Field Report: Fields, Flooding, & Food
Hello Friend,
What a week we have had. From flooding to extreme heat, Texas knows how to shake things up.
We received about 9.5” of rain in the span of 4 days, topping our total rainfall received on farm at 29”-the average we usually receive all year fell within a 4 month time span.
All animals faired well through the flooding. Pigs were at the back of the property, which is higher elevation than the front pasture that they had resided in for the past few months (it could have been a muddy mess). Laying hens were in a dry spot in a very low lying field, so no loss of life there either. Broilers just went to the processor the week before, so our broiler houses were empty. Praise God for that because there definitely would have been a lot of casualties. Broilers tend to use each other to get out of the water, and it’s never good for the chicken at the bottom of the pile.
Neat story about cattle-Monday before the rains started, we had cattle rotating in a few paddocks along the creek that you see above and below. Well, somehow they got out-fence was still up, food was good, water was good-so we couldn’t figure out what had happened. Why did they decide to move themselves?
We decided to let them stay out since we knew rain was coming. They tend to know the weather better than we do, and the creek does flood sometimes. Well, that was the best decision we could have made. The creek flooded both sides of its adjacent pastures like we haven’t seen it flood in 15 + years. You can see the cattle in the top picture on the high ground-safe and sound.
Fields are drying up from last week’s floods. We still have a smile on our faces even when we are dripping in sweat because of the rain we have been blessed with this season.
In the bottom left corner of the above picture, you can see the gravel road and the hot wire barely holding on. We travel this creek everyday to get to one set of layers and pigs.
The pigs and chickens are loving the produce they are receiving this summer, especially when it’s nice and cold. A special treat on these hots days. Did you know pigs will not eat citrus or onions, and only potatoes if they are cooked? Bananas and any type of melons are their favorites.