Stored for the winter Monday morning I continued work on sorting out the costs for the various aspects of this building project, while I did the week’s laundry. At lunch time, I again dressed warmly and

After lunch, when it finally hit 50F, I dressed in my mended coveralls and warm coat and hat and went up to start the pen fence repairing. My supervisors, above, were instantly on the job, critiquing my

On Wednesday my intern was here. Our first job, with the new load of mulch, was to finish mulching in the Big garden. That garden is as done as it’s going to be, unless the warm weather holds for a few

This year we are using a new brooding system. These are rigid heat pads or plates. They have legs to hold them at the height of the chicks’ backs. There is very little fire risk with this system. Our old

Our bantam chickens back in the late 60’s – early 70’s The worst predator in the 1970’s: our English Springer Spaniel Cricket Our first year raising broilers was a steep learning curve. While I’d had chickens

Compost bins getting full at the end of September More miscellaneous photos as I work my way through the backlog. The cover back on the ginger hoophouse for the first time in weeks, in early October The

The new layers had moved out of the pasture pen into the winter pen. On Sunday morning November 4th my husband and I went out to take the pen down. We’d had to put netting around the perimeter and electrified

This is the last of a series on pasture coops. Part 1 of the Hoophouse Section is here: Part 2 of the Hoophouse Section is here: Part 3 – Finishing The nestboxes were put in place and then the outsides

This is the last of a series on pasture coops. Part 1 of the Hoophouse Section is here: Part 2 – Building the Coop He started building the frame first. Below is the corner bracing detail: He put plywood

This is part 5-1 of a 5 part series on our pastured chicken infrastructure. I started with the Salatin tractor: Next was the Mobile Coop: Then the Movable Pen for the coop: The Circus Tent: Part 1 - An

The Circus Tent showing the pretty colors of the prototype This is part 4-1 of a 5 part series on our pastured chicken infrastructure. I started with the Salatin tractor: Next was the Mobile Coop: Then

We’d discovered the Salatin pen: would not work for heritage birds. We designed a mobile coop: and it would need a safe enclosure due to our high predator load. So we built this pen and have been using