A Day in the Life of a Full Time Chicken Farmer/Writer

     Hello! 

    For my first post, I decided to write about a normal day for me. I live on a small farm with two cows (which I try to avoid at all costs because I am not a cow person😂) three dogs, thirteen ducks, and I raise chickens!

My lone Muscovy duck, Riley. (Please ignore the mess, this was taken during feed time😂)

Part of this year's second hatch group enjoying some fresh milk.

    A Normal Day for Me: Winter Edition

    I get up around seven, seven-thirty. Whenever the sun has had time to come up, because Dark = Freezing right now and I do not like to freeze😂 I usually will get tea (hibiscus or occasionally butterfly pea) or Crio Bru (a coffee alternative) steeping/brewing and go about waking up and get ready for the day. I normally do not eat breakfast until nine at the earliest, as I went though a five-year period where I had severe food allergies and gut issues. Eating too early would always make me just feel heavy and nauseated. (I have recently, as of this year, been healed of all food allergies/issues, but old habits die hard😂)

    By eight or eight-thirty, it's usually warm enough for this twiggy person to bundle up in Carhartt's (seriously a life-saver if you hate the cold!) and trudge out with a bucket of feed for my eighty-five chickens and thirteen ducks. 

    (You may be thinking "Wow. I thought farmers had to get out early to do chores!" And yes, this is true. Mostly if you have livestock. Especially milking livestock. My sisters milk cows, and they have to be out at a specific time every day unless there is an emergency or extreme weather. I am blessed in that chickens and ducks are pretty flexible in their eating schedule. And especially now, in the cold, they take longer to get out of their coops. Or the hay feeder, where the ducks insist on hanging out because they don't like coops....even if the coops are warmer *shrug*

    Feeding on an easy day--like today--is literally just putting out their feed, and then feeding our two injured chickens and the social outcast rooster separately.  

(From left to right: Cowboy, the social outcast. Nan, the hen who was attacked by a very large rat (which my dad shot) and Arrow, the little roo chick who was attacked by our very playful pup)

    This usually takes me about thirty minutes. Some days I have to haul water, some days I have to clean out our three coops. And every other day, I have to change Nan's and Arrow's bandages.

    I also try to take pictures and make posts on mine and my sisters' social media dedicated to our chickens. This...does not always happen as I'm not very good at keeping up with social media😂

    Then I come inside, grab something for breakfast and my hot drink (today it's homemade trail mix and Crio Bru) and go upstairs to do some writing or editing, whichever task I have before me today. Today, it was writing my first ever blog post! I totally didn't procrastinate over this trying to figure out what to actually write. No way. That's crazy. Totally impossible. Pfft. This is easy peasy. *nervous laugh*

    After writing, I go down to sort and reboot laundry and help with clean up. Then I get started on whatever I will be eating for lunch. Which is usually chicken salad because, again, old habits die hard. And, after Thanksgiving and ALL the pie and cookies and other sweets I've eaten, I try to avoid processed or heavy foods for a week or so. And this year I've failed on that, but hey. I need the carbs that comes with pizza😂

    After lunch is sometimes working outside on whatever project needs to be done. Late fall and winter, when it's really cold out, is a pretty easy, relaxed time for us, but there is always something needing to be done. It's either that, or I clean house and then get in a little more writing and/or editing done. Some days, I do a dance workout, some days I'll get in a Bible Study. 

    Evening feed is at 4:20. It takes a little longer in that I have to get next day's feed prepared, gather eggs, and make sure there is plenty of water for everyone. After that, I catch Arrow and Nan and make sure they are secure and settled down in a warm coop for the night. Arrow has lost all his feathers on his back and sides. He only has them on his neck, wings, lower legs, and tail. And he likely won't grow them back due to his injuries. So he requires special care so he doesn't freeze to death. (Poor baby roo)

    After everyone has been secured in their coops and all the gates closed, it's inside for a hot shower, supper, another cup of tea or Crio Bru (I promise I am not promoting them😂 I just drink it instead of coffee or hot chocolate) and last minute chores. On weekends we'll watch a movie, during the week, I try and finish the chapter I'm writing or editing, and read the Bible before bedtime. (This can be a struggle, as I have dyslexia. And it gets worse when I'm tired😂)

    And there you have it! A Normal Day for Me in the Winter.