A day in the life of a chicken farmer

We sorta have 3 lives. #1 is the RN and his family who travel. #2 is us when Eldon isn't on a job and we're in full travel and explore mode. And #3 is when we land at my parents place to do chores for them when they go on trips. We're so glad we can do it for them and being available for family is high on the list of why we do what we do. Plus, it's really fun and it gives us a taste of  "normal" life, which  can also make us want to run away from it as fast as we can after a few weeks :). 

As it turns out, my parents, my sister, and Eldon's sister all have chicken barns. 1 in Texas, 1 in Colorado, and 1 in Tennessee. Last year we just so happened to visit each of them when the chickens were out and Eldon got to help clean the barns and prepare for the next flock. It was a little weird that it all fell into place like that but let's just say, we see our fair share of chickens!

My dad raises layers that produce organic, cage-free, brown eggs. 20,000 chickens is approximately how many go into these barns and they have them for around 14 months. However, dad kept his last flock longer and put them through a molt as an experiment. I'm not sure yet if it was worth it or not but they have bounced back and been laying at 75-85% (that's decent, 97% is awesome).

Just a few of the darling little birds. First thing in the morning (6ish) Eldon and Michael go out and walk the barn . The floor area is on the right, and the left area that is raised is called the slats. These birds are incredibly bad for laying eggs on the ground even though they've tried all kinds of stuff. It's pretty normal to pick up 1,500 off the slats and ground in a day.

The yellow things on the left are feeders, which run automatically and on the right the red things are for water. I didn't get a picture of it because I was trying to not actually go in, but in the center of the barn are nest boxes. They are sloped so that the eggs roll down onto a belt. That is where they are supposed to lay their eggs!

So. Many. Chickens.

Someone was writing in the dust!!

Dad rigged this wagon up that they pull around and put eggs straight into flats. The red rag on the front is to hopefully scare the chickens so they can pull it through the mob easier. Eldon said what works best is Emily prancing in front of the wagon :).

Michael has been a huge help this time around. He walks the barn with Eldon every time. They do it at 6, then after breakfast they do it twice, once on the floor and once on the slats. Then again at 4 in the afternoon. Emily goes along whenever she wants but we haven't insisted she help regularly yet. Friday night Eldon was mowing the church yard and they got in their head to walk it themselves so they did! I was quite proud of them.

Makayla usually packs half the eggs. She can only do 3 layers but then it's to high for her so Eldon will often finish a stack before he comes in for breakfast. She goes out after washing the breakfast dishes and packs away, for about 30 min. In the evening she does it again while Eldon and Michael walk the barn. She does an excellent job if she pays attention and sticks to it ;).

This belt runs the length of the barn and brings the eggs in. This was a slow time but in the morning it's typically covered. We have to watch a little for cracked eggs, or ones that are huge or tiny. The huge ones get crushed and the tiny ones often get caught where they aren't supposed to and make a mess.

They roll down into these 5 chutes and it counts by 5's when it rolls them on. I just love to watch the number climb when the belt is full!

These rollers are slightly tilted and they make so the small end of the egg is pointed down. After this they are placed into cups.

The red things pick up 30 eggs by suction and carries them over........

......to here where they are placed in flats. I still hold my breath sometimes when I watch it because it looks like it will drop them any moment! My least favorite thing ever is when the packer goofs up and dumps the whole thing before the previous flat has moved on. Everything goes by sensors so a little feather or eggshell can fool the machine and make a big mess in a hurry!

From here is goes into the stacker.

This thing flips them around and pushes them up until there is 6 on a stack then the sensor stops it. Makayla can only handle 2 or 3 at a time so she just runs around a little more to keep up.

Here you can see how it's stacked. When it's full there will be 5 layers with stacks that are 6 flats high.

A full pallet. 10,800 eggs!

They are stored in the cooler until a truck picks them up and hauls them to the factory to be packaged. 

I took a few videos of the packer in action. It's going fairly slow so often Makayla is scurrying a lot faster.

The office where dad keeps all his records. Every day they have to write down how many eggs were packed, how many chickens died, how much food and water they ate, the cooler temperature and probably a lot more.

Michael loves to build towers with the flats.

This is the utility room. Anytime the birds are sick they can add medicine into the water lines. The big barrels are apple cider vinegar that gets run into the water as well. 

The feed bins where the feed is stored. It runs into the feeders with augers and it's all automatic. He gets feed every 7-10 days.

The fenced in area is where the chickens can get out and scratch around in the gravel if they want. Most of them are smart and stay in the cool barn though :).

I asked Makayla and Michael what their favorite part of doing chores is. 

Makayla: Nothing. Except when you pay me. 

Michael: Finding baby eggs so I can make mud cakes.

I also asked what their least favorite part is.

Makayla: It stinks.

Michael: It stinks and chickens are annoying.

So there you have it! That's just a quick run down of what it's like to be on a chicken farm. We do love having jobs for the children like this and seeing them overcome obstacles as they figure out how to do hard things. But it's also exhausting to never have a day off and the thought of being in debt that deep is quite frightening. Cheers to all the farmers who grow food for us! We need you desperately and will happily support you - I just don't want to be one :).

Our new rig!

     I'm excited to finally be getting this post done! I'll warn you - I took pictures but made very little effort to clean up beforehand so this is real life. Since the pictures were taken, most of the boxes and bags sitting around have found homes but I'm much to lazy busy to take new ones.

Here we are bringing our 2010 Keystone Raptor 3912 home! It looks and feels absolutely huge compared to our travel trailer! Eldon was quite pleased though, that our overall length when hooked up is 1 foot less then with the travel trailer! Our weight is an astounding 24,000 pounds though so guess what's next on our list?! Yep, a new tow truck. It's fine for now but we do want to get another just so we have 2 trucks we can tow with if something goes wrong with the one.

This is the floor plan.

This is where we park at my parents. You can just see the roof of the chicken barn on the left. Eldon has redone a few things and made so that we have 50 amp to plug into and can dump straight into the sewer. And no, we actually very rarely smell the chickens. The flies though!!!!!!

Outside storage. This runs the whole way under and can be accessed from both sides. It's huge and not very practical but we'll keep adding until it's how we can use it efficiently. So far we've added fishing rod hangers on the ceiling.

Another compartment with the battery and other stuff that I know nothing about.

And yet another for all the sewer hoses and accessories (there's a lot!).

The generator! This was very high on our "want" list and we are so excited to go West and boondock on BLM land! We'll get to try it out good and proper when we're in Albuquerque for 2 weeks in October.

Let's head on in and turn right, up the stairs. On the left wall is the control panel for slides, awning, tank sensors, generator, water pump and lights. You'll notice the fan by our bedroom door. There is one a.c. in the kitchen and the second is in our room. It works very well and our room could be an icebox but we choose to blow a lot of that cold air into the living area with the box fan.

The door on the left in the hall opens into the main bathroom. The door on the right in this picture goes into our room. Notice the big cabinet above the sink plus the one below it! 

The shower is quite large and the bathroom feels like it has so much storage! Eldon and I actually keep a lot of our clothes in the cupboards above the toilet just because we can.

The master bedroom. Our bed is actually not tilted :). For the first time ever, we have a queen bed instead of a full and it feels massive!

Half of the closet. It feel so huge, since our travel trailer had basically no closet. Now I hang everything possible when I used to fold all but our Sunday clothes!

The other half! You can't see it very well but there is shelves in the back wall too. I'm so blessed to be married to a man that can do nearly any handy man jobs! He ran pipes through the underbelly storage and behind the dresser so that we could put our washer in the closet. It has worked out so well! We keep all the children's clothes (except Michael's) in here because it's super handy and there is plenty of room.

This is how I normally dry our clothes. Or hang them all over the RV and turn the dehumidifier on - either way works!

So, coming out of our room and looking into the living area. You will notice MORE STORAGE above the bathroom door on the right. We have lots of empty space and it makes me feel so proud :).

Bad shot of the couch but this window area is awesome. It has a 6 inch ledge behind it that Ethan loves to clear then sit there like a cat looking out. Of course, underneath the couch is more storage. The middle is a huge open while and the ends both have a drawer that pulls out.

The kitchen. At times it feels small since it's in the corner with no way out but all that counter space is amazing. Also, highly annoying because we tend to toss stuff on it instead of put it away immediately.

The half bath off the kitchen. We are all so very happy to have 2 toilets. And look - 2 more big cabinets! Michael's clothes are in the lower one, along with all the cleaning supplies and the top one is half empty :).

The girls dominion. The queen size loft was a must have for us. Notice how they keep their toolboxes between them? There has been a small amount of drama between them since they haven't shared a bed in 2 years but I think they'll survive it. They've got a big window up there that's really nice for Emily when she needs a distraction to keep her from falling asleep. *sarcasm*

This is up there as well. I keep extra school books and craft supplies on the top shelf and the girls throw all manner of junk on the bottom. 

The garage..........one of my favorite things ever! Michael sleeps on the queen bed. It can lower or raise but we keep it at this height so we can walk under it but he can still go up there to play. There was a second queen bed but we took it out for now. Ethan has a small mattress on the floor. This has been a source of great grief to Michael because apparently we promised that Ethan would sleep IN HIS ROOM, IN HIS BED. I'm just not letting my 2 year old sleep in a top bunk so promise breaker I will be :). 

Our table is back here but we've never eaten at it yet. So far we use the bar and couch. It's lovely for throwing things on and also for doing school and not putting it away whenever we want to eat.

When we move, the carpet gets rolled about up part ways and we fill this up with our bikes. 

More junk. Our school stuff, coloring books, and library books are here. This mess has been organized and looks much better now!

The door on the left goes into the bathroom but so far we haven't used it. I love the mini fridge back here! So nice to keep extra milk and water bottles in. And on the right, Eldon hung hooks for jammies, jackets, and the broom.

So, that's pretty much it! Thanks for hanging in there until the end :) .

We're still here!

     I've been feeling bad for quite some time that the blog has been so incredibly silent the last 2 months. It just seemed like we weren't going new places and doing exciting things so why bother? Then I remembered that I love to read about the normal nitty gritty in other people's lives so here we go! I'll take you on a picture post of the last 2 months. 

     At the beginning of May we were still in San Angelo, with Eldon working 3 days a week at a local hospital. He also started mowing for the State Park a few hours a week as a volunteer. It's a great way to get our area of the campground mowed in a timely manner as well as the trails we want to hike :).

     
     We still don't have a quote carved onto our table yet because we can't settle on one. I don't think it will be either of these 2 but who knows. We aren't usually indecisive so I know when we find the right one, we'll know.

My mom has a fabric store and had been saving the samples she receives from her suppliers and Makayla kept piecing them together . I helped her a little but tried to stay our of it and let her learn from her mistakes. She is quite pleased with the size of her "blanket". It's taken her over a year because she just added on as mom gave her more samples.

Mr. Fishy is still alive, in spite of being vigorously stirred around with a spoon,  being fed "coffee", and even dumped completely out of his bowl. He's like a cat and has 9 lives! At least he's well loved by his owner!

Michael lost his first tooth!

Eldon and the children built this popsicle bridge one day. It held Ethan's weight without breaking!

I enjoyed watching the Harvester ants behind our RV work together to drag a cutie slice into their hole.

We went to another new park.......

.......and back to one of our favorite places in San Angelo - the river walk!

They had a blast taking an old computer apart one day. I was amazed how Makayla stuck to it!

Biking on top of the dam at O.C. Fisher Lake. It's like Kansas- flat and endless :).

     We had planned to be at my parents for 3 weeks in June before we ever started in San Angelo. My dad has a chicken barn with 20,000 layers and we enjoy doing their chores for short periods. They are currently on a cruise to Alaska and also spending some time visiting my brother and sister in Colorado. Their church (also what we consider our home church) had VBS the week before Eldon's scheduled time off so he brought the RV and us up then drove back down and worked his 3 days. 

     Makayla, Michael, and Emily all had SUCH a good time at VBS that it made the separation well worth it! The last night the parents were all invited to a program the children put on and it was so fun to see each class work together and share what they learned! They all did an excellent job. I didn't think about taking pictures until afterwards but another kind lady had taken of most of the classes and shared with me! I don't have one of Michael's class but just imagine a dozen hyper 5 year olds, guided along by 2 beautiful young ladies! Pretty sure they can handle anything after a week with that crew :)!

The 4 year olds might have been my favorite! Emily just adored her teacher and they sang Jesus in the Family at the program. So cute!

The 8 year olds. They had a lot of fun and Makayla was so happy to make some new friends here!

My sisters, Melissa and Melody, have 2 kittens that have gotten an overdose of love since we are here. Strangely enough, Ethan was terrified of them for at least 2 weeks!

My dad made an outdoor "kitchen" for all the kids and they pilfer anything they can to add to their stash. It entertains them for hours! Mud pies, coming up!

     When Eldon brought us up, he stayed for 3 days before he headed back to San Angelo. We finally had enough saved that we could go.......camper shopping! We have been trolling online for months and had a good idea of what we wanted.
-5th wheel
-no longer then 40 feet
-generator
-2 a.c.'s
-toyhauler, with the happi jac bed (it goes up......or down :) )
-queen loft area
-bathroom separate from the master bedroom
-second bathroom a plus
-under $30,000
     Whew. Pretty picky, I know! We'd narrowed it down to a few models that had everything on our list and were thrilled to find a few in the Dallas/Waco area. Friday we headed towards Dallas to check out a few. The 2 Keystone Raptors we really wanted to see were both dirty and stank and none had exactly what we wanted. We also browsed some new ones until our heads ached and I was feeling fairly discouraged till it was over.
    There was a 2010 Keystone Raptor an hour and half south so we made arrangements to meet the guy on Saturday. We'd had our eye on this one for a while but it was cheap-only $25,000 for all it promised to have so we were sure something was wrong that it hadn't been snatched up already. We laughingly made each other promise that we are NOT buying it today (we may be known for spur of the moment decisions) and hoped and prayed that it would be everything it said or just awful.

It was e.x.a.c.t.l.y. what we wanted. And it didn't stink. It fact, it was super clean. And the man was extremely nice. I finally just went outside because I couldn't handle the perfectness anymore. Eldon got done with his questions then told me we have to at least eat lunch before we make a decision :).

As it turns out, we brought it home that day! It just felt right. We knew. And the guy took a personal check. Who does that for that amount of money?! He even knocked a couple hundred bucks off since some other guy who was looking at it broke the black tank valve.

     That was Saturday. Brought it home and messed around a little, figuring out how it all works. Sunday afternoon Eldon headed back to San Angelo so I was solo parent. I worked at wiping out the cupboards and everything even though it was clean........it just felt like I should. My sisters helped me so much by cleaning and keeping an eye on the children. It also helped immensely that the 3 oldest children went to VBS every night and it was just Ethan and I for 2 whole hours. I started moving stuff over too. I didn't think that would take long though..........you know, we live in an RV, we don't have much stuff. What a joke!

And it rained and rained and rained.

Just to make you smile

Our garage! I was so very thankful that we could pile it all in there and put it away one box at a time instead of having the mess spread everywhere.

Although, it did spread everywhere. And no matter the chaos, one still needs to create pretty things if the the urge hits, right???????

Eldon came home late Wednesday night and helped me haul all our stuff over Thursday and Friday, in between rain bursts. Then we needed to clean and advertise our travel trailer. Happily, a man came from Arkansas last week and paid cash!

Licking the salt block at Tractor Supply just because we can!

Father's Day 2017.......this man totally deserves his own post but........this will have to do! As you can see, his children all adore him! I'm incredibly blessed to raise these munchkins with a man of God who puts spending time with his family above all else except God.

Our crazy little chicken man. He loves to go with Eldon to walk the barn and pick up floor eggs! Amazes me how he's scared of kittens but not 20,000 chickens!

Flying the drone

    That was longer then I thought! Hoping to get pictures of the new camper and post about that soon!

     As for our future, we've committed to stay in San Angelo until the end of September. It's a long time to be in one place but we have a good place to stay, good pay, and love the city! We do have a 2 week trip planned to Arkansas the end of July and hopefully will sneak in a few weekend trips to localish destinations. We'll be at the Albuquerque Balloon Festival from October 3-17 then we plan to hit the open road for a few months (after we help my dad get his chicken barn cleaned out and ready for the new flock). Pennsylvania is on the slate for Christmas but after that's it's wide open and we're so excited to see what doors God will open. Michael's praying Montana :) :).