This entry was posted on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 8:20pm and is filed under ranch life, Local, Agriculture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I had a guest at the Farmer’s Market today. I’m not sure she was really thrilled to be there, but she did manage to lay an egg nonetheless.
Saturday’s market starts at 8:00, which means leaving the ranch well before sun-up. I usually get everything loaded and my car hooked up to the freezer trailer, so all I have to do is unplug the trailers and drive off about 5:45 am. On Friday I knew I would be getting home after dark, so I left the lights on in the workshop where the trailer is parked, so I could easily back in and hook up.
Apparently, one of our more mechanically inclined hens had been hanging out in the workshop. Because the lights were on, I suspect she didn’t realize it was night, and didn’t return to her coop for the night. When I came home, hooked up and shut up the workshop, she was now trapped in the workshop. This morning, I drove off in the dark with her nestled down on the trailer, between my two big beef freezers.
Once I got to market, I kept thinking I heard chickens, but figured I’d been spending too much time alone out at the ranch. An inquisitive 8-year old spotted her just before market started. I knew I had to get her caught and contained before she recovered from her shock at being transported 75 miles in the early morning dew. I had visions of having to let her loose inside my car. Since we just went through a bout of stomach flu involving said car, I figured this was just the final sign that it was time to have my car detailed. Fortunately, I remembered I had a milk crate full of bungie cords on the trailer, so we caught her and kept her in that for the day.
I’m not sure she was exactly happy, but she was safe. And she did manage to lay an egg. She’s back home and happy now. My dilemma is what to do with the egg. Given it’s trip to town and back, I don’t think it meets the 100-mile “local food” limit for the market…
June 22nd, 2009 at 3:37pm
I loved reading about your chicken going to market! My chickens aren’t so well-traveled, but we do have a lot of fun with them. If you have a minute, you can read about them at http://www.findfarmcredit.com/farm-credit-bank-blog.aspx. Suzanne
August 31st, 2009 at 1:41pm
how to build a chicken house…
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