Who Who - Who Knew

Who knew that an owl would go into the egg-mobile to dine on one of the egg laying hens.  Sharon went down to lock up the hens out in the pasture and saw that chickens were still out in the pasture after dark.  She knew something was up and hurried up to catch a glimpse of the owl flying down over the hill.  She also found one of the hens without its head.  Now we know that owls will go into small openings and walk into areas that they see an easy meal.

Southern Western Drought Felt In NW Iowa

The drought in the Southwest US has reached Iowa.  Not the drought exactly, but the effects of the drought.  I've started receiving phone calls for hay from Texas and Arkansas for hay prices.  The farmers in those areas are reaching far and wide to try to pull in enough hay to keep what livestock and horses they have to feed.  Cattle prices are very high right now so I assume that the farmers are hoping to maximize their profit on their cattle.  It's hard to imagine the difficulty and hardship that a drought like this has on a farm that is very dependent on hay.  And imagine the horse owner who has to decide if they will pay $15 per bale of hay.  I think that my daughter would choose the $15 for her horses too...

Chicken Day - Batch 2 - 2011

Another chicken day is here.  I'm up early to get the scalding water started.  Scalding has been our most challenging process and generally causes us to wait until the water comes up to temp before we can start.  This morning I started the water at 5AM.  If this isn't early enough I think my only option is to load the scalder with hot tap water in the morning.  Since I'd rather not have a garden hose connected to a sink I hope 5AM is early enough.