Sparrow Ministries - 01-06-2012 Cleaning room done!

[GoldenSparrow]

Sounds like they have it all!

I really love what your doing. No more Eggs from Battery Hens!!!!

 

[barbieszoo]

Wow! What an awesome idea! Wonderful ministry! Just stumbled onto this and I think you have got something great going there! Keep up the great work! You will be helping people and touching lives for sure.

 

[MIKE555444]

More pictures soon... Crystal and I built a nest box this weekend(she did most the work). We were doing some calculations and it appears at the current rate of egg production we can supply our family with all the eggs we want and still have enough left over to provide 3 doz eggs for a family in need every single day day. Praise the Lord!

 

[MIKE555444]

Update:

We did get the egg cleaning sink physically installed this weekend but no plumbing yet. We are pretty much at a "stand still" on getting the hens moved into the new building until we can come up with about $300 in fencing and post. That will get them in the new part but we still have plenty mountains ahead. We are in need of a small water heater that appears to cost about $250. Electrical supply wiring at a cost of about $200. Aside from that we are needing egg cartons again which is another $130. Not complaining just stating our challenges.

This new flock of pullets have quickly surpassing egg production projections and already blessing so many people with free fresh eggs. I know my Lord will not leave me or forsake me in our time of need. God has supplied so much already that I know He will not let us fail now. I just need to prioritize and be patient and wait upon the Lord. Praise the LORD! Prayers please... and May God Bless you!

 

[MIKE555444]

The cleaning Room is coming together well... This is the egg cleaning station. I placed it at about desk height so I could pull a chair up to was eggs rather than stand.

I used some old junk mismatched flooring on the floor and just painted it(still need a little to finish the other side).

Nest boxes are done... I wanted to do an outside nest box but wanted to keep the eggs as warm as possible through the winter months so I chose the interior wall. Papaws little helper was with me this evening

From the beginning I planned on investing in one of these sinks for cleaning waterers and feeders to keep that away from the food sink and just last month some gave me this sink... Praise the Lord!

I am hoping with all the insulation this little heater will keep this room warm enough in the winter to wash eggs.

 

[GoldenSparrow]

Do the hens pay for themselfs, by selling the eggs they lay?
or are you spending more?

I always wondered That

 

[MIKE555444]

Quote:
Hmmm ... first WE DO NOT SELL ANY EGGS... we are purposely raising these hens so we can give the eggs away in our community...

BUT if you are asking can they support themselves I would have to say yes...and no.

If I sold all my extra eggs I could probably do a little better than breaking even with cost. If you are goona raise chickens as a small backyard project you have to love it and know that you are not gonna make alot of money from the project. Yea.. you can pay for feed but all the work you do and all the building expense and pesticides is uncovered cost that you absorb because you love doing it. lol I suppose if you had a large enough flock to get a price break on your feed you might start to turn a profit if that was your goal.

It is NOT our goal top make any money from Sparrow Ministries... we only hope to serve our community in a way that pleases God...

 

[MIKE555444]

Update:

Things have been busy. The eggs are coming quickly and God has been good.

We have merged together the two flocks we have and moved them all to the new building. This should help in the chores since we will only have one group to feed and water. After weeding out a few more roosters we will have about 70 in this building for the winter.

Here they are on the roost this morning as I am also starting the extra daylight timer today:

This is the first full day for most of them in the new building and I am hoping eggs end up in nests and chickens roost where they belong. I did block off the nest later yesterday evening and then after they were all on the roost I removed the plywood. May have to do that for a few days till they are all convinced NOT to roost in the nest.

 

[CSWolffe]

I think you mean well, but I personally would not want to receive eggs with 'god's word' on the carton.
I'm not trying to be contentious, I am simply pointing out an alternate opinion you might not have considered. Many people find such preaching to be offensive.
I am an atheist. I have studied just about every major religion there is, I have read the bible, the torah, and the qu'ran. My choice is an informed one, and coming across a random biblical passage will not suddenly move me to find god.
That's great that you love your religion, that you are enthusiastic about it. And to donate food to a hungry family is wonderful. But you have to understand that other people who do not share your beliefs might not want to hear about your message. Think about it this way, would you be happy to receive a homemade gift with hindu passages written all over it? Or islamic?
I live in Utah, where we have a very aggressive missionary community. We get mormon missionaries knocking on our door on an almost weekly basis. They mean well, and they are certainly enthusiastic, but they just cant grasp the idea that I don't want to join their church, that I have studied their writings and have rejected them. And if I found a jar of jam on my porch with some quote from the book of mormon on it, I would be offended at the arrogance.
This is just my opinion, I have no wish to offend anyone or start an argument. Just think about it for a minute, ask yourself if those people really want to hear your message, of if you are doing it for yourself.

 

[MIKE555444]

Quote:
First let me say that in all my time I have been sharing these eggs with others I have never once had anyone offended by the scriptures on the cartons. But I have had many people thank me and ask me to pray for them some right there in their homes. I will also say if I knocked on your door and offer you theses farm fresh eggs with God Word on the cartons and it offended you... I would gladly not return to harass you every week. But if you choose to do so, you could also have the option to enjoy the fresh eggs and ignore what is in the carton and even toss the empty cartons the trash if you like without ever reading a word. I would continue bring you eggs every 2 weeks and no harm is done... right? I’m sure some people will do just that.

It’s hard to explain to someone that is not a Christian. There was a time when I was lost without hope knowing that I had nothing to look forward to when this short life ends. Having emptiness in my heart I also began to read the Bible. I learned that all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I also discovered that we have a God in heaven that loved us so much that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ as the sacrifice for our sins so we could be free. I evaluated all the information and I believed in Jesus. I asked for forgiveness and He has changed me. Since God has given to me such a wonderful free gift of Salvation I feel the urge to share that love with others. You see I am not trying to earn my way to heaven. Salvation was a free gift that was given to me, but because of the change in my heart I want to love and help others.

You may consider yourself well educated in Christianity and maybe you have decided to reject it. Maybe you cannot be persuaded to believe in God but I hope that even for you, there is hope. According to the Bible there is a horrible fate for those who reject God. If I didn’t care I would not even have responded.

Furthermore, If I am the one who has paid for these chickens, If I am the one who has bought the feed, If I am the one who worked all summer to build an appropriate building, If I am the one who feeds and waters these hens daily, If I am the one who shovels out the manure from under the roost, If I am the one who gathers a large basket of eggs daily and washes them, refrigerates them and puts them in cartons that I have myself bought with my own money. Should it not be up to me how I should package these eggs that I will hand deliver and offer to my neighbors freely? (Assuming that if I do find someone that is offended I do not return to that house repeatedly).