Back to COTH :)

[Tiempo]

I have been scarce lately, since moving into the new farmette in July there just don't seem to be enough hours in the day to get things done, and I'm so pooped in the evening I just crash.

Now things are cooling off, the chicken housing is complete, the flower beds expanded and planted with multitudes of new flowers and shrubs, the pastures grassy and pleasant (they were shoulder high and weedy), run-in
3/4s built, it and the fencing should be finished by next week..I'm starting to get giddy about finally bringing the boys home to our very own place.

Just think, I'll be able to look out of the window while typing on COTH and see my own horses without even getting up :D:D:D

It's like a dream!!

Here are the chickens and the almost pasture in the background :)

http://i34.tinypic.com/28tw5mg.jpg

[RHdobes563]

Need I "say" more?

[ReSomething]

Congrats! I on the on the other hand, have been slacking. We got the flower bed rototilled up and all the rocks picked out, and the future pasture is now mowed. But no animals or fences. Heck, we still aren't all the way unpacked and DH brought the Beastly stock trailer back six weeks ago. But we're working on it!

[Bluey]

Wow, how green is your valley.:)
Beautiful place you have and all that fencing work must have been a big chore.
Few things as satisfying as getting the work done before winter sets in.

It is nice to see the horses laying on their sandpile, napping after breakfast, right outside the window, while I am typing on COTH.
You will loooove it.:cool:

[IdahoRider]

You are living my dream! What a nice place you are putting together.
Sheilah

[ThatScaryChick]

Congrats on your dream! I hope one day I am able to look out my window and see my horses.

[Catersun]

Congradulations Tiempo.... I'm happy things are shaping up well you for. I hope to be in your shoes (no time for coth for fencing and farm stuff) in the next couple of months. Give a jingle for Mr. Catersun and I the next time you look at your fence. :-)

[JSwan]

COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):):):):):):)

Hey - where did you get your Marans? I have a hankering for Marans.

Congratulations. Catersun - I'll be crossing my fingers for you - if you move out to a place and start to raise chickens I'll send you a few nest eggs as a housewarming gift. :)

[jazzrider]

Congrats! You'll love it! How about a few more pics? :)

[Catersun]

Hey Tiempo... How is heart doing?

Jswan... why can't I PM you???

[Quartergirl]

Yes, can we have a Heart update with pics please?

[Tiempo]

Well guys, Heart is staying with Lori.

The transport train never came fully together, and as time wore on and it started to get colder here, it was becoming a problem that she would not have time to adjust to Michigan fall/winter temps.

It's ok, Lori adores her, and she is in a happy place for life :)

[Tiempo]

Congradulations Tiempo.... I'm happy things are shaping up well you for. I hope to be in your shoes (no time for coth for fencing and farm stuff) in the next couple of months. Give a jingle for Mr. Catersun and I the next time you look at your fence. :-)

Will do :)

[Tiempo]

COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):):):):):):)

Hey - where did you get your Marans? I have a hankering for Marans.

Congratulations. Catersun - I'll be crossing my fingers for you - if you move out to a place and start to raise chickens I'll send you a few nest eggs as a housewarming gift. :)

I got the black and the copper black from a lady on a Michigan horse bb, and yesterday I got a cuckoo Marans as a tip from a client :)

I'd like to get some more copper blacks and breed them, but then I want to breed my Blue Andalusian and my pairs of OEG banties and my Japanese Banties too. :lol:

I really have to get a grip on this chicken fever and narrow my breeding options down. :winkgrin:

You may be able to score some Marans on eggbid.com, or some hatching eggs on Ebay, but they are pricey.

[J-Lu]

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!


(I'm sooooo jealous!) :D:D

[Dressage Art]

Love your chickens - what a happy birds, they can eat green grass!!!

[MistyBlue]

Tiempo...looking forward to seeing photos of the rest of the place and the new fencing once it's up. Complete with happy horses behind it of course. :winkgrin: Cool chickens...someday I'll get my own. I'll just tell hubby they're wild chickens. :lol:

[JSwan]

Hey Mistyblue -

I know how you can get "wild" chickens!

Buy some jungle fowl. You can get them at Stromburgs and McMurray Hatcheries. They're the "wild" stock that all domestic chickens are descended from.

Really - you will have your own "wild" chickens. But won't Morticia be jealous?

I was doing a cost/benefit analysis after putting my birds in the freezer. It's much cheaper (for me) to raise my own eggs and meat. But then I factored in my savings on Frontline and that really made me happy.

I didn't really think about it at the time...... but I didn't have to use Frontline on my dogs this summer. No ticks, not even deer ticks!!!! I never have a problem with fleas - but I have picked over 100 ticks off my beagle in one sitting.

The fly population in the barn is down a great deal, though I mostly credit better barn management with that.


Catersun - something is wonky with my user name and I never got a response back from the site administrator. No matter what I did I couldn't log in and I wasn't banned (I checked!). So I just created a new username and removed the space. I'll check to see if I've got the PM function turned on with my new username. I'm still me, just as verbose and irritating as I was before - but I swear I'm a really nice person!!! :o:uhoh:


Thanks for the tips, Tiempo. Again, congratulations!! I put half my flock in the freezer, which I know will creep some people out. But my birds had a really nice life full of green grass, bugs, lots of dirt and sand for bathing, lots of sunshine and room to run around. I'd like some Marans for eggs, and I'd like some Chanticleer's for preservation of the breed.

The Naked Necks are turning out to be really nice birds. The Ameracaunas - a little too aloof but that's ok. I got some Speckled Sussex that turned out to be.... I have no idea. The girls are brown and the boys were Rhode Island Reds. Black Australorps were just very nice, gentle birds - I gave one rooster away and he's gone on to a nice cushy life with a local farmer. They do talk a lot which I think is very funny.

My favorite part is hearing them sing in the evening. As beautiful as any fine choir.

[Catersun]

MB.. I can send you a pair of wild boys!!!! lol They are all out galavanting in the back yard as we speak.... this is their first time out in two weeks because they kept trying to visit the neighbors.


J- when you find chantecleers let me know.. I need to get one as they are my baby brothers new college mascot.

[2DogsFarm]

Welcome back, Tiempo :D

Where in MI are you?
Sorry the Heart Train didn't gel, but I'm sure she'll be happy with Snkst.
If you're not too far from Shipshewana you could look for a Heart replacement there.

Man, ya'll are making me want chickens again!
Every Summer I drool over the bantams at the Fair and fantasize about adding them to 2 Dogs Farm. My farm came with a really nice henhouse. They even left their waterer.
I just need to get off my a## and fix up the horrendously overgrown henyard.
I think I'll look at chicken catalogs this Winter......

[MistyBlue]

[QUOTE][Really - you will have your own "wild" chickens. But won't Morticia be jealous?/QUOTE]

LOL...no Tish won't be jealous. She'd probably be thrilled I bought her some snacks. :lol: Vultures don't only eat dead stuff. :eek: And if Tish doesn't get them...well, I feed Gwen leftover chicken and I'm sure she'd love them too. (Gwen's a red shoulder hawk) A-n-d...if neither get them I'm sure Putz Puppy could gum one to death. (older than dirt coyote who lives in my backyard) Or...Bartles and James are big enough to munch chickens. (brother coons I helped along after their mom was run over in front of my house 2 years ago. Tish ate their mom's remains which was how I found the boys)
Sooo...I guess hubby does have a point. Rehabbing meat eaters on my property means a lot of previous "patients" do stop back by once in a while to see if there's still food here. It's kinda be like putting up a bird feeder in a cattery. :lol:

[JSwan]

Very true - chickens are like rabbits.

They are food for pretty much everything else. Sucks to be at the bottom of the food chain, doesn't it. Too bad they taste so good!:lol:

[Tiempo]

Well, today we finished the run in...I'm sssssssooo geeked I ran around inside it doing the 'my horses have a shelter' dance.

What a dork.

It's nothing fancy, kind of patched together from lumber I found at a barn sale for under $250 for everything, but it looks pretty good considering..better than I thought it would even :yes:

But it's sturdy and functional, the only thing it needs now is the shingles put on the roof, but my dear friend has enough left over from the new roof on her house to cover it.

I'll go on a picture taking frenzy soon, I promise :)