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Makin' Memories is a glimpse into ag-business through the words of Kristin and Levi Hayman, poultry and row crop farmers from Greensboro. Each month, they will give you a peek into life on the farm.
February on our farm saw one flock of chickens go to market at the beginning of the month, and another flock of fresh baby chicks delivered by the end of the month. So, what did we do in the “off time” between flocks? Many have the wrong impression of our down time between flocks, this is actually when we have a lot of work to get done. The time between flocks is known as a “layout” in the poultry world, so that’s what I’ll refer to it from here on out!
We started our layout by adding more fresh shavings to the litter, then we windrowed the litter into three long piles, the entire length of the chicken houses. The litter is put into windrow piles to create a heat and help mitigate any potential diseases or bacteria that might be in the litter. The litter is then leveled out and pulverized- pulverizing is a fancy way of saying the litter is grinded into fine pieces so there weren’t any big chunks of litter left on the floors that could potentially hold ammonia.
There’s plenty more work that had to be done as well though! Our houses were blown down, the walls and exhaust fans were washed, feeders blown out, drinkers flushed, feed hoppers cleaned, lightbulbs changed as needed, and on the paperwork side- all the paperwork for the last flock had to be finalized, and feed tickets organized for filing.
Layouts give us a breather to get things done and do equipment maintenance as needed, but we are always happy to get back into routine when a new flock arrives! More on delivery of our latest flock in the next issue!
We are also row crop farmers, and February can be a little slow on this side of our operation. Hauling corn from our tanks to the elevator, accepting seed, chemical, and fertilizer deliveries, and spreading lime and potash are all things we are able to take care of this time of year to prepare for the next growing season. We are more than ready for the spring planting season to get here and to bring warmer temperatures to the area. We will be sharing more information and stories as the 2026 growing season approaches!
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