Open Contest Memories of Summer—2025

[Esc_Quaily]

@ElimAcres you have had a busy summer. Congrats to your husband too!! Looking forward to seeing your pictures.

 

[Finchbreeder]

As I am in Aust - Summer is 8 months past - or two months to go - depending on how you look at it.
Last summer was extremely hot - lots of 40C days - hoping for a little less of those in the coming summer.

 

[DuckLady]

I’m sad I can’t include anything poultry-wise, since I don’t have chickens right now (sad, I know ), but this summer certainly was an adventure.
We were just about to move back to the states after living a little over 2 years in Germany, and we had time for one more trip! So we decided to make it a good one. We traveled south, slept in an AirBnB, and woke up the next day to visit Pisa in Italy! Funnily enough, it was smaller than I expected, but still impressive it was standing after such a long time tilting sideways! I also got to enjoy a fresh pizza, and one of the best gelatos I’ve ever had!
After that, we visited Florence (where I tried an awesome mango gelato), then the beach, before heading Pompeii! It was one of my personal highlights. I loved looking at all the old buildings and seeing what it was like in old Roman times!
Next was Rome, and we got to eat some amazing pizza (the mushroom and cheese was the BEST) and visit the Roman coliseum! It was super cool to walk around and see underneath the ground where all the action was happening. I was surprised how eroded all of the seats were, but I suppose it’s expected.
Our next and final stop was Venice! It was personally underwhelming (and I have to warn you there is an unfortunate sewer smell), but otherwise, it was very cool to see the waterways and narrow streets. Unfortunately I didn’t get amazing pics, but that’s alright. I also got to try a chocolate peanut butter gelato!

That was the end of our Italy trip, but not the end of our travels. We started packing up to move as soon as we got home, and soon flew back overseas to Georgia, where we live now! Our Europe adventure was over, but a new one was just about to begin.

Spoiler: Pics!

Pisa:
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Beach:View attachment 4225220
Pompeii:
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Rome:
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Venice:
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Headed for our next adventure:View attachment 4225234

WOW! What an amazing trip. It seems like you could almost feel the energy of the people who walked those streets thousands of years ago. And the gelatos!

Oh goodness, I had a busy summer......as usual. My husband started his own business, so I was extra busy helping with that. I did find time, however, to convert our approximately 12x20 used to be goat barn into a new chicken barn. I currently have multiple small coops all over the property and was wanting to try to get the birds housed in a more central location and eliminate some of the smaller coops. After selling my remaining goats in May, I finally had the ability to do just that.

I started with a complete gut of the interior. What worked for goats was not going to work for chickens. I wanted to build several pens inside to accommodate several breeds/colors of birds. It took some creative thinking, but I finally came up with a plan I felt best utilized the space I had while providing comfort, safety and ease of care for my birds.

In order to make the pens, I basically framed up a wall and covered the lower 4 feet with plywood and the upper 4 feet with 2in x 4in fencing. (Win-win for finding a huge role of used fence a few years ago from an individual down the road who had torn it down and was giving it away. Yay!) I like running the plywood 4 feet up from the ground between pens because I feel like it discourages fighting amongst the roosters. I also felt it would be slightly warmer in winter with less possibility of drafts on the birds at night. I chose to hang doors about 5 in up from floor and built a kick board below it in order to be able to hold a lot of shavings for bedding down thickly in the winter and keeping the shavings in the pen. Each door is secured with a gate latch.

I ended up with 3 permanent pens and then the back pen I split into two smaller pens for my Silkies using a low wall since they don't fly well. I'm still not completely finished, although I have moved birds into the pens. I still need to add a few roosts and nest boxes, and I'd also like to put down some extra pea gravel in the isle outside the pens. I'd also like to make and attach some decorative number signs to each pen to identify the pens for records and when others care for my flock.

I still have some work to do, but overall, I am thrilled with the results. It has been so much easier to care for the birds when they are all in one place instead of walking all over the homestead. The birds seem happier too. I'll post some pics of my current progress. Hope you all enjoyed the read and had happy, productive summers as well!

Meagan
Elim Acres

You certainly had a busy summer! Great pen planning. I know your birds will be cozy and safe. It will for sure be easier on you to have them all in one place!