"Bk-awk!"

That's right - you heard it! Brandon and I - well mostly me - have ventured into the realm of growing backyard broilers. Why might you ask? Well, when the opportunity presented itself about a week ago I figured, "Why not?"

You see, I've grown up around the agriculture industry my entire life. As a result, I've pursued a career and graduate education learning about and teaching others about the how and why of their food production system in America. I spent the past few semesters and this summer assisting with the Introduction to Animal Science course at UF, where I've taught several lessons and labs related to the food animal industries I am most familiar with - beef, pork, and meats to be more specific. But, I've also spent quite a bit of time learning about the industries I'm not nearly as familiar with - such as the poultry industry. Call me a nerd, but I've really enjoyed learning about this industry - it's helped me better understand where my bag of frozen chicken breasts and dozen eggs I buy every month from Publix come from. But more importantly, it has given me some perspective on why the conventional broiler and layer industries do what they do so that I can be a more well-rounded and informed educator.

So with that, I thought I would take this opportunity to blog about both sides of the agriculture industry - large-scale, conventional production and backyard, small farms - using the information I have gathered over my lifetime and the experiences I have had raising food animals on my small family farm and now at my own home with my husband. I hope this can be a learning experience for any who come across this blog as well as any of my family and friends who can't kill all their time on Facebook.