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What is the Big Deal About Maintenance?

On April 7, 2016 in Archive by spope

We have lots of equipment at MacFarlane Pheasants and we spend a great deal of time making sure that every piece of equipment is kept in great shape. It is important for us to protect our investments, from feed and water systems to delivery trucks. If we don’t maintain our equipment, we waste our resources and we just can’t let that happen, if we want to keep our business profitable!

We have recently shipped our last birds. It is time to get our farm ready for a new season. New hatches will soon be ready to be moved outside to flight pens. We are removing feeders and water pans from the pens and mowing down the remaining cover. Once this task is accomplished we will begin rototilling inside the 150 acres of pens, in preparation for planting fresh cover. Other crew members are going through the pens and repairing any damage, including holes in the top net, holes in the side wire, and broken posts or gates. In addition to this work, we are washing and sanitizing all feeders and water fountains.

Equipment has to be checked out and made ready to go before we can begin preparing the pens. We have nearly 30 licensed vehicles on our farms. In addition to pickup trucks used on the farm, we have delivery trucks, tractors, mowers, manure spreaders and other pieces of equipment that have to be maintained.

We have gators that are great for getting around the farm and in and out of the pens. We use them to haul all the needed equipment into the pens. A gator is a John Deere 4-wheel drive all-terrain vehicle with a small truck bed on the back of it. Gators are important resources to the farm and have been excellent work-horses for us. We take good care of them and keep them fueled up and ready to go so every morning so we can begin the day with confidence.

Trucks that we use on the farm are maintained regularly but also cleaned out and washed each day. All tools and equipment are removed and put away at the end of the day. That way we can start every morning with both tools and equipment ready to go. There is nothing more frustrating than starting the day with missing equipment or a truck with a problem!

The trucks we use for chick and pheasant delivery are gone over with a fine tooth comb, by our maintenance supervisor before they go out on the road. Coolant leaks, flat tires, fuel problems or broken springs can be disastrous when we are delivering a cargo of pheasants. Imagine a driver with 10,000 chicks stranded during a delivery!

Spring is in the air and we are excited about another productive season. If you would like to learn more about  our maintenance procedures or any topic on our farms be sure to contact us.

What is the big deal about maintenance

 



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