Circle of Life?

We have baby chicks in the brooder in the barn. They are about 10 days old now and are growing fast! I shined my flashlight in there to make sure I didn't have any dead babies in the corners, as this sometimes happens. I didn't see any dead babies, but I did see a very fat snake. Not to worry, I just spilled the baby chicks into another cage and we put a cap in that bad boy snake! Okay, looks like it ate 5 of my babies. Jerk. Hmmm, the snake is dead now, lets feed it to the pigs! There is no wasting a scrap of food here! It was just a rat snake, so no danger to the pigs. Later the pig manure will go into the garden, this is where the grown chickens will scratch for bugs and other tasty stuff. ~Even baby snakes will be fair game to a grown chicken! We get amazing fruits and vegetables, any leftovers will go to the chickens, pigs and goats. Then, when the pigs are big enough, off they go to the butcher. Then into my freezer! The goats continue to give us milk and the chickens give us plenty of eggs. Too many roosters? Fryers!
I wouldn't want to live any other way. When I die, I suspect my remains will give some good nutrition to something else. Why not? I won't need this old carcass when I'm gone. I'm all about reusing, recycling, re purposing when I can. One thing I would like though is if someone needs my eyes, kidney, heart, matching set of ears, what-have-you, please take it while its still warm. Of course the recipient will probably have an uncontrollable urge to start a farm! :D

Stew for your chickens

That's right, instead of the old standby "Chicken Stew", lets take care of those wonderful little bug-eating egg layers and show them some love! Now, you will love the fact that this is a 3 for 1 deal, and everyone is happy. (Except the flies)
Start by cleaning out the left overs from your refridgerator. But wait! Don't throw those scraps away!! Get out a black leaf bag and start filling it up! Spoiled milk? Toss it in! Casserole from who knows when?? Bag it! All of the left-overs are fair game! And while you're at it, what are saving the box of stale crackers for? Pour em in the bag! What you want to have is a soupy consistancy. Now, sit the bag out in the yard and leave it opened. That's right.... let it sit opened all day! Tomorrow, go out and put a tie on it and be sure to leave lots of air too. Now this is the easy part. Let the bag sit in the sun for 7 days. This is where the chickens come in. Bring the bag of "stew" to the chicken yard and call them. Open the bag and spill the stew out for them. To your amazement, and the chickens suprize, there will be a whole generation of fly larvae in the stew! Now, step back ( pretty far, because it is stinky) and watch the extreme excitement of your chickens as they go bonkers on the maggot stew! You have a clean fridge, chickens are well fed and thousands of would be flies get wiped out before they get a chance!
Maggot Stew.... It's a good thing :)