Darr Family Farm

Who knew we’d gain such joy from something so simple. Chickens have got to be one of the very first animals that come to mind when one thinks about a farm. What farm doesn’t have chickens? They’re practically the easiest animal to raise, they’re pretty self sufficient, just give them water, shelter, feed, sunshine and they will thrive! Loss is typically minimal if they have these basic needs. They’re friendly, active and so very entertaining.

But who knew our 15 year old son would take to these birds so quickly and become so attached. He truly loves his flock, he takes great pride in caring for them each day. He doesn’t want anyone else checking on them, feeding them, cleaning their coop. He loves to go out several times a day just to watch them peck around, he loves to see them come running when they notice him approaching the coop. They recognize him as their caregiver and they are so excited to see him coming as well. Even if he doesn’t go into their coop, they greet him at the fence waiting for him to acknowledge them, hoping he might have a treat for them, which most times he does. He loves to watch them grow, he loves to show his siblings and us how the eggs are all different not just between breeds but how they differ from bird to bird.

How could one know that the same breed could lay such different size eggs. He has one hen that lays an egg that’s almost three times the size of his other hens. Sometimes they’re double yolks, sometimes not. He loves the various colors of the eggs and has his favorite hens. He is thrilled to learn all he can when he has a sick hen or one that’s injured. We’ve gained so much knowledge as a family because of our sons devotion to his flock.

Who knew fresh eggs can sit on the counter unwashed for you to two weeks? And those same eggs will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to three months unwashed. If you’re one that would prefer to wash your eggs, they must be refrigerated and they’ll remain fresh for up to two months. But to our surprise they don’t taste as fresh once they’re washed and refrigerated. So we enjoy having our beautiful eggs sit on our counter in our little farm basket. The colors are so beautiful, the different sizes are amazing to us. It’s so nice to be able to reach over for an egg that has just been laid that day to crack open for Sunday morning breakfast and see it with its bright white and beautifully golden yolk. There is no better eggs than ones from happy, healthy, pasture ranged chickens that you are able to enjoy right in your very own back yard!

Will is such a hard worker, one of the things he enjoys doing is growing food. Every morning when he goes out to check on his hens, Cluck Norris, the goats & even the pigs he waters the garden. He is doing so well with helping to keep things growing and well fed. Without him we’d certainly wouldn’t have so much planted already.

Here are a few photos of some of the things we’ve planted so far this year.

Ever since Andrea was a young teenager she’s wanted goats. I never wanted goats, so naturally she didn’t get them. I’m sure all you moms can relate to my reasoning. When the kids decide they’re bored with the animal, the new has worn off, or (and this is my favorite) it’s to hard to take care of them, us moms get stuck caring for the pet. I’ve heard horror stories, like I’m sure most others have as well, how goats eat EVERYTHING! I know my limitations, goats have always been way beyond what I knew I was ready to take on so she never got her goats growing up.

Well now that Will has his flock of hens, Emily has her pair of pigs, was it fair to keep Andrea from having her dream pet? Even though she’s grown with a child and home of her own, she still lives on the farm and in order to continue encouraging her to actively participate how could we deny her goats any longer?

This all comes at a time when our world is in a very strange situation, we’re dealing with a world wide pandemic where people are hoarding toilet paper and all we could think about was how are we going to provide for our children if the stores run out of food. I went to buy milk and the only thing available was a quart of goats milk, at the high price of $4.50. I reluctantly bought it because my son and grandson love milk. We had never had goats milk before so I was afraid I was wasting my money but it was delicious!! It was then that I decided that we NEED goats.

So last week we welcomed Laveau & Marie, our very first goats to the farm. I’ve spent hours watching videos, reading books, trying to do all I can to be prepared for their arrival. We’re all so excited to see them every day, their so funny to watch and they’re so friendly. It almost makes me wish we had given in to Andrea a long time ago!

Emily has never been very interested in farming so when she began asking for pigs we were hesitant in fear that she wouldn’t commit to caring for them in the manner in which they deserved.

She asked for months for us to get her pigs, we finally gave in but only with the understanding that they would one day become bacon and pork chops. My husband and I very vividly remember the challenges we faced the very first time we attempted to raise pigs when we first moved to Mississippi. We knew it wouldn’t be easy to keep them happy and content in their housing. And I knew I wasn’t up to chasing pigs again!

When we finally gave in, she agreed that one day her beloved pigs could end up in the freezer. My husband and I decided that raising pigs may not be such a bad idea after all. You see we haven’t had a tractor in quite sometime and we have a lot of land that we would love to have cleared so we thought these little pigs just might be what we need to get some land cleared, satisfy Emily’s desire to raise pigs and grow bacon at the same time!

So about a month ago we welcomed Ham Solo & Pepper Pig to the farm! They’re so cute & lots of fun. They’ve done a great job clearing their first paddock and will be ready to be moved this weekend.

Emily has shown great devotion so far. She has them spoiled, she spends lots of time with them, they love her and come running when they hear her voice. If things continue to go well they just might have a nice long life here on Darr Family Farm

I fell head over heels in live with this roo that our grandson lovingly named Friendly. His colors are so beautiful and he grew to be so masculine, he crows each morning and all throughout the day to let everyone know he’s in charge.

Then one day Will came inside moaning about how Friendly was being mean to him. We teased him about being afraid of a little 5 pound chicken, we all had a good laugh and went about our daily lives. As time progressed Will kept complaining about Friendly, it wasn’t until he told us he wanted to turn Friendly into stew that we began to realize there could be a serious issue.

Friendly was quite aggressive towards Will, however he had never acted that way towards my husband or myself & when we were in the coop with Will he was always well behaved. So we had assumed Friendly was just challenging Will when he was alone to see if he could put him in his place.

Shortly thereafter Friendly became aggressive towards all of us. He began trying to spur us, even though he didn’t have spurs yet, he’d jump up, kick us, flap his wings with his neck feathers all ruffled. It quickly became obvious that we had a problem.

We decided to separate Friendly into his own coop for everyones safety. We had hoped to eventually be able to breed him with our Easter Egger hens but with his aggressive nature we don’t want his offspring to inherit those traits. So for now Friendly, who has been renamed Cluck Norris for his stealthy attacks and unexpected back kicks, resides in his own coop away from the girls. He’s still so beautiful to me, I just wished his inner beauty matched his outer beauty.

We decided last summer it was time to bring some life back to the farm. We have raised small crops every year, just enough to feed our family but we wanted more. I found a local breeder and bought a few hens. About a month after we got them home, we realized over half of the hens were roosters. We knew we didn’t want a bunch of roo’s and we weren’t ready to butcher them so I gave them away to a coworker. I then placed an order from an online hatchery, while we waited for them to arrive we found some little cuties we just couldn’t resist at our local farm store, our little flock soon grew to become almost 45 hens and 1 roo!

Our son, Will, reluctantly took on caring for the flock. He moaned and groaned at first but it wasn’t long before he fell absolutely in love with the colorful little egg layers and now doesn’t want anyone else to help care for them in fear that they may not care for them correctly. I’ve never met a 14 year old who enjoys caring for chickens as much as he does!

He even has one hen who won’t leave him alone until he gives her a little scratch each time he goes out to the coop.

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Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton