Homesteaders

[Beekissed]

My coop is about 100 yds upslope from the house...if you free range at all, you'll want them to be far rather than near. Poop happens. A lot. Best if it's all not around the house where you walk the most. Also, if you don't feed fermented feed, those poops are going to attract flies and stink....you'll not want that close to the house either. Our garden is close to the house but the coop is far.

Since I keep the dogs centered around the coop area, this also keeps dog mess a good distance from the house...all the dog poop goes in the woods, their pee and muddy tracking about stays up the yard and not near the house. This all makes it nice when company comes or grandchildren come to play...they still have clean areas of yard that are not affected too much by animal dirt. Oh, the chickens still range and poop down by the house but it's not as much poop as is deposited closer to the coop.

When the rooster crows of a morning, it's a muffled sound and not loud enough to wake us....too far away. When the hens get loud about an egg laid, it's far enough away to not disturb our lovely silence too much. When the dogs bark on patrol at night, it's directed towards the woods around the coop and not in the direction of the house....this is nice as well. Not a bit too loud for good sleeping. They don't bark often, so when they do it's noticeable but still not as loud as if it were right under our window.

Makes it nice to have them at a distance. Downside is having to carry water to them, especially in the winter but it's still a great trade off.

 

[rancher hicks]

Rancher that is so PRETTY, i need you to live closer to me so you teach my your ways oh wise one!!! The house I am moving into has some beautiful tulips and other flowers in the beds but they all go to green middle of summer, so I am looking to add more next year to the garden beds as well. I have a lot of work ahead of me, starting with labeling all the flowers that are spring flowers so I don't accidentally pull them up or plant over them. I would hate to lose the flame tulips that Grandpa loved so much, i plan on planting more of them, even though they are close to $50 a whack.

I just really love the look of them, and they are something that Grandpa and Grandma planted together and it means so much to me to be able to continue their legacy and bring the house and property back to where it once was, and to do it on one income is going to be hard. Luckily Dad is talking about putting solar panels on the roof before we move it and getting the second bathroom done and carpet put in where it currently has shag, so that will save us a bunch of money. Now just to save up so I can get my dream country kitchen done and the house will be set. I'm so scared and excited I am not sure which one is better/worse....But chickens are definitely going to happen once I can figure out a place to put them once the huge garage goes up(yay...not) and we get some of the trees cleared out. I want it down by the garden for easy poop removal but it is a ways from the house in the winter, but if i put them up by the house then i have to haul to the garden and they will be up on the street front...decisions decisions. Any help from you guys and gals??

those are not my pics bit I do plant zinnias in a pot around two benches and they look very nice. Plus I can cut them for the grandkids and they continue to flower. I just didn't have any pictures. My computer is messed up.

I check all garage sales for benches. I have one I bought years ago from Jackson and Perkins and I wish I'd bought more at the time. They were cheap and nice.

A good garden is always a work in progress, and ever changing. Creating nice beds is key. Lots of manure, peat moss and compost.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

For my own flock and garden I have it in a rectangular shape yet spread out a bit. My barn is about 200 feet from my garden which has a 100 foot berry line going up hill from the top edge. Then from there starts the apple row and the wooded area. Up top from that is our corn field and cow pasture to be.

 

[rancher hicks]

So I'm online and placed an order with Burpee, BUT then I see in the catalog come Zinnias called "Queen Red Lime". in the picture they're purpleish and green. I think WOW, I like those and wa about to call to change my order. $6.95 for 30 seeds is a lot but I can save seeds later.

However in looking at this "Queen Red Lime" by other companies i notice it's not Purple/green but Red/green and not nearly as nice.

I also ordered some Hellebore called "Wedding Party/Wedding Bells" in honor of my DD who is getting married. I have some another kind and they're doing nicely where they are. So I thought to order and plant more. Perennials are the way to go sometimes. Too you can plant annuals around them. My concern is whether they will be white or some other shade.

Catalogs should not fudge color in their catalogs.

I did find the seeds for "Queen Red Lime" on other sites and cheaper.

Point? Don't take the catalogs word for how things are. What plants look like or where things will grow. I know I won't ever again.

I did order Italian Ice tomato that I've grown before and liked. (just saw it's not on the order) Hungarian heart, German Johnson and Northern Exposure Hybrid.

Remember don't put all your eggs in one basket. Plant a variety of whatever veggies you want. Some might turn out some might not. The Italian ice do so that's why I stick with them.

TTFN,

Rancher

 

[wyoDreamer]

I changed the location of my coop right before building it - well DH did. We have a number of buildings on our farmstead that could be used for housing animals - total of 9 buildings if you count the house and garage. I was going to put the coop in the sheep shed right next to the garage (close to the house), which would have put the birds on a small pasture area right along the road. Across the road is a huge wooded swamp. Coop ended up in the silo room of the barn which is located away from the road and protected from the road by a number of other buildings. The coop is a concrete room and the pop door faces the 20 acres of open pasture that we have.

Good thing I moved the coop to the barn - we had a coon nest in the ceiling of the sheep shed last summer and have kits in there. Last night someone hit a fox on the road, he had to be coming from that little pasture next to the sheep shed, I see alot of fox tracks in that field every winter. Every spring the skunks dig up the yard looking for grubs - in the front yard which is next to the sheep shed. I am sure I would have had chickens on the road all the time too, the other day I saw a car swerve toward a cat on the side of the road trying to hit it!

Coop works well where it is. It tends to be a bit humid since it is an all concrete building - roof, floor and walls. But I have not had a problem with frost-bite, even with our -20 degree weather. The silo "ladder" makes a nice chimney to let the warm humid air out. Only heat I have out there is a heated tin to put my 8 gallon waterer on. The birds do get supplemental light since the only window faces east and is only 24x30" and holds their pop door, but that is LED to save $ and only comes on for a couple hours in the morning and a couple more in the evening.

Long story short, look at all the angles for coop location. Moving a wheelbarrow of coop cleanings occasionally may be a great exchange for other problems like poopy yards and dead chickens on the road.

 

[Raech]

Very true, I want to have a large enough run that I won't have a muddy mess, but still have lots of room for the chickens. I plan on only have 3-6 hens possibly a rooster. Dad is putting a house in on the lower pasture and that is where the garden is located and he wakes up at the slightest sound so I am sure a rooster going off would wake him up and I wouldn't have a rooster after a couple of early morning wake ups. But I will talk to Dad when the time gets closer and it might just go down by the creek/garden area and I will just hope that my run is big enough to keep them all happy. Dad doesn't want chicken poop everywhere so I told him they would be contained, I just never said how big the containment would be Little plans first, I have to get the dog to breed so I can sell the puppies, get my bunnies to breed so I can put meat in my freezer. Once Shelby dries up she will be starting her show career, which is going to start this summer/fall. Then I am training her to cart to help pack stuff around the property and for parades to help raise money for an organization I'm a part of. Such a busy summer already and spring isn't even here yet. But I love having a plan to run with, I hate suprises, but I love my babies and hopefully I will have lots of them this year.

 

[Beekissed]

Homesteading things...we are experiencing an early spring. Egg counts are high, temps are balmy, chores scream for attention. I really needed to prune watersprouts from the apple trees in January but kept waiting for sufficiently cold temps to do so and they never arrived. So, looks like those will just have to be done now. I've still got chores backed up from fall, so I really need to sit down and make a new list for the new season.

Bluebirds fighting and building nests all around the meadow....beautiful pieces of deep blue sky flitting here and there.

Was out checking the compost under the fruit trees and in the garden today...getting deeper in both places.

Grandgirl came out for a visit and helped me move some wood chips today...placing them in areas of high traffic in the yard to keep the mud at bay. It was so warm we had a picnic and I think I got a sunburn on my face today...it feels a little scorched tonight. Just a wonderfully beautiful day and tomorrow is supposed to be the same way. I hope to get a few things done out there.

 

[rancher hicks]

Very true, I want to have a large enough run that I won't have a muddy mess, but still have lots of room for the chickens. I plan on only have 3-6 hens possibly a rooster. Dad is putting a house in on the lower pasture and that is where the garden is located and he wakes up at the slightest sound so I am sure a rooster going off would wake him up and I wouldn't have a rooster after a couple of early morning wake ups. But I will talk to Dad when the time gets closer and it might just go down by the creek/garden area and I will just hope that my run is big enough to keep them all happy. Dad doesn't want chicken poop everywhere so I told him they would be contained, I just never said how big the containment would be Little plans first, I have to get the dog to breed so I can sell the puppies, get my bunnies to breed so I can put meat in my freezer. Once Shelby dries up she will be starting her show career, which is going to start this summer/fall. Then I am training her to cart to help pack stuff around the property and for parades to help raise money for an organization I'm a part of. Such a busy summer already and spring isn't even here yet. But I love having a plan to run with, I hate suprises, but I love my babies and hopefully I will have lots of them this year.

I get the muddy run thing. I like to keep the bales of hay or straw to break up and let them spread them out. I also toss scratch with BOSS so they mix things up. Peat moss can keep things soft and wood shavings work well too. I don't like them to get their feet wet and cold. I stack shavings in the run too. Spring clean out will be work but composting nearly done.




Right now someone is digging holes and I've nearly twisted my ankle, so I toss the scratch away from the door.

 

[BriColie]

The question on FB was "do different chicken colored eggs taste different?"  

This was my response. 

[COLOR=1D2129]I asked my chickens and the brown egg layers say theirs is best but the Blue egg layers say theirs taste best. The Marans say everyone knows the French have the best tasting food so theirs taste best. The English Orpingtons say that theirs are "bang on" the best. The Mediterranean Scicilians say research has shown the "Mediterranean diet" is best so theirs taste best. The Australian Aussies say, Hey Mate, ours is best. The Americans breeds are still fighting over whether to let the Russian Orloffs into the coop. So take it for what it's worth.[/COLOR]

Lol!

 

[BriColie]

Homesteading things...we are experiencing an early spring. Egg counts are high, temps are balmy, chores scream for attention. I really needed to prune watersprouts from the apple trees in January but kept waiting for sufficiently cold temps to do so and they never arrived. So, looks like those will just have to be done now. I've still got chores backed up from fall, so I really need to sit down and make a new list for the new season. Bluebirds fighting and building nests all around the meadow....beautiful pieces of deep blue sky flitting here and there. Was out checking the compost under the fruit trees and in the garden today...getting deeper in both places. Grandgirl came out for a visit and helped me move some wood chips today...placing them in areas of high traffic in the yard to keep the mud at bay. It was so warm we had a picnic and I think I got a sunburn on my face today...it feels a little scorched tonight. Just a wonderfully beautiful day and tomorrow is supposed to be the same way. I hope to get a few things done out there.

Beautiful!