Hello friends! I thought I'd share a Farm story -
From one of our Farm Newsletters - 1/27/25
I thought I'd share a Farm story -
We took down an old chicken coop this weekend and moved hog shelters around - if anyone knows our story - I was well-known as the Crazy Chicken lady for years... I had a pink license plate...that said that...and ya what is a crazy memory - the feed store would recognize my vehicle by it....lol
This old shed was here when we moved to Arkansas in 2009 ish - it's one of those buy-off-the-lot sheds from home dept....press board cheap...it was full of old paint cans and stuff...one treasure we found was an old trunk...and is still in my living room today.
Jim way over-engineered the repairs to this shed...nothing was getting our first chickens - we used windows from our house as they were replaced when we first moved here too - hauled rocks in from other areas of the property - added hardware cloth all over, cemented in a run that was fully enclosed - even had hot wires - two doors and well it was SO very well loved for so long!!
And then about two years ago we had an accident out here...in the form of a mudslide and a vehicle went right into it - at this time...were already down to 30 birds or so - so they were rehomed to a friend in Harrison and I kept the "odd ones, retirees and crooked legged chickens" The damage was not something we're going to repair as we had already stopped selling eggs -
I have so many memories I don't even know where to start - We very rarely had loss here, despite so many ground and sky predators, before I kept 4 dogs as well..(pros and cons here) - chickens are SO much fun so entertaining, and so smart - my early newsletters and website talked about this often - no such thing as eating like a bird - they eat A LOT and need a lot of protein ...and No..goats don't eat tin cans...I won't get on that soap box...how much I despise old wives' tales...like this - goats are very complex and nutritional hogs...back to chickens -
This demo job was far from TV internet reality - on my gosh...just don't....this was dangerous in taking this down...millions of nails, staples...screws...so much spray foam to cut around...wires...tractors have hydraulic lines we had to watch very closely to not snap anything.....we moved out one section at a time....and saved my very old Honeysuckle tree -
The compost layer that is left is over two feet high and you can see the layers form over the years...Much more work to do to clean up this spot...level it and add barn compost too this spring -
As I look back...I could write a book on Chiekcn care and health - reach out to me if you want to learn more - I will gladly share - each homestead is different, no two breeds are the same, or set up -
It's all so much work - the most expensive eggs you'll ever find - is in the joy of raising the birds - support your local farms, get to know them first - 💟
Thanks for reading -
Love Sara