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At David's Pasture the Livestock Come First {Why This Week's Email Was LATE}

posted on

May 7, 2024

Whew!

It's been a long week. ๐Ÿ˜… Case in point: my midweek email went out Saturday instead of Thursday morning this week. I don't like getting behind on my communications to you, but here at David's Pasture we put our livestock first. โ˜

I almost gave up on writing this week's email, but I decided it's better late than never! You deserve to know what's going on over here and why my email is late.

A storm rolling in while we work on the Mobile Range Coops

This week seemed to include all the big to-do's coupled with a series of (much needed) thunderstorms and minor flooding. So instead of sharing an educational blog post or recipeโ€”since I didn't have time for those eitherโ€”here's a snapshot of this week's action...

Kaitlyn and Bo in front of the MRCs

Our highest priority this week was getting the 2 1/2-week-old broiler chicks moved from the brooder houses to the Mobile Range Coops (MRCs for short). These are the floorless pasture coops pictured above. After packing orders for this week, we got to work setting up the MRCs for our first poultry batch of the year.

This work got interrupted midweek by our community feed pick-up. Each month we get a big delivery of GMO-free feed to distribute to fellow homesteaders and small farms in our area.

Once the MRCs were ready, the Cox family jumped in to help move the 1,000+ chicks out to pasture before storms rolled in.

Amber and Clarity loading chicks in the brooder

It was "all hands on deck!"

We use these large plastic crates to safely transport the chicks from the brooder houses to the pasture.

Amber and Kellen unloading chicks in the MRCs
The chicks chasing bugs in their new home on pasture

It's a lot of fun to unload the chicks and watch them chase insects for the first time. We move them to pasture as soon as we safely can to maximize their time outside eating bugs. Like I said earlier, at David's Pasture our livestock are top priority. Providing the best care possible comes before anything else and is the reason my email is late this week.

Once the chicks were settled in, I had to turn my attention to the pigs. The 7+ inches of rain this week had flooded the pond that the pigs were enjoying access to.

The pigs playing on the edge of a now giant pond

Don't worry, the pigs weren't complaining; they were having a blast in their ever-growing mud hole! But the job of moving them to a new paddock was only getting more complicated as the pond level rose. So today we put the big tracks on the skid steer and got the feeder and shelter out before the water overtook them.

It's been a long week but we managed to get everything done. Now it's time for your farmers to rest ๐Ÿ˜ช

We are STOKED to have everyone out here for our annual Farm-to-Table Dinner in just two weeks! If you haven't reserved your seat at the table yet, click here to reserve your seat now!

I hope to see you there!

Your farmer,
Remi Kesten

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Remi

poultry

pasture-raised

farming practices

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