Another Lazy Saturday Afternoon

Saturdays seem to be the day of rest here at the farm. Colby and I normally work Monday-Friday and are only obligated to do the chores on the weekends. Today is especially quiet. The kids are in town running errands with their mom. Colby had to go back to Oklahoma for a few days, his granfather passed away. Needless to say, the sound of a sprinkler and the chirping of the birds are the only sounds I hear. Tonight I will be eating dinner with the family (Saturday tradition). So there will be tasty, grilled meat on the menu.

Yesterday was not as uneventful as today. As I was starting my day, I walked over to the chicken coop to feed and water them. However I was surprised when I walked up to the door and 10 or so chicks had escaped out of the coop. I opened the door, and the sight was pretty gruesome, dead chicks and body parts decorated the coop. Daniel (the part time worker on the farm) drove up and I told him what I discovered. As he took a look, he noticed that a skunk was still inside the coop. So Daniel, Tim and I herded the live chickens into their yard and closed the skunk in the coop. Daniel waited with his gun for the skunk to walk out of the coop, but it was comatose from all the chicks it had ingested and did not want to move. So Daniel grabbed a box and a shovel, shot the skunk in the coop and then disposed of him as quickly as possible to reduce the smell in the coop. The count of living chicks is around 65, which means the skunk killed about 30 chicks. Tim was pretty upset. This is the second round of chicks killed. All of these chicks are to be broilers (used for meat) When full grown they sell for $22.50 The skunk consumed quite an expensive last meal. Before I got to the farm in April, a skunk got into the coop and killed all the laying hen chicks (40 or so) So we won't have laying hens this season. Colby had fixed the door after that happened and set out a trap, which caught about 3 skunks. But this skunk found a small opening in the crack of the door. So sad...

On a lighter note, tomorrow should be a good day. I will be attending my first seminar with the other farm interns that are apart of the Rogue Farm Corps. We will be meeting at a farm up the road. There will be a presentation over keeping farming records and financial records. I didn't realize how much bookkeeping and record keeping there was to be certified USDA Organic. It is quite the process. So I will learn more about that tomorrow as well as do a nature walk with a Biologist and learn about native plants, animal species and geology of the area. Afterward I will drive into town to play my first spring league ultimate game. And after the game one of the couples on the team is hosting a potluck get together. It will be a long but fun day.

I hope you all enjoy the format of the blog instead of emails. It is all very new to me, so I am slowly trying to figure it out. Pictures to come soon.