See my Serama Coop here
It's been a while since I posted. I relocated from NH to TN and of course, so did the chickens. I won't bore you with the tale of our 4 day journey south with a camper full of chickens. Or with the 3 hour wait for a tow truck on a rainy Sunday morning on a highway outside Bowling Green, Kentucky, with a blown transmission and a camper full of chickens, two dogs and a cat.
I decided that as I was starting from scratch I would build my dream coops with a herb garden in the middle. It's a work in progress and will take me a couple of years to get it done. Here's some pics of the work in progress.
I've positioned my Serama coop, the greenhouse and the regular chickens coop in formation so that I can enclose the whole section of yard with pallets and put a gate on. I used concrete blocks to make the beds and planters because the soil is terrible and it was cheaper to make beds and add good soil, than to condition the whole area.
Stan over at @Chickenpartner on FB made the coops for me. You order what you want, he builds them and he will come and construct them for an extra $100. He does custom work and well worth a shout. Long wait though, because he's very in demand for his low prices and great work.
I previously made the mistake of building coops for the chickens needs and discovered that in my 60s, the coops need to be built for MY needs or it's impossible for me to take good care of them. Cleaning etc needs room, and with arthritic hands it needs to be as easy as possible. I'm 5'2" so it's a low coop, but he will make 6 foot ones for you non-hobbit sized folk.
It's super hot and windy here so I have planted lots of Aussie Hybrid Willows as they can take a lot of wind without falling over, hopefully they will grow into a windbreak and shade area. Grape vines are planted around the coops now, also for shade purposes. I got all the plants at minimal cost because I rooted willow cuttings and also haunted Lowes for their one dollar sale plants. I got a ton of perennials for a dollar each, and then grew a bunch of herbs from seed. The idea is that I'll use the herbs to line the nesting boxes and to make feed supplements for the chooks. It's a theory of mine that you should feed the birds as much locally grown plant life as possible.
Anyway. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed my little bit of paradise. More later.
It's been a while since I posted. I relocated from NH to TN and of course, so did the chickens. I won't bore you with the tale of our 4 day journey south with a camper full of chickens. Or with the 3 hour wait for a tow truck on a rainy Sunday morning on a highway outside Bowling Green, Kentucky, with a blown transmission and a camper full of chickens, two dogs and a cat.
I decided that as I was starting from scratch I would build my dream coops with a herb garden in the middle. It's a work in progress and will take me a couple of years to get it done. Here's some pics of the work in progress.
I've positioned my Serama coop, the greenhouse and the regular chickens coop in formation so that I can enclose the whole section of yard with pallets and put a gate on. I used concrete blocks to make the beds and planters because the soil is terrible and it was cheaper to make beds and add good soil, than to condition the whole area.
Stan over at @Chickenpartner on FB made the coops for me. You order what you want, he builds them and he will come and construct them for an extra $100. He does custom work and well worth a shout. Long wait though, because he's very in demand for his low prices and great work.
I previously made the mistake of building coops for the chickens needs and discovered that in my 60s, the coops need to be built for MY needs or it's impossible for me to take good care of them. Cleaning etc needs room, and with arthritic hands it needs to be as easy as possible. I'm 5'2" so it's a low coop, but he will make 6 foot ones for you non-hobbit sized folk.
It's super hot and windy here so I have planted lots of Aussie Hybrid Willows as they can take a lot of wind without falling over, hopefully they will grow into a windbreak and shade area. Grape vines are planted around the coops now, also for shade purposes. I got all the plants at minimal cost because I rooted willow cuttings and also haunted Lowes for their one dollar sale plants. I got a ton of perennials for a dollar each, and then grew a bunch of herbs from seed. The idea is that I'll use the herbs to line the nesting boxes and to make feed supplements for the chooks. It's a theory of mine that you should feed the birds as much locally grown plant life as possible.
Anyway. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed my little bit of paradise. More later.
The Journey from NH to TN.
Ok, as requested, the tale of breaking down on the highway with a menagerie in tow.
We left NH on a day in November 2021, just as it started snowing. We were hoping to outrun the weather, so we jammed the camper shower full of cages with chickens in, piled up and cable tied together to minimize movement. A couple more cages each side of the bed and a cat in a crate in the kitchen. The two dogs traveled on the back seat of the truck.
Our journey was to take us 4 days. My husband is disabled and can't do marathon trips, so we were moving at his pace. He was driving, I can't drive the truck as my legs don't reach the pedals. I did have some pedal extenders packed in the truck in case I had to take over at any point, but I was really not looking forward to that reality. I'm pretty certain that all the other drivers out and about that day, were lucky that it never became necessary.
The journey progressed well, with many stops for walk breaks and water and food top ups. The last two nights we decided to stop at a Red Roof Inn. We really needed showers and ours was full of chickens. Red Roof Inns allow dogs in the rooms with a damage deposit and they also allow you to park campers where you can see them. Our plan had been to park up at trucker rest stops, but they had just opened up transport of goods again after Covid, and everywhere was packed solid.
Added to that, sharing a room with chickens is not the best smelling option. Especially nervous, traveling chickens. Even with the windows open....
Anyhoo, our last stop at a Red Roof was in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Around 200 miles away from our destination. We decided to relax, get everyone settled, walk the dogs, have dinner and a restful night and then just take it easy for the Sunday drive to our new home 194 miles from where we were. Everyone was pretty much done with the journey and hubby and I were both feeling under the weather.
Sunday dawns, bright and early. We get breakfast, gather up the dogs and pack up the camper. It starts to rain. We weren't that bothered, it was to be a relatively short travel day, and our new home awaited us. Started the truck, got on the highway and we noticed that the camper door handle was sticking out, it has to be placed flat against the camper while traveling. A bit of swearing, and hubby pulls onto the hard shoulder and I get out. It's raining a bit harder now. I secure the door handle and I climb back into the truck. Hubby signals to pull back on to the highway, and.....nothing happens. We try again. Nothing. No gears. It's raining quite a lot now and we are on the hard shoulder of a very busy highway that is starting to wake up. Big trucks hurtle past, and every time they do, the truck and camper shake. We are not feeling happy. Both of us are now in full Dayquil mode, sniffles and coughs too. We just want this journey to be over. Apparently it is. Just not in the right location.
We have AAA coverage and we called them. Bad news, hubby had added the camper to our insurance but not to our recovery plan. It's not covered for a tow. They offer to come and get us in the truck, but the camper would be left on the side of the road and they recommended that we get a company in Bowling Green to come get it and store it for collection later. Not happening. It's full of chickens. We decline. More bad news, no-one has a tow truck that can tow two vehicles. They would have to do two journeys, again leaving the camper on the highway. We decline. 3 hours later we are still sitting in the same spot. We should have been home by now. Thankfully, we have a camper, and our own toilet. We carry on as normal, just on the side of a highway. Finally, some good news. A man has been found who can tow both vehicles at the same time. We have a little happy dance. It's still raining.
Said gentleman arrives. Loads us all up and we set off. The dogs had to stay in the truck, on the back of the flat bed. The camper is being pulled by the flatbed. I am wedged firmly between two large men in the front of the flatbed which has no back seat. Just one of those bench seats. There are some horrible metal struts digging into my leg and I can't move my arms. I later had bruises from those struts, but strangely, I was just happy to be moving again. 2 1/2 hours imprisoned in that seat. It was one of those life moments where you really want to just get lost in your own thoughts until it's over, but the nice man kept chatting. After what seemed like an eternity we arrived at the property. We were unloaded and we fell out of the truck into fresh air.
Now we are at our new home, sans vehicle, we don't know anyone and we can't go anywhere. We have no furniture yet, as it's scheduled to arrive two days after us. Our brand new neighbours saw the 'new folks' arrive in style on the back of a flatbed. We know how to impress! We are back to sleeping in the chickens bedroom. Oh, and it cost us just over a thousand dollars for the camper to be towed.
Now the real adventure starts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading.
We left NH on a day in November 2021, just as it started snowing. We were hoping to outrun the weather, so we jammed the camper shower full of cages with chickens in, piled up and cable tied together to minimize movement. A couple more cages each side of the bed and a cat in a crate in the kitchen. The two dogs traveled on the back seat of the truck.
Our journey was to take us 4 days. My husband is disabled and can't do marathon trips, so we were moving at his pace. He was driving, I can't drive the truck as my legs don't reach the pedals. I did have some pedal extenders packed in the truck in case I had to take over at any point, but I was really not looking forward to that reality. I'm pretty certain that all the other drivers out and about that day, were lucky that it never became necessary.
The journey progressed well, with many stops for walk breaks and water and food top ups. The last two nights we decided to stop at a Red Roof Inn. We really needed showers and ours was full of chickens. Red Roof Inns allow dogs in the rooms with a damage deposit and they also allow you to park campers where you can see them. Our plan had been to park up at trucker rest stops, but they had just opened up transport of goods again after Covid, and everywhere was packed solid.
Added to that, sharing a room with chickens is not the best smelling option. Especially nervous, traveling chickens. Even with the windows open....
Anyhoo, our last stop at a Red Roof was in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Around 200 miles away from our destination. We decided to relax, get everyone settled, walk the dogs, have dinner and a restful night and then just take it easy for the Sunday drive to our new home 194 miles from where we were. Everyone was pretty much done with the journey and hubby and I were both feeling under the weather.
Sunday dawns, bright and early. We get breakfast, gather up the dogs and pack up the camper. It starts to rain. We weren't that bothered, it was to be a relatively short travel day, and our new home awaited us. Started the truck, got on the highway and we noticed that the camper door handle was sticking out, it has to be placed flat against the camper while traveling. A bit of swearing, and hubby pulls onto the hard shoulder and I get out. It's raining a bit harder now. I secure the door handle and I climb back into the truck. Hubby signals to pull back on to the highway, and.....nothing happens. We try again. Nothing. No gears. It's raining quite a lot now and we are on the hard shoulder of a very busy highway that is starting to wake up. Big trucks hurtle past, and every time they do, the truck and camper shake. We are not feeling happy. Both of us are now in full Dayquil mode, sniffles and coughs too. We just want this journey to be over. Apparently it is. Just not in the right location.
We have AAA coverage and we called them. Bad news, hubby had added the camper to our insurance but not to our recovery plan. It's not covered for a tow. They offer to come and get us in the truck, but the camper would be left on the side of the road and they recommended that we get a company in Bowling Green to come get it and store it for collection later. Not happening. It's full of chickens. We decline. More bad news, no-one has a tow truck that can tow two vehicles. They would have to do two journeys, again leaving the camper on the highway. We decline. 3 hours later we are still sitting in the same spot. We should have been home by now. Thankfully, we have a camper, and our own toilet. We carry on as normal, just on the side of a highway. Finally, some good news. A man has been found who can tow both vehicles at the same time. We have a little happy dance. It's still raining.
Said gentleman arrives. Loads us all up and we set off. The dogs had to stay in the truck, on the back of the flat bed. The camper is being pulled by the flatbed. I am wedged firmly between two large men in the front of the flatbed which has no back seat. Just one of those bench seats. There are some horrible metal struts digging into my leg and I can't move my arms. I later had bruises from those struts, but strangely, I was just happy to be moving again. 2 1/2 hours imprisoned in that seat. It was one of those life moments where you really want to just get lost in your own thoughts until it's over, but the nice man kept chatting. After what seemed like an eternity we arrived at the property. We were unloaded and we fell out of the truck into fresh air.
Now we are at our new home, sans vehicle, we don't know anyone and we can't go anywhere. We have no furniture yet, as it's scheduled to arrive two days after us. Our brand new neighbours saw the 'new folks' arrive in style on the back of a flatbed. We know how to impress! We are back to sleeping in the chickens bedroom. Oh, and it cost us just over a thousand dollars for the camper to be towed.
Now the real adventure starts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading.
More Coop.
Just a few pictures of the progression of the coop build. An overview sketch later.
Zero cost fence.
I've collected up some pallets from construction work we had done, and also one of the contractors brought me a couple when he was in the area. The idea is to construct a framework to grow vines for shade. The weather has been either intense burning sun, or torrential downpour lately. My solution to having everything die off is to plan shade and rain sink gardens around the actual herb garden and coops.
They don't look good, but are totally free, self supporting and robust. We get really intense straight winds here and trees fall down, stuff flies around and fences fall over. This design of fence is braced in multiple directions. All you have to do is secure it to itself with nails or screws. I've got grapes to grow over one end and passionflower/maypops for the other.
It looks pretty crappy to start with, but serves it's purpose, will look better once plants take over AND it was FREE!
Really expensive fence
As much as I do love to do all the things myself, this one was beyond me.
Our property is like a mini mountain with a moat around it. Basically a mound with a gully around the edges. We had some of it leveled, but in the main we are just going with the landscape. It's pretty handy to have all that rain go away from our house.
Having said that, we had 320 feet of roadside access and it was way too open for homestead purposes. The property is 4 lots and was designed to have 4 houses close to the road and utilities. It's long and narrow and a trapezoid shape. Add to that, the mounded hill and that fencing skill was way out of my reach. West Tennessee Lumber Company came along and build a stunning fence for us. Bit of a nightmare getting the bill, but well worth it for the privacy and crop growing ops that now exist.
Our property is like a mini mountain with a moat around it. Basically a mound with a gully around the edges. We had some of it leveled, but in the main we are just going with the landscape. It's pretty handy to have all that rain go away from our house.
Having said that, we had 320 feet of roadside access and it was way too open for homestead purposes. The property is 4 lots and was designed to have 4 houses close to the road and utilities. It's long and narrow and a trapezoid shape. Add to that, the mounded hill and that fencing skill was way out of my reach. West Tennessee Lumber Company came along and build a stunning fence for us. Bit of a nightmare getting the bill, but well worth it for the privacy and crop growing ops that now exist.
