Another week has gone by. We have been busy counting the farm (counting how many birds we have) and trying to tie up the loose ends from the storm. On Wednesday we had a shipment of birds going to Wyoming and Montana – 3100 birds. That morning the reports we had indicated we could still make it out there with the birds, so the crews caught the shipment. Then the weather reports changed and we even found out that Interstate 90 was closed for a significant stretch in South Dakota. Reluctantly the decision was made for us to postpone the shipment and all the birds were let go into the pens again. We really are glad we did not go, as the drivers would have driven into the teeth of a big storm, and certainly would have been lucky to get through. We are leaving with the shipment early next week.
Our seminar registrations are growing – we are just about at 50 signed up attendees. I think we’ll get more as we get closer. I am feeling much more optimistic about the seminar.
Our early breeders have been lit for a while now (in barns) and we were due to get our first egg in another week or two. Much to our surprise we started getting eggs this week. So far we don’t know why the birds are coming in early but we are certain it must have to do with lights being on too long – though the controls are locked and we cannot find any mistaken programming. We think an over-ride switch that was installed a few years ago (a switch that allows you to turn on the lights to do chores during a period when the barn is dark) may have stuck “open” allowing there to be 24 hour light. We cannot replicate the problem – but the birds are laying eggs. Needless to say, we have disconnected the over-ride switches and will be replacing all the spring loaded switches in other barns with electronic digital switches.