Bringing the chicken mansion home

A couple years ago one of our Pastors needed to get rid of his garage.  So naturally, my husband volunteered to bring it to the farm. The chickens needed a new, larger home. So this makes sense right?  Right. 

We took the back roads mostly.  Trying to avoid traffic.  

Until we had no choice but to go on the highway.  Several miles of crawling down the road, stopping traffic in someone’s driveway until he got past us.  He was as wide as the road almost.  

Home!!  What a slow motion trip.  But we made it without incident. 

It took another year to get it set up.  My husband and kids had to build the front wall and add a door.  

Looking good with the front wall done.  



They love to roost on the rafters.  These are four of the roosters we just sold.  

And then there’s a door that my husband built from scrap wood.  I can’t find a photo of the outside with the door shut.  This was summer 2019 before the ducks died.  The cats, dog, ducks, and chickens all coexsist in peace out here.  The cat (hopefully) does the job of taking care of the mice.  The chickens do a good job with bugs.  The ducks, well, they just make noise.  Which is why they got caught by the coyote.  


The plan is to paint the coop.  Just haven't gotten to it yet.  I can't decide if I want it to be multicolored or more toned down.  I'm sure it'll end up being a fun colored in some way.  

We have room for a few hundred chickens. But we won’t add anymore now until next year.  They sleep in a mansion. This chicken coop is huge.  They have more room than they need.  They spend most of their time outside free ranging the farm and fields around us.  They are the absolute definition of free range.  

Ginger and Easter

Ginger is growing! I am so excited.  So far I have two sprouted through and two more that should be up through the soil soon.  I bought a larger pot for it so it has room to spread it's feet.

The tumeric hasn't sprouted yet.  But from what I've read it takes a lot longer.   Our church friends dropped off a beautiful little bouquet for the kids to put together.  Smells like summer!  We (like everyone else) spent Easter at home.  Sure missed my parents and siblings.  The kids and I worked together to make cheesy potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and a beef roast.  It was fun to have them in the kitchen working together.  Mother Nature provided a blanket (blizzard) of snow on Easter Sunday.  Our little egg hunt was pretty pitiful.

The sun is out!

Yesturday's bad weather turned into a beautiful sunny day today.  I'm going out later to measure the garden and figure out square foot.  I'm expanding further to the west this year. 

I started tomatoes and peppers awhile ago. The tomatoes are coming up nicely in their pods.  The peppers are just barely starting to pop through the soil.  I used seeds from Baker Creek Seeds this year.  Baker Creek Seed Company  I'm not sure what they have left at this point.  I ordered mine in December and January.  If you want to do something local, find a farm store like Bomgaars, Fleet Farm, Tractor supply kind of stores.  They all have an abundance of seeds.  I plan on saving seed this year so I went with an heirloom seed company that's well known for seed saving. 

Right now I'm dealing with gnats.  I was using neem oil but ran out last week.  Trying to stay home and save lives, I haven't run to town to get more.  So now I have a ton of gnats.  Vinegar isn't getting them all.  So I'll have to run to the farm store and get some more neem oil and diatomaceous earth.  I think between both of them I can get a handle on the gnats in a couple of days.  

The celery appears to be doing well.  They were started back in January.  They take forever to grow and don't do well in the heat.  I hope to be able to plant them in the garden just after Easter in a couple of weeks.  

The mints that I cut and grew from last years crop are growing like gangbusters.  Mint Julep and peppermint.  I need to find a better place to hang the peppermint though.  I'm not sure it's getting enough sun.

Thyme, sage, and basil are all outgrowing their containers.  I should cut and dry them this week.  We'll see if I get to that or not.  

I started six mini tomatoes back in January.  Three of them grew. But that’s just how seeds work. The three that made it are doing great!  They should start producing tiny tomatoes mid to late April.

Having everyone home (which is 9 of us) until this coronavirus social distancing isn't necessary, takes up more time.  More laundry somehow.  More dishes.  More making food.  More pots and pans to wash.  Everyone is on dish duty rotation but it's still hard to keep up sometimes.  More sweeping and vacuuming floors with my handicap daughter making more messes.  Just more of everything.  I think everyone will be thankful to go back to school and not complain about it for awhile.  

Day (who's kidding..I don't know what day it is anymore)

So I have no idea what day of covid social distancing we are on.  The end of week 2.  That would make today number 14 maybe.  I've lost track of everything.  I thought today was Sunday until lunchtime.  Whatever day it is.... we are hanging in there.  This whole social distancing staying home is wearing on everyone.  I don't mind so much most days but today it rained the whole day. Bad windy rain.  I feel more closterphobic on rainy days.  Reguardless of the coronavirus circumstances.  I am not trapped however.  I still opened the garage door and stood just inside so my brain could see that I was indeed not trapped anywhere.  The rain smelled wonderful.  I love the smell of a good rain storm.  It was approx 42* when I went out.  Not too bad for standing just inside the door.

Tonight I was on a podcast!  Holy smokes batman! 

Go to prepperbroadcasting.com online and you can listen to old podcasts.  

Tonight several of us woman who are regulars in chat were asked a few questions.  I loved all the answers and even wrote a couple of things down to remember.

1. What got you into prepping and what was that moment that made it real for you?
I've always prepared in the fall for the coming winter season.  We get blizzards that make us stuck on the farm for days at a time sometimes.  So I've always been prepared for that.   But last year I googled prepper lists to be more prepared for anything.  I printed lots and lots of lists and kept track of what I did or what I bought.  I didn't mention that I had some serious bad dreams and a terrible feeling in my gut early in 2019 that made me step it up in a serious way.  Which is how I found prepper broadcasting network.  

2.  Do you find there are challenges being a female prepper?
Absolutely!  The prepper groups around my area are all men.  Nothing against men, just how it is.  I not only wanted to find other woman preppers, I needed to.  I needed to know I wasn't alone!  I don't want to talk about guns, ammo, or military stories.  I needed to talk about food storage, knitting, crafts, kids, home, etc.  

3.  What would I say to other lady preppers out there who aren't certain they can?
Google.  Go to google and print lists that fit what you're looking for.  There is an over abundance of information and good solid lists.  Start small.  Do not go all gungho at the store and go bankrupt.  Just start small.  Go to prepperbroadcasting.com and reach out to Jordan at A Family Affair or anyone of the other hosts.  Or me here.  Lady preppers are out here!