Hey from the Eastern Shore of Maryland!

[PiecesofAmber]

Hi Amber! I am on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in Queen Anne's County

I am still 'lurking' and planning for the most part. I am trying to get into homesteading and in the planning phases. I want to do a cinderblock rasied bed garden and chicken coop. Wonder if you have a garden too / some wisdom/advice? Trying to figure out where I should place things in our yard to make the most of things....

Also curious about what breed/experience since I have 2 young children and a labradoodle...

Thanks,
Mary

Hey, Mary! I don't have any raised beds, although I wish we had gone that route. Our coop has to be in the backyard at the far most point, with a fenced off area because of our dogs (they don't seem to be chicken friendly). We have our first flock ever, and we're still learning. Our garden is near the coop, and for the moment we have a run next to the coop with the door leading in the run so they can go in and out. We are also going to fence off an area of the grass for them to run in when we make some repairs to our fence, and when the garden is done, they will be allowed to help us clean it up! I'm sorry I'm not much help, but feel free to ask questions.

 

[javamilk99]

Quote:
We've managed to get one of our dogs to the point of not immediately wanting to torment the chicks. He gets taken over on his leash a few times a day, made to sit and told to "be nice" several times. Lots of petting and "good boy" comments for 5-10 minutes...he impressed me on Sunday by getting bored with the birds and going off to sniff in the bushes instead of watching them.

Our other two...well, let's just say they have to be on chains unless my husband is holding the leash.

 

[PiecesofAmber]

We've managed to get one of our dogs to the point of not immediately wanting to torment the chicks. He gets taken over on his leash a few times a day, made to sit and told to "be nice" several times. Lots of petting and "good boy" comments for 5-10 minutes...he impressed me on Sunday by getting bored with the birds and going off to sniff in the bushes instead of watching them.

Our other two...well, let's just say they have to be on chains unless my husband is holding the leash.

I have a fox terrier, and it's ingrained in his breed to hunt. We tried introducing, and he tried to bite a little chick (they were only 2 weeks at the time). Our pit bull/jack russel mix licked one, but again, we don't want to take any chances. He's the lover of the two dogs, but we're a bit wary of him and chickens, since he's never been around them before. I'm sure some breeds are great with them, I just don't happen to have any. Are you in the country? We live in a development, right outside of town, and we're lucky that our town allows us to keep chickens. Just no roosters...

 

[marycs]

Thanks, Amber - sounds like things are going well with you and your new flock! Well, except for your little hunter dog, ha! We so wanted a whippet, but we have a cat and knew that would never work. Ultimately, we settled on a labradoodle - who is actually quite the hunter, but not as hard wired as a terrier!

I'd love to see pics of set ups shown in relation to the garden if anyone wants to share!

Thanks for your willingness to help, and of course the inspiration!
Mary

 

[javamilk99]

Our terrier mix tries to run around the run and make them flap. He thinks it's great fun.

We're a couple miles outside of Princess Anne. My husband knew he was in trouble when we had to sign right-to-farm addendums to buy this property! Whereabouts are you?

Oh, I wanted to ask...where did you get your Andalusians? My husband has decreed that he doesn't like brown eggs, so I need to find a white egg layer.

 

[PiecesofAmber]

Thanks, Amber - sounds like things are going well with you and your new flock! Well, except for your little hunter dog, ha! We so wanted a whippet, but we have a cat and knew that would never work. Ultimately, we settled on a labradoodle - who is actually quite the hunter, but not as hard wired as a terrier!

I'd love to see pics of set ups shown in relation to the garden if anyone wants to share!

Thanks for your willingness to help, and of course the inspiration!
Mary

When my coop gets it's siding and looks a little cuter...I'll share.

 

[PiecesofAmber]

Our terrier mix tries to run around the run and make them flap. He thinks it's great fun.

We're a couple miles outside of Princess Anne. My husband knew he was in trouble when we had to sign right-to-farm addendums to buy this property! Whereabouts are you?

Oh, I wanted to ask...where did you get your Andalusians? My husband has decreed that he doesn't like brown eggs, so I need to find a white egg layer.

We're in Easton, right outside of town. I ordered from McMurray Hatchery. We didn't know what we were getting...we ordered the Meat and Egg Combo. It was supposed to be15 Cornish X Rocks, 10 layers, including their best egg layers and rainbow layers, and a rare and unusual mystery chicken. We ended up with 28 chicks! We got three free somehow. We got a Polish and a buff cochin as our two mysteries. Unfortunately, we lost one of the meat birds a couple of weeks ago in the beginning of the heat wave. The Andalusians are absolutely gorgeous, and we have a splash, which is a white one with occasional gray feathers. They are all pretty friendly, and the splash, and the Australorp love to sit on our shoulders.

 

[javamilk99]

After I asked you that, I was looking on Craigslist...there's someone in Powellville (not terribly far from me, since I work in Sby) with all kinds of chickens...including the Andalusians I want. Unfortunately, my husband saw that post I did asking about them, and very sternly said..."No more chickens"...

(of course, he said "no livestock" for 2 years and look at what we have now)

 

[kidcody]

from washington state glad you joined us!

 

[PiecesofAmber]

After I asked you that, I was looking on Craigslist...there's someone in Powellville (not terribly far from me, since I work in Sby) with all kinds of chickens...including the Andalusians I want. Unfortunately, my husband saw that post I did asking about them, and very sternly said..."No more chickens"...

(of course, he said "no livestock" for 2 years and look at what we have now)

Darn it!