Oh Sunrise

Let the Sunshine out to pasture!

The demand for dressed chickens had gone up since March.  We thought that Holy Week will dampen the orders.  So glad for the turn from when we started 10yrs ago :)

So today, early at the farm again to check on pens and new loading areas and possible pasture areas.  

Photo above was taken to assess areas when we discuss.  After I downloaded it, the photo struck me as very fresh, clean and alive!

The Sunshines led us to a ranging area for their soon to be new siblings on the farm....but then, they won't meet them, as this is part of the batch to go today :)

Last Early Morning Dew

It rained hard here in Santiago City, Isabela last night.  Such a relief from the heat that the news on the radio and TV had been blurting out on the air.

This morning a batch has to be slaughtered and we walk to the pen quietly. It was so nippy cool and fresh after the rain.  They had not been fed anymore as they are going to be dressed today.  They greet you as they think you are there to give them food.

As I am typing now, there are several around me and literally pecking at my legs and pulling my skirt.  Then giving a look and pointing their beak to crates of food nearby.

Gizzard Of A Pastured Chicken

Chickens don't have teeth to chew on their food.  They peck on their food, gets stored in their crop. The strong muscles of the gizzard grind the food who's nutrients get to the system.

You can't see these in caged chickens, but for newly released pastured chickens, notice how they go to pebbles and eat them? Don't be alarmed, it is normal :)  They will need the small stones to grind the food, with the help of the strong muscles of the gizzard.

This is the gizzard of a newly slaughtered Sunshine Chicken.  Obviously pastured well into time.  Gizzard is big, strong and matured with age. The stones found inside have sort of polished as they worked and ground food that the chicken ate :)

Multipurpose

What is this?

 

Originally, we had several of those made as battery type brooders.  They are the brooders that are like condominiums. Space saver, yes.  But, hard to clean among other things.  

At the farm, we do litter type (on the floor) brooding, inside the poultry building....that works best for us.

The battery types are kept for emergency brooding, or works well  as isolation pens for chickens and even piglets......and is a seedling nursery, safe from predators ;)

Say It As It Is

Make it easy for caretakers to understand.  

Our farm concoctions are made by our store crew, as they are much easier to receive instructions and monitor what the farm needs, basing from population of poultry houses and timeframes.  If the ordering is left to the caretakers, it will always be delayed as they love to wait for the last minute when the supplies were needed yesterday.

When the concoctions are sent, we make sure everything is labeled in big letters and say exactly what it is for.  The farm had been using it for years, but they mix up datas and informations.  Great that the natural farming concoctions are safe to use, but we want to make sure that the animals are getting what they need :)

Think like them, so work will be easier for all.

Wild Ampalaya

Doc Rey had been motivated by his test results as his sugar, cholesterol, uric acid etc had been going down.  Thanks to 3C , OHN (with video in our links) and Fermented Ampalaya, that he now takes religiously.  People who are privy to our refrigerators know that we are always fully stacked with those natural concoctions.

In our discussion on FB with some of our natural farming advocates, the existence and or the absence now of Wild Ampalaya came up.  I was asking our farm's caretaker to watch out for it as we need it to make our herbal concoctions.  She said she has seen those in the garage.  The drivers had been picking their Ampalaya supply from there as it was so good.  

Hearing that, Doc Rey who now vouches for the concoctions, was excited as he hasn't seen them for a long time now.  He drove by the garage and came back with these  Wild Ampalaya:  The orange ones are not flowers.  They are ripened Ampalayas that pop and show their seeds.  Nature knows how to take care of oneself.  The wild and plants of yore, ripen, pop and replant themselves.

Fermented Ampalaya to lower your blood sugar :)  Be guided by this proportion:

3kgs Ampalaya (wild ones are better because they are more bitter, if none, settle for pesticide free ones)

1kg Coco Sugar or Honey

Slice the Ampalaya and layer the vegetable and sugar/honey in a container.  Layering makes sure that you are able to coat the vegetables well, ending with sugar/honey.  Cover and keep in a cool, dark place to ferment for 7days.

You can take about 30ml 2x a day.

Doc Rey takes all three:  3C, OHN and Fermented Ampalaya...mixes all up in one glass :)

Stay healthy!

TLC

TLC is not an abbreviation for a natural farmer's concoction.  Yes, you know it all along...tender loving care :)

We spray our soil with IMO, our trees with FPJ and when during the turn over stage to flowering and fruiting, we use FFJ so that their fruits are large and sweet.

The last typhoon feel almost all our Mango trees.  Thought they were all gone!  But I guess our soil was good and trees were healthy :)  They didn't die on us.  We didn't prop them up anymore as we let the course of the wind tell us how we should plant in the farm.

The Chico is far from ripe.  The fruits are soooo big and still getting bigger :)

Our Duhat fruits are almost like plums and tastes so sweet :)  The Guayabanos are  juiciest I ever tasted and is a lot more sweet than sourish.

Another one we are so proud of is our Langka.  We had pruned the fruits already, to give way to better nutrient distribution, but we still got a very good yield.

In our other farm, we have just been diligent in IMO there to revive the land.  Our citrus trees have started to give us Oranges.  Not yet juicy, but over sweet....I can imagine what it will be like after we focus on those trees there.