STOUGHTON - Three years ago, John Ray came home with 25 laying hens to give his two grandchildren, Alex and Andi Greig, something to do.
The kids’ mother, Dawn Ray, was not as excited. She wondered what she was going to do with 14 dozen eggs every week. Little did she know what this would grow into.
Dawn Ray and her two children, Andi Greig, who is in Grade 5, and Alex Greig, who is in Grade 4, live on a farm west of Stoughton, just off of Highway 33. They have called this home for the past five years.
John Ray built the youngsters their first chicken coop, but after the first year, needed to build another as they now had 100 laying hens. Each coop has an outdoor area for the chickens to enjoy. Right now, they are sitting at approximately 125 laying hens, along with the odd rooster.
After a complete year of selling eggs, these kids were able to save enough money for a playhouse. Andi designed the playhouse.
“Andi had drawings of a cottage style house, it looked really good,” Dawn said.
Once the lumber needed for the playhouse was purchased, the youngsters’ grandfather started building. It would not be an ordinary playhouse. It became a two-story house, with a solar panel for lighting. The top floor would belong to Andi and the bottom floor to Alex.
Anytime work began on the structure, the two children had to help with the building. They did not mind, as they could see the progress of something they had worked to get.
“The timing was great for this project, as it was during many lockdowns,” Dawn said.
It is a great little business. The Greigs are up at 6 a.m. and are off to the chicken coop at 7 a.m. They check the feed and water, while collecting the eggs, then they are off to school.
During the day, Dawn’s parents will often stop in to check for eggs as well. If the hutches get too full of eggs, they will start to crack and break.
In the afternoon, once done school, they grab a snack and are off to the chicken coop once again. The pair check feed and water. They take the collected eggs to the house. The counted eggs are logged into their book and sorted by colour, as they have white, brown, and blue eggs.
They have fancy chickens called Barred Rock and Golden French Marans. The eggs are washed and then placed into cartons and a date is placed on the outside. A tag is also on the carton for their customers to return them. The egg-filled cartons are stored in the egg fridge which the kids also purchased with their money.
According to Dawn, a good amount of the laying hens come from the Weyburn Fur and Feather Auction and others from north of Regina. It is their plan to incubate 24 eggs for new chicks.
Laying hens start producing between 16-18 weeks and will continue until they are around two years of age. Andi Greig stated, “When a chicken gets old, they lay wrinkled eggs.” At present, they collect seven to nine dozen eggs per day and have around 100 customers.
The feed is purchased from Stoughton Feed Processing, located east of Stoughton. Oyster shell is hand mixed into the feed, to help with shell hardness. Although chickens seem easy to care for, apple seeds are very poisonous to them.
Dawn’s daughter loves to watch Dr. Pol. She has learned about injuries and disease in the birds through the show and also by searching the internet. Alex’s son just loves his chickens.
After three years, the two young farmers just purchased a quad. The Greigs stated, “You have to work hard for the things you want.”
There is not much free time on the farm. Calving season is in full swing, but they also have a horse, a Shetland pony, a mini pony and four mini donkeys that call the farm home.
A special pair also call the farm home, whom they have called Tom and Betty. A pair of Canadian geese have frequented the farm for five years. Although no goslings have hatched on the farm, they are hopeful for this year.
