Trudy DeRemer joined the MacFarlane Staff in January 2004 as the Assistant Brooder Manager. She worked at this job for 4 years before leaving the farm to work at a chicken farm for four years, but she couldn’t stay away! Trudy returned to MacFarlane Pheasants in 2012 as the Research Manager. Trudy then transitioned from Research Manager to the Hatchery, in the Breeder Selection Crew. She is currently transitioning into her new job as Center Farm Manager.
She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science from Michigan State University and a Certificate in Poultry from UW Madison/Midwest Poultry Consortium Center of Excellence. Trudy has enjoyed each position at MacFarlane’s and is excited about her new role.
When she moved from the Hatchery to the Breeder Selection Crew Trudy maintained some duties in the Hatchery. Her responsibilities wound down as the season of hatching hunt chicks ended. She continued to work with the crew, hatching meat line birds, while beginning her responsibilities on the Breeder Selection Crew. This season was short, as the job was to select breeders for the next hatch season, which started for the year last week. Currently, Trudy is transitioning into her new role as a Farm Manager.
“It’s a huge learning curve as my work has not been outside during my other positions.,” says the experienced Trudy. “We are still in the 2018 season of hunt birds on the farm, so we are caring for those and getting the pens taken down so we can get ready for the 2019 season which starts in about 7-8 weeks. The birds for the 2019 season hatched last week, so they will go out into the pens in 7-8 weeks so we have to get all the equipment out and washed. We also need to rototill the pens to bring fresh soil to the surface and plant cover. We then need to get the clean equipment back into the pens, along with getting holes fixed and maintenance upkeep of the pens done so we can place the birds into the outside pens once they are ready to be moved out of the barn.”
Right now, MacFarlane Pheasants’ employees are finishing the 2018 Fall/Winter season and are transitioning into the 2019 Spring/Summer season for the outside birds. We officially started our hatch and chick season last week for 2019. This is always an exciting time on the farm and a busy one. If you would like to learn more about the seasonal changes at MacFarlane Pheasants please respond to our blog or on our Facebook page.
