This week has involved a number of horse rides, but few on the normal mount pairings. On Monday, I did a trail ride with the kids – Alex on Devil, Vicki on Precious, and Amanda with me on King. Tonight, I went for a run with Amanda in the jogging stroller and came home to Vicki trotting around bareback, Alex riding King, and Anna on Precious. Amanda actually is happy riding with anyone that will let her up, and Alex thinks it is tons of fun to ride with his little sister. When they were on King together, no matter how much Alex kicked, King wouldn’t move until I let him know it was OK to walk around.
I guess it’s good to build confidence on different horses!
Today Turbo left us. While we still had longer we could keep him on trial, there were a few specific issues that led us to realize he wasn’t the right long term horse. For now, instead of seeking a new horse, we are going to ride King and focus on more lessons for Rob on advanced school horses.
We are sad that Thomas Caleb Sawyer will not be living and growing up with us here on Earth. However we are comforted in the knowledge that we will see him again in Heaven. While the outcome has not been as we hoped, we are at peace. The EEG that was done Saturday night at 6 was flat, however, the official reading of the EEG has not taken place, the results were very obvious to the nurses, technician and to Benji & Beka. Based on all the information, we expect all the other clinical exams that will take place today and Monday morning to officially say that Thomas is brain-dead will confirm what we already know.
Benji & Rebekah had already decided that if Thomas was not going to be able to survive, the best case of the worst case options would be for Thomas to be an organ donor. The organ donor team is now preparing for the Monday morning official report. The donor testing and matching process will begin today, however, we are not sure how long it will take for the nation-wide recipient matching. Thomas will remain on life support until this process is completed. After that, Benji & Rebekah have decided they will have Thomas cremated and have a memorial service. The timing of the service will likely not be decided until after transplant phase has been completed.
Our prayers now are for continued peace and comfort for our family as the grieving process continues. Also, please pray the doctors and families who will be the recipients of the life that Thomas will not be able to experience, but that Benji, Rebekah and Thomas are so loving giving.
Today our batch of meat chickens (Freedom Rangers) arrived at the post office and Anna picked them up. The 51 chicks are 2 days old. Since this is our first experience with an actual meat bird, we will be keeping detailed records. They should be ready for harvest around July 7/8.
In other news, we have decided to cut back significantly in our chick hatching. After a review of the records, we just aren’t really making enough for it to be worthwhile. We definitely have a market for the Jersey Giant chicks, however, the other breeds don’t seem to sell very well. And when you are running 5 heat lamps at a time, it costs $5-6 a day to raise the chicks and your electric bill gets pretty high. So while we can make some money selling chicks the first week after they hatch, we lose all the profits on the extras that don’t sell.
With arrival of the meat chicks, by my spreadsheet we have about 162 chickens on the farm right now,and less than 50 are mature. Between all the different chickens, we are using about 30lbs of feed a day (that was before the 50 meat chicks got here). Did I mention it’s time to cut back.
Tonight, we re-watched Food, Inc. If you haven’t seen it, you should watch it. It is enlightening about life in general. For us, it reinforces our choices about how we raise food and what we choose to eat.
Anna and I went to Sub Ball. Since we were able to convince my parents to come for a visit, we actually got a room and get to spend the full night away from home.
I have completed another chicken coop for the farm. I used a farm wagon (purchased used for $100) under a shipping crate (free) for the coop. The shipping crate was laid on its side, making a 7’x7′ coop that is 44″ high. The 8 nest boxes inside were free from someone else no longer keeping chickens. I put ventilation on 3 sides and both a front and rear access door to make cleaning easier. Once it warms up, we will get some more oops paint at Home Depot and paint the coop a natural color to blend in to the scenery.
Total cost on this coop was a little higher because of the wagon. I spent about $125 with the wagon, hardware ,and lumber used. We plan to house up to about 25 chickens in this coop with electric netting around it. Once the netting arrives, we will move the Jersey Giants into the coop (even though there are only 6 birds) and put it near the back of the farm.
This morning the kids were up at 6 scouring the house for Easter eggs. We made them wait for the hunt until 8 when Amanda was up. The it was time for breakfast, chores, and church. The girls all wore pretty dresses and Alex wore a suit.
If you are considering preordering meat chickens with us, make your reservation soon. We are taking deposits for the first batch of 50 Freedom Ranger broilers. After we subtract the ones for ourselves, only 14 birds have not yet been reserved. The first batch will be harvested approximately July 7/8. Email us if you want a reservation.
