The Snow family has dedicated a portion for the family farm to a poultry operation
KONAWA, OKLA. – For six years the Snow family has scratched out a living provided quality poultry in rural Seminole County in central Oklahoma.
The Snow Family Farm and Hatchery has a selection of 11 standard breed chickens and six bantam breeds.
“We also raise ducks, geese and turkeys,” said Dillon Snow.
Dillon runs the farm with his son, Jordon Strafford, his brother Zach Snow and the family matriarch Fran Snow.
“All family owned and operated,” said Dillon.
The Snow Family Farm and Hatchery is a hobby farm. Dillon is a teacher and coach but loves animals, so it is a secondary income during the summer months, he said.
“My dad got me started on chickens when I was a little kid,” Dillon said. “As I got older, I wanted to continue raising chickens but switched my focus to egg production and show birds.”
The Snow Family Farm and Hatchery utilizes a natural breeding program.
“We try to run one rooster per six to eight hens in all of our breeding pens,” Dillon said. “Our breeding season runs from Feb. 1 until Oct. 1, and we hatch chicks all during that time. We try to avoid having chicks during the coldest months,” Dillon said. “We try to only raise chicks when we don’t have to use as much electricity for heat lamps.”
The 80-acre family farms have two acres dedicated to poultry, he said.
“We roughly have about 200 breeders and then we hatch out and sell roughly 2,000 chicks a season,” Dillon said.
The farm’s feed bill runs around $350 a month, he said.
“All our breeding pens are on feeder systems, so they have to be filled every three days,” said Dillon. “Water containers are emptied and refilled every day.”
To protect the farm’s poultry health, the Snow Family Farm and Hatchery does not bring into their flock other adult birds, he said.
“If we decide to raise a new breed, we raise them from chicks to cut down the chance of bringing a disease in to the farm,” Dillon said. “All our chickens are wormed during the off season so as it doesn’t effect egg production.”
