“Block Two doesn’t show enough difference.”
Daniel looked.
“What are you proposing?”
“Target treatment where we need it.”
“And chickens elsewhere.”
“Yes.”
“Cost?”
“I don’t know until Harland prices it.”
Daniel stared at him.
“So this still depends on Harland.”
“Yeah.”
That amused Daniel.
The great teenage rebellion had arrived at: ask the consultant for a modified program.
Harland came the following afternoon.
He looked at Toby’s numbers.
Then Daniel’s proposal.
“No.”
Toby remained quiet.
Harland continued.
“You had one bad year.”
“One really bad year,” Daniel said.
“Exactly.”
“And you want me to recommend reducing treatment after one six-week chicken trial?”
“Not reducing everything.”
“Toby’s data isn’t enough.”
“I know.”
Harland looked at the boy.
Toby nodded.
“He’s right.”
Daniel turned.
“You’re supposed to help me.”
“I am.”
Harland almost smiled.
Toby continued.
“But the controls are different enough that I think we should scout more before treating everything the same.”
Harland became serious.
“Show me.”
They walked.
Two hours.
Tree by tree in selected samples.
Leaf litter.
Traps.
Records.
Harland challenged almost every conclusion.
Toby admitted several were weak.
Then they reached Block Four.
The difference was not miraculous.
But it existed.
Enough that Harland stopped dismissing it.
“Could be site variation.”
“Yes.”
“Moisture.”
“Yes.”
“Bird activity might matter.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t know.”
“No.”
Harland stared at him.
“You’re annoying.”
Daniel laughed.
Ultimately, Harland redesigned the program.
Not eliminated.
Reduced.
More targeted.
Different timing.
Total estimated chemical and application cost: $6,930.
Still expensive.
But nearly $5,300 less than the original plan.
Daniel signed.
That decision saved the experiment.
And possibly the farm.
The next two months became less dramatic.
Spring moved toward summer.
The orchard bloomed.
Bees came.
Petals fell.
Tiny apples appeared.
Toby rotated the hens beyond the original trial area, but not everywhere.
He improved shelters.
Used stronger wheels.
Added predator deterrence.
Reduced flock density in wet areas.
Created longer rest periods.
The number of birds gradually fell.
Predators.
Natural mortality.
One dog incident.
A heat event.
By July, 157 remained.
Forty-three lost.
Exactly as Toby recorded.
The old hens continued laying.
Not heavily.
But enough.
Rachel began selling eggs at the roadside stand.
A handwritten sign read:
ORCHARD EGGS — $4
Customers asked what orchard eggs were.
Rachel said, “Eggs laid by chickens who refuse to stay where we put them.”
They sold out most weekends.
Toby refused to count retail novelty as part of the original model.
Daniel teased him.
“It’s income.”
“It’s because people think the story is funny.”
“Still money.”
“Not repeatable.”
“Listen to the businessman.”
Toby rolled his eyes.
Harland returned three months after that first April morning.
The co-op manager, Curtis Lang, came with him.
Harland stepped out of the truck.