A Journey Through a Different Way - Funny Story Pg. 69

[Anniegirl]

You inspired me to turn off the heat lamp a couple of weeks ago. My chicks suddenly sprouted all of their feathers and spent last night out in their coop for the first time! They just huddled together for warmth last night in 50 degree temps.
So thanks, I think turning of the heat lamp really accelerated their feather growth. And they are really happy to be outside!

 

[Zookeeper9000]

Hey Girl glad to hear that your hubby supports you, so many couples don't have that today.

Welcome Boaz glad to have ya a board.


I envy you the garden, like I said we will be starting planting this week for under ground seeds, if the rain stops and in 2 or 3 weeks we can do transplants.

 

[ruth]

Well yesterday was quite the journey. DH (Boaz) got back from his 1,000 mile road trip to pick up Jesse Bryant's (Black Copper King) flock of B.C. Marans. He tells a great story in his thread about the joys of riding 500 miles with a van full of grown chickens:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=197342&p=1

They are settled into their new quarters and doing well this morning. We converted one of the old out buildings and divided it into sections/pens inside with outside runs as well. We still haven't finished the outside runs but will do so in the next day or two. We ran out of time, energy, and money while converting the "money pit" into a breeder house. Like the movie Money Pit, every board, wall, section we tried to work on turned out to be rotted or had something wrong with it. We are trying to restore everything historically around here so we had to have a local lumber yard mill some thick, rough-cut, cypress to match the boards already on the building. Of course, we ended up needing more and more boards. In hindsight, I'm not sure what was holding up the old building because after we got in there, trying to nail up new boards and shore up old ones, we realized just about every 2x4 or 4x4 was rotten, especially from the ground up about a foot. So, like most of the projects around here, what we estimated to be a couple of days and "x" amount of dollars turned into much, much more. I was still nailing wire covering around the pop holes to the outside run (so they couldn't get out till runs were completed) when DH drove up with 40 hot, smelly, fully grown birds.

I'll post pics of the building and new residents later today.

 

[Reinbeau]

Did you guys buy Jesse's whole flock? Is he (Jesse) not doing well?

ETA after reading Boaz's thread, I have to say, he's a great guy - my husband would have done it, too. We're lucky to have found wonderful men!

 

[ruth]

Quote:
Yes, we bought the whole flock and I can't tell you exactly how many birds there are. I think around 28 hens and several roosters. I need to do an actual count but hey, what's another 30-40 chickens when you already have 100-200 and have no idea how many exactly.

Mr. Jesse and Ms. Janice are not in great health and when combined with being elderly, just couldn't keep up with the demands of a chicken business. I was one of the first to buy from him when he first posted on BYC and I jumped at the opportunity to buy his whole flock when he posted that he was having to sell them due to health issues and wanted to keep the whole flock together.

The main concerns were building breeding pens for 5 different sub-flocks (he had them divided up and wanted to keep them together) and getting them transported here.

DH was very kind and generous to offer to go and get them - I'm still trying to figure what's up or what he's done.

 

[Reinbeau]

I am sorry to hear that Jesse and his wife aren't doing so well, it's tough to get old

They were very kind to a friend of mine, they are good people. But it's great that their birds will live on with you guys!

 

[tink]

I am in need of a "fix".....Haven't had a fun story in a while. How is it going down there on the farm?
Tink

 

[ruth]

Quote:
O.K. Tink - I think I can help you out.

Today's story is about the Goat Castle Murder which took place in nearby Natchez at the turn of the century. If you haven't read the little book, more of a picture book than anything. It's about a bunch of eccentric blue-blood southern aristocrats and how insane they became. One couple let their home, and it's expensive furnishings, fall into total chaos and become known as the "Goat Castle" because they had goats and chickens running around in the house. They were even eating the goats and cooking them in the middle of the floor. I don't want to give it all away - makes for great "Southern crazy folk" reading. Anyway, at the time I read the book I thought "How insane. Who lets a beautiful old plantation home, filled with priceless antiques just fall apart and be overrun with chickens and goats?"

Here's photos of the Goat Castle:

So you know who lets their home become overrun???? ME ME ME

Today I look around and Rex is in the house - never should have taught him to work handles and locks. Then I go to close the front door and see a chicken has let herself in. She normally lives on the front porch, as opposed to the chicken that lives on the back porch. She walks all around, looking in every room, checking out moving boxes and in no such hurry to go back out despite the fact that I'm shooing her out the whole time.

Oh my goodness - I've sunk so low - I now own my own Goat Castle.

 

[m2wandc]

LOL...that's a funny tale to tell...I hope you don't go THAT insane as to let the house go to ruins...but nothing wrong with a little family member of the animal kind coming in for a visit.

 

[beefy]

she will be laying in there before you know it.