We always called my Nannie and Pawpaw’s place “the farm.” They had acreage and a house with a detached shop that kept their tractor. They never had animals beyond a outdoor dog, but my Nannie was an amazing gardener, growing the best spinach you’ve ever eaten in your life, juicy tomatoes, and other wonders I’m sure if I could remember back a little further.

So it feels a little weird referring to my own home as a farm, but I like the sound of it and I do have chickens, so what exactly are the qualifiers to call one’s home a farm? A goat or a donkey you say? Ok, well, if you say so…. 😉 In my dreams. We aren’t actually permitted to have one of those but if I find one that resembles a dog well enough, all bets are off.

I’ll file these home/farm updates under the HOME category where I put all the posts relating to building, decor, garden, etc (for the few people beyond myself that might go searching for a particular topic). So let’s hop to!

Life with the Chickens

Let’s dive in with the chicken drama. To start, Earl has hit puberty. Our lone remaining rooster who we cuddled and snuggled from birth has a bit on an attitude now that he has hormones rushing through him.

I did my research and learned not to run away, not to physically manhandle him, but to assert my dominance in his space until he learned to give way. I came out fully decked out for our first face off and have gotten a bit more relaxed with it since then. He does seem to respect me more now and isn’t flying at my legs nearly as often, but I don’t love the idea of having a feisty rooster around with kids so I’m really hoping he starts to chill out a bit.

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On one hand, I have to respect that he’s doing his job well. He watches after the ladies, keeps them rounded up, and alerts them when he’s found something good to eat. He doesn’t go out looking for a fight but definitely doesn’t like anyone or anything to get close to his ladies. But I don’t love that the kids are now scared to go in with the chickens.

In other news, one of our Copper Maran girls, Bellatrix, got our farm’s first booty bath. She had dried excrement stuck on her super fluffy booty feathers. We filled up a bin with warm water and had to soak her back end in it while I “shampooed” (with a gentle soap) the feathers until she was all clean. This took about 20 minutes. Then we gave me booty a blow dry so she wouldn’t catch a chill.

Non chicken owners are probably cringing at this. This chicken owner is, too, believe me. I couldn’t get in the shower fast enough.

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The last nugget of chicken drama is that I caught them trying to roost on the wooden ladder toy in the run. I had to teach them to go back in the coop where it’s safest and temperature is best controlled, so I’ve been going out every late afternoon and knocking over their wooden play structure. Since chickens naturally want to roost in the highest place they can find, they’ve been heading back into the coop in the evenings on their own now.

But despite the drama, I love having chickens. I love learning about them, caring for them (usually), and I love the rainbow of eggs they provide us with daily. We have eggs coming out our ears, usually a full 6-8 per day, which means everyone is laying!

In the Garden

Oh this week’s sunshine and 70’s sure had me thinking about plants! Currently in my garden I have cilantro and thyme that have just done their own thing and are thriving. I have carrots I haphazardly planted a few months back. Finley LOVES them and the chickens love the green tops. They are only a few inches long but they’ve been fun. I also have garlic starting to pop up, which is helpful for me to remember exactly where I had planted it.

The big news is that my seeds came in! Am I late to start growing from seed? Maybe. But I’m a very type B gardener and am excited to get them started this weekend.

I planted (ahem, I placed and David actually planted) three new blueberry bushes this week. I also want to get another plum tree and maybe a fig tree, too.

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For the main garden, I need to get some fresh soil or compost (research is yet to be done) and till it all up (best tool ever for easy tilling). I’ll be doing that over the next few weeks and then it will be getting close to garden planting season- ahhh!

Outdoor Projects

In outdoor project updates, the shed is built! It still needs a few finishing touches, like epoxy floor and filling in some spaces to ensure birds don’t get in, but for now it’s functional and so nice to have the storage space.

The sauna is really coming along. David has done an incredible job at building the outer “box,” installing the oiled pine siding, and laying the floors. He is waiting on the company to send him the interior wood cuts to finish it all out, which hopefully will be soon. Our traditional sauna should be up and running just in time for summer! (ha ;))

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Fencing. My new fixation is a fence for our chickens. Right now I’m letting them out to free range for just 1-2 hours at the end of the day. I’d like to let them out more but I worry about predators and them running into neighboring yards (most neighbors don’t mind, but still). I got a quote for a fence for an area for them to forage within boundaries with some tree coverage for hopefully increased protection. Now if I could just get David’s work schedule to chill out a bit so we’d have time to discuss it!

That about sums up the “farm” projects. Now I just need to come up with a fun name for our chickens so I can create a sticker or stamp for the cartons. Hmm… any ideas?

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and that the sun shines brightly for you!