What a season! Since late September, we have:

Taken out summer vegetation in the garden for compost, turned/aerated beds, and planted winter vegetables or (mostly) cover crops;
Tested our entire flock of poultry for salmonella and avian influenza (more about that later!);
Picked and milled our 2017 olive oil - always an amazing experience! And;
Stopped watering!

I know that last one doesn't sound too interesting, but it's a huge event on the farm! This is the most dramatic sign of a changing season for me. Watering costs money, takes time, and the water we use - as demonstrated with the 50% cutbacks of 2015 and 2016! - isn't as sure of a resource as we all thought, pre-2014... Also, a number of winters since we've started the farm have required that we continue to water due to a lack of rain. This is a double jeopardy, as we're not only receiving less than normal precipitation, but because of this we're using up a stored resource that usually should be saved for summertime - yikes! But we're not there - yet - this year. Fingers are still crossed.

But this wasn't supposed to be a post about water (farming talk often tends that direction!). I wanted to share our poultry testing regime. We are members of the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP), established in the 1930s to address some recurring issues in poultry health that were, at the time, affecting local and regional economies, as well as human health. The program initially focused exclusively on Pullorum disease, a consequence of poultry contracting the Salmonella bacteria - which can also infect humans. It has expanded, however, to include avian influenza and other poultry diseases. Our membership in the program requires us to pay an annual fee of $100, in exchange for which they test our flock twice a year. Once, in the spring, they test a small percentage of our flock, and every fall they test our entire flock. Any positive hit requires a second test which, if positive, requires destruction and testing of the bird.

The process of testing is as follows: Art, who has tested our birds for the last four years, comes up from Turlock and usually arrives around 8 or 9 in the morning. He and his assistant pull into our driveway and, upon exiting their vehicle, immediately suit up into protective clothing so that they don't contaminate our birds from their visit to other farms, or other farms' birds from ours! Art pulls out a small table, plus a set of syringes, vials, rubbing alcohol, and gloves, and we get to work. In the fall testing, we do each bird. I keep them in their coop until we start, then pull out one at a time, handing them over to Art for a little prick under the wing to collect a small bit of blood, and then back into the pen. After a little fluffing, they're back to normal! Sometimes we try to do other things at the same time: maybe dusting for mites/lice or weighing to determine growth rates. Art brings the blood samples - all labeled with each hen's or cockerel's number and flock - to a laboratory in Turlock for testing, and we receive the results within 2-3 weeks.

You'll have noticed that $100 seems like a smokin' deal for a twice yearly visit and testing - in a laboratory - each of our birds! This program is subsidized by the federal government in support of agricultural communities. This is not something I would expect our government to even notice in current times, but because the program began in the 30s, when poultry was always raised in small flocks by local farmers, it has been grandfathered in to continue serving our rural agricultural communities (though it also serves the large poultry houses, of course; I imagine they're on a different payment program, but don't know). The program, of course, doesn't have all of the resources it needs: they have a long waiting list! But it exists, at least, and is an amazing opportunity for us to be sure that you're getting the healthiest product possible!

We participate in the program to protect the health of our flock, but also - and primarily - to protect our consumers! We eat our eggs raw all the time - in mayonnaise, Hollandaise sauce, soft-cooked eggs for breakfast, etcetera - and want you to feel comfortable doing so, as well. If you have questions about this program, our eggs, our participation, or other poultry-related queries, please let us know! We love having chickens, and would love to help in making it approachable for you, too!

Here's to healthy eggs!

- Elizabeth

While not related to poultry, this sage is just too pretty not to photograph!