Life on the farm - Updates from Bethel

ruth

Life is a Journey
12 Years
Jul 8, 2007
4,273
156
271
Woodville, MS
Hi All - I'm not too good about posting updated pics or news so thought I would play catch up.

Here's a new pic of Ruth:

MyRuth2.jpg


Ruth squats all the time now and I've caught her in the nest box but just don't know which eggs are hers. They all lay in the same two boxes even though they have 8 boxes to choose from. So far only one EE is laying green egss but BOY are they HUGE:

Isn't 3 inches long and 2.3 ounces large for a newly laying pullet? I think it weighed even more a couple of days ago when I first gathered it. Someone just started laying these:

largeblueegg.jpg


egg23.jpg


Makes for a beautiful baket of Easter Eggs.

eastereggs.jpg


Finally painted the coop and added some vintage reproduction metal signs.

frontcoop.jpg


Had to add a higher and sturdier roost beam for my growing flock. They were all jumping up on it before I could finish nailing it in.

newroost.jpg


As always, Rex on guard.

alwaysguarding.jpg


I call this "Have a Nice Day" which is what I say when I let them out each morning for their day of free-ranging fun. They run miles around the property all day long and put themselves to bed at night.

haveagoodday.jpg


Well, that's my updates except to say that we will all be moving over the next couple of weeks to a "real" farm. We're moving to Woodville, MS from Covington, LA (New Orleans area) to a 100 year old plantation home. It has an actual chicken coop house right behind the main home - real cute but will need to be fixed up for the girls. Don't think we will be moving their Chick-Shell-A cause it weighs a ton.

bethel.jpg


This just goes to show you what buying a few little baby chicks can lead to. Now I want to raise lots of them on a real farm with little Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats and other barnyard friends and have a real garden and live off the land.

I'll keep you all posted on how this city girl makes out in her new adventure.
 
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Wow, gorgeous home, my husband would love your porches (he's really taken by a nice porch
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) I couldn't take the humidity down there, though. Good luck with your new farm!
 
Today is Jan. 18, 2008 and the first chance I've had to post anything new since our move Christmas weekend to our "farm". There's a lot of work to do but the girls all got moved and have settled into their new digs. We moved them Christmas night after they had gone to roost. I put hay and pine shavings in bottom of cardboard boxes and put 3-4 chickens in each box. Then taped all boxes securely and loaded them in back of hubbys truck. Also in cabin of truck with us were the other dog and 4 cats - so 13 chickens, 4 cats and a dog and us drove the two hours to our new home late Christmas night.

There are two old buildings just behind the main home that are also about 100 years old. One obviously used as a chicken coop because it still had nest boxes and roosts - the other seems to have been converted to a little girls play house but they are joined by a picketed yard. We have to put a new front door on it because the old one was very heavy and had fallen off but we've added chicken wire to inside to cover all holes and plastic sheeting on outside for cold. It has electricity so I have lights in there and added a heater on the freezing nights (like tonight).

Here's pics

Front of coop - waiting for new door:

coopfront.jpg


Back of coop has a smaller door that I use:

coopback.jpg


Roosts:

newroosts.jpg


There was even an old toilet in coop which I left thinking I would leave it open with hay in it so they could use it for a nest box.

Nest boxes - which they began using first morning:

newnestboxes.jpg


The run gate can be opened to the next yard for a larger fenced run:

chickenrun.jpg


And there was an old rabbit pen which I removed the wire so the girls can use it for cover. They seem to like it.

shelter.jpg


I still allow the girls to free-range from morning till dark but I do lock the coop up at night - cause I'm hearing that we even have bears here.

There's brick walkways all over the property and the girls stroll the brick paths like they were meant just for them. I call this "follow the red brick road".

followtheredbrickroad.jpg


Finally - seems like Ruth's gone broody. Found her in horse stalls this morning with a stash of 8 eggs

broodyruth2.jpg


Well....that's it for my updates. We've been so busy going back and forth with the move and though hubby and I may have had to do some adjusting to freezing weather and a 100 year old home - the girls seem to love it. I was worried because the hawks swarm 8 - 12 at a time but the girls seem to know when to hide.

We did, sadly, lose a cat. Gizmo loved to go and stay in woods all night long where we lived before. He did that here and did not come back. I'm still hoping he will show up but it's been a week.

It will take me a month of reading to catch up on what everyone else has been doing. There are so many posts. But, I hope to get active again on this site.
 

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