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May came and went in the blink of an eye! During the month of May, our latest flock went to market. That means it’s back to cleaning out the barns and prepping for another flock of chicks!
Our next flock will be coming in during the month of June. So what does a chick delivery look like? We preheat our houses for two days prior to chick delivery; our barns are equipped with temperature sensors that constantly monitor the temperature at the height of the birds so we can keep the barns heated to the proper temperature throughout the flock. The warmer temperatures outside throughout the summer allow us to use more fans to bring in fresh air into the houses the without chilling the birds too much.
Also at delivery, we have extra feed available for the chicks so they have the best start possible. Drinker lines are leveled and the nipples on the drinkers are at eye level for the chicks so they can see the water droplets and start drinking right away.
Getting our baby chicks off to the best start possible is always a top priority between flocks and while we set up for the incoming flock!
As for our row crops, May gave us super dry weather, which is not ideal for planting. The lack of rain made planting challenging…and breakdowns didn’t help either. The lack of rains caused us to make many difficult decisions this planting season. At one point, we parked the planter to wait on some of the forecasted rains that faded out before they could provide our soils with much needed moisture. Typically we use vertical tillage practices ahead of planting, but this year was so dry that we decided to no-till our crops where we could. We also turned on our irrigation pivots where we have them to help put some moisture into the ground. These decisions did not come lightly; everything we do now affects our overall yields at harvest. We will not know the full outcome of this dry planting season until fall comes around and we start harvesting our crops. One thing Levi has noticed while planting is how beneficial cover crop has been for helping retain some moisture in the soil and also loosening the soil.
Other things happening around the farming community this month include barley harvest and later in the month, wheat harvest will likely be starting. We are thinking of the safety of all farmers who are about to embark on barley and wheat harvests in the dry conditions!
