequence for everything we place in our mouths, cancer, diabetes. We are the only country in the world that has fat poor people, and it is directly related to this country's food policy . It is a crime against humanity when frozen pizza, and soda pop can be bought cheaper than fresh fruit and vegetables. People must change their vote with the only thing that matters the dollar bill. We must support small local farmers and buy what is in season and preserve excess, as our grandparents did.My family would love to share our journey to a healthy , sustainable food supply.

We raise Pastured chicken and turkey's that see sunshine and rain eat bugs and grass as God intended. I do not raise them year round as I let the grass rest in between season. They are raised without drugs of any kind no antibiotics no growth hormones EVER. I raise them on 10 acres of grass in New Carlisle. I only sell to local families in the Dayton area