meet your neighbors

black hen, I want to be able and continue with the blue program and have some blacks as well.”

Raising show-quality chickens and waterfowl requires more than many may realize.

“It’s far more fickle than ruminant livestock species,” Josh explained. “Ruminant livestock species don’t decide to drop all of their feathers the day before a show. Mink, foxes and owls don’t bother cows and goats, but everything eats chickens. Poultry isn’t hard to contain, but it’s keeping them safe.”

The Stephans family has fewer birds than usual, but they are ready to step up production.

“What we have now is breeding stock, with about 50 laying hens, egg producers,” Josh explained. “In the fall, we sold off everything we didn’t need to carry over. We shut the incubators off in October that had been running for two years.”

Chickens and waterfowl can have very long and productive lives, Josh said. That longevity depends on the species of bird and the care it receives.

“A long life for a chicken is seven to 10 years,” he explained. “Some will live longer with individualized care.

The waterfowl can live into their 30s and 40s. My oldest peafowl is 18 years old, and those can live to be 50 or 60.”

To keep poultry lines true, linebreeding is critical.

“You can linebreed most species of poultry for six or seven generations without any trouble to set in phenotype,” Josh said. “A lot of poultry breeders don’t think about it, but you have both your male and female lines. Breeding a female line is a little more popular in the poultry world. If you raise cattle and want to improve, you get a new bull with good maternal traits. With poultry, you use linebreeding, and you have to work your male and female side to establish the linebreeding program.”

Genetics, like any other livestock species, is the key to a successful breeding program.

“I feel it’s much more of a challenge than cattle, sheep, hogs and goats,” Josh said. “There are so many different factors wrapped up in the phenotype: the feather width, color, shade, depth of color and pattern. They say black is black, but it isn’t. There’s sheen, there’s green sheen, purple sheen. Then there are the body types, phenotype, conditioning, eye color, leg color, all of it. It’s challenging from a genetic aspect, but I really enjoy the variety.”

Josh sells some rare breed hatching eggs, but primarily offers live birds to fellow producers.

“Typically, with the purebred stuff, I don’t sell chicks; I sell 6- to 8-monthold birds,” he said.

“I don’t like sending anything out that I don’t know about the quality. With the waterfowl, we hatch everything we can and sell a few eggs when my incubators are full. The young waterfowl will be sold in the fall. There are a lot of those birds that are great for backyard flocks. There’s nothing wrong with them, they just aren’t what I would call breeder or show quality.”

Josh plans to focus more on the waterfowl side of his operation.

“It’s because of the ease of maintenance, and they like it when it’s muddy,” Josh said with a laugh. “Seven months out of the year, we have a mud farm, and the waterfowl love it. It’s really nice to come outside on those nasty, mucky weeks and months we have, and everyone is out playing in the mud, having a good time.

When everything you have hates the rain and the mud, you fight it. With the waterfowl, they make another mud puddle.”

Red Clovers

60 LANDSTAR, Forage, Inoc., Not Coated 8# 2.44

Equivalent to $1.59 coated seed

60 GAINER II MIX, Inoc., Not Coated 8# 2.68

85% Red Clover, 15% Rampart Ladino

50 KENLAND, Inoc., Not Coated 8# 2.68

Equivalent to $1.74 coated seed

50 Hay Thickener,Inoc., Not Coated 10# 2.72

75% Red Clover - 25% Hulled Orchardgrass

60 Hay ‘N Graze Mix, Inoc., Not Coated 10# 2.76

70% Red Clover - 30% Haygrazer Alfalfa

50 MEDIUM RED, Raw 8# 2.32

50 MEDIUM RED, Coated, 65% Pure 12# 1.98

Other Clovers

50 LADINO, “JUMBO” Inoc., Not Coated 3# 4.86

Giant Leaf, Equivalent to $3.16 coated seed

50 LADINO - Rampart, 3# 4.34 Inoc., Not Coated

55 BALANSA - Viper, Raw, Annual 3# 2.58

50 WHITE CLOVER - Ivory 2, 3# 3.88

Intermediate, Inoc.

25 WHITE CLOVER - Durana, 5# ASK

Coated, 65% Pure

50 WHITE CLOVER - Nitro, White Dutch 3# 4.78

50 ALSIKE, Raw, Perennial 5# 3.48

50 SWEET CLOVER, Yellow Blossom 12# 3.78

50 ARROWLEAF, Winter Annual 6# 2.62

50 CRIMSON, Winter Annual 15# 2.08

50 BERSEEM CLOVER, Annual 15# 2.18

Spring Plant

50 BIRDSFOOT TREFOIL, 6# 6.26

*Less than Full Bags, add 20¢ per lb.

Lespedeza

Cow/Horse

A non-bloating legume, Summer Annual, Spring Plant

50 KOBE/KOREAN, Inoc., Not Coated, Feb. 20# 2.64

50 SERICEA, Scarified 20# 3.96

No Sell to KS, CO, OK

Alfalfa

60 COMMON SENSE, 3-Way Blend 20# 3.68

Haygrazer, Cimarron 400 & 500, Inoc., Not Coated

50 HAYGRAZER, Cert., Inoc./Not Coated 20# 3.78

50 CIMARRON VL400, 20# 3.78 Cert., Inoc., Not Coated

50 CIMARRON VL500, 20# 3.78

Cert., Inoc., Not Coated

50 GENUITY, Roundup Ready® 25# 8.62

L442RR Coated

*Less than Full Bags, add 20¢ per lb.

Grains

Lb./Acre Bag $

48 GOLIATH OAT, Hay Type/Tall/Later 96# 21.86

48 HAYDEN OAT, Grain 96# 21.84

50 SOYBEANS - LAREDO 50# 44.86

Very Tall Hay Type

50 SOYBEANS 50# 32.90 Roundup Ready® Willcross WXR7878, 3.5’ Tall

50 SOYBEANS, Liberty Link® Willcross 50# 38.90

50 SOYBEANS 50# 48.90

Enlist® E3 Willcross, 2, 4-D, Liberty, Roundup

Cover Crops

Bag Lb.

50 SPRING PEA, Little Giant, 1.06 Mix 50# 0.96

TURNIPS, Purple Top 2# 1.68 50 TURNIPS, 7 Top Forage 2# 1.78 50 RADISH, Daikon 5# 1.78

COWPEAS, Iron & Clay, Inoc., Not Coated 50# 1.38

COLLARDS, Impact Forage 4# 2.48 *Less than Full Bags, add 20¢ per lb.

Fescue

50 KY-31, Certified & Endophyte-Free 24# 1.84 ONLY $6 PER ACRE DIFFERENCE

50 KY-32, Certified & Endophyte-Free 24# 1.96

50 KY-31, 24# 1.58

50 KY-31 & 9% ORCHARD GRASS MIX, 24# 1.63

50 FAST PASTURE MIX, Cattle/Horse 30-35# 1.96

66% Endophyte-Free KY-31 Fescue, 14% Hulled Orchard Grass, 18% Best-For Plus Ryegrass & 2% Timothy

25 MAX Q II TEXOMA, Friendly Endophyte 24# ASK

25 BAR OPTIMA E34, Friendly Endophyte 24# ASK

25 ESTANCIA, Friendly Endophyte 24# ASK

Orchard Grass

Add a Legume Add a Legume

50 ARID “DR” 15# 2.68

Disease + Drought Resistant

50 POTOMAC/RED CLOVER MIX, 20# 2.68 75%/25%

50 POTOMAC, Disease Resistant 15# 2.48

50 FAST PASTURE MIX 30-35# 1.96 No Cover Needed, 66% Endophyte-Free KY-31 Fescue, 14% Hulled Orchard Grass, 18% Best-For Plus Ryegrass & 2% Timothy

Field Grasses

50 ANDES, Tetraploid Annual Ryegrass 24# 0.78

50 MARSHALL, Annual Ryegrass 24# 0.78 Not a Tetraploid

50 BEST-FOR PLUS, 24# 1.48

Tetraploid Intermediate Ryegrass

50 BROME-SMOOTH, Southern 20# 4.28

“The High Protein Grass.” Sow with Alfalfa!