Introducing the In-Pasture Brooder

Amber, Baby Grif and Lena Mae testing out the In-Pasture Brooder.
(Peeps are still in their transport boxes in the foreground.)

Lew, our resident tinkerer/inventor, is always dreaming up new contraptions for use on the farm.  In the past few weeks, he has been working diligently to tweak the design of our poultry shelters for use in the pastures.  (The main goal: to protect our "girls" from predators while still giving them the pasture-roaming freedom they so enjoy.)  His latest invention is an in-pasture brooder, a floored pasture-based shelter complete with heat lamps which will be the "first-stop" home for all the new poultry on the Farm.  During the approximately 2-week brooding period, young peeps (several days old) must be kept in a warm, well-ventilated shelter as their fluffy down is slowly converted into more insulating feathers.  After the chicks are sporting a full complement of feathers, they are moved officially onto pasture.

Yesterday, Lew, Amber (and, of course, Lena Mae and Baby Grif) transported our first In-Pasture Brooder to its new home and set up the latest batch of peeps in their new digs.  Check out the photos below.



Baby Grif rides in apple-crate style!

Amber makes sure each of the 130 peeps is given an initial "drink" to quench any thirst
they may have built up during transport.  Each peep gets special care.

Baby Grif supervising Brooder operations.

Lena Mae supervises from her perch on "Papa's tractor."

We'll be updating you soon about opportunities you will have to come visit the Farm and check out our poultry and pigs and trees and things.  

Grateful for new inventions and lively peeps, I remain,
Delana (for Your Farmers @ Miller's)