The Evolution of the Farm-Part 1
Spring has sprung on the farm...
And spring ushers us into a new season...Our winter is done and with
that all the hard labor we have been doing for the past four months
planting, pruning, changing and upgrading our little farm.
A home is a living organism, that is continually growing,
changing, adapting and it is no different with a farm.
Things that worked when we were younger no longer works now.
This is how it is with our coop....Our chickens have historical free ranged
our whole half acre back yard. This is fine when you have a couple chickens
but last year we decided to grow our flock so that we could sell our eggs
and cover the cost of our organic feed.
It's not a money maker for sure but it is a way to be sustainable.
With more chickens roaming we decided that a barrier needed to be erected
so the chickens could be contained when we needed them to be.
Like while we're eating Thanksgiving dinner and a chicken jumps up on the table...
this is nothing strange to our little family but to our extended family
who do not hold the same "urban farming" convictions,
they are always a little suprised.
*disclaimer*
We were eating Thanksgiving dinner outside,
I do not let our chickens inside the house.
Just in case you were wondering.:)
We walled off the whole side yard.
Keeping it very natural and open but it still defines the space.
For the gate we used a wooden screen door. They girls spend the morning in this area,
eating their feed, bugs, scraps and laying their eggs within the enclosure.
I have found it helpful with the daily Easter egg hunt,
they just don't have as many different spots to lay their eggs anymore.
Which is an unseen benefit of the enclosure.
Then in the afternoon, we let them out to range and as the sun goes down
they put themselves to bed, back in the coop!
We moved our baby chick house/brooder into the enclosure too.
The girls like to hang out beneath it...who knows why?!
The view from inside the enclosure.
The early evening when the girls are going to roost.
The glow is coming from their coop's vintage crystal chandelier.
for all the work these girls do for our family,
I thought the least we can do is give them a little crystal beauty.
Rustic and refined...just like their keeper.
Here is the view from the side next to our guest house.
Can't wait for the grape trellis to leaf out again and
mark the side entrance with an arch of green.
The girls fight over their favorite laying box...
they have four but they all like to use the same one.
All this beautiful spring weather has their egg production going
through the roof!
I am looking forward to the apple tree blooms, the bees buzzing
and all the trees leafing out. Spring is a wonderful but bittersweet
time in the desert because we know soon enough, it will be 100 degrees.
Between posts you can keep updated on the farm
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