Pasture Raised Chicken Orders Open for 2011

I know that we're on the back side of winter when we open up for chicken orders.  Sharon sent out the email this morning to let everyone know that orders are open, and I finished up changes to the order page last week.  This year Sharon wants to have all batches available for order from the start and she added an additional batch to this year.  She spends a tremendous amount of time calculating the resources and management for the pasture raised chickens over the winter. She can't have any batches overlap in schedule, because resources are limited, which means that she has the birds scheduled with scientific precision.  I wish I could be so precise.

Bobolink

This winter has been so much milder than last winter.  Its been white since late November, but we did see the ground for a few days this winter after a week long warming spell, and we're not moving snow everyday like last year.  Even so, I have to admit I'm thinking about spring.  Equipment maintenance has started in full swing which always has me thinking about how the equipment can be adjusted to better run during the spring and summer, but I have also been thinking about the birds of summer lately too.  One bird in particular that I really enjoy seeing is the bobolink.  We see the bobolink starting in late spring and as late summer comes in we see less and less of them.  The male bobolink is so showy with what is described as a reverse tuxedo, and so noisy with its loud bubbly call, its hard not to notice this little bird once it has arrived.  I don't really notice seeing the bobolink in large numbers outside of our farm, so I thought I'd do a little research on it.  Turns out the bobolink likes pastures and hayfields.  Since our farm is mostly hay and pasture that would partly explain why the bobolink likes our farm.  Bobolinks also like hayfields and pastures that are cut and grazed late.  Because we rotational graze and because we have both grass hay and alfalfa hay, we have fields being harvested at different times and we usually have some deep grass well into the late summer for nesting and raising their young.  So I guess that is why they congregate here.  It also turns out that the bobolink may still be on the farm into fall but I didn't notice the bird.  The bobolink actually changes its coloring after breeding season and loses its contrasting black and white color scheme for a more subdued look.  This year I'll have to watch for this little bird in both its color schemes to see if the bird moves off the farm as the year progresses or if they really do stay, but have a changed color pattern.  The next bird on my list to research is the meadowlark.