Posted by Farmer Sam | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 14-05-2010
It is with great sadness that I write this post. Starting on Wednesday night (May 12), sometime between 11 pm and 6 am, our field flooded. All the broilers are dead. There was no warning (or at least none that I was aware of), and our field has never flooded this much this late in the year (at least since we’ve been here). When I went out I was holpeful that one or two chickens might be alive. After pulling the first chicken tractor to land, I discovered I was wrong.
Celeste took some pictures of me trying to rescue the chickens. The white things in the water around me are the broilers. I picked a couple up (also pictured) to see if there were any vital signs. I later took a couple clearer pictures and one of Nora surveying the loss.
Our family garden also flooded. I do not yet know the extent of loss there. The next week will reveal more.
The bit of good news is that we just got our next round of broilers in as chicks. They are set to be processed on June 26, assuming fire doesn’t descend from Heaven and consume them.
Sam,
Vern and I are so sorry for all the money, time, and hard effort put into raising those chickens. Just to have the rain take them away. Although the turkey buzzards seemed to enjoy them. I would have perferred to eat them. The life of a farmer is hard.
Just remember one thing. God works in mysterious ways. Maybe there was a reason.
We’ll be waiting for the next batch.
Joanne and Vern