Well, they’ve taken about 3 more months to finish than I anticipated, but I can finally say that the goat house and chicken coop are (almost) complete. The only major thing left to do is cover up those ugly cement posts that are holding the buildings up. They say all good things come to those who wait. I sure hope so.

And in case you didn’t notice, I decided to stick with the grey trim on the barn red. Given a chance to do it over, I probably would have chosen either white or black trim, but I wasn’t going to change it when it was half done. I’ll learn to love it.

I collected old tractor wheels for a while a few years back, always with the intention of one day hanging them on my barn. They are old pieces to tilling or haying machines I think. If you looked often enough on eBay, you could find them in all shapes, colors and sizes. All with wonderful worn paint and full of character. My husband of course thought I was completely bonkers. Wasn’t he shocked last year when they showed up as items for sale at Restoration Hardware! The very same vintage tractor wheels I’d been collecting for a few dollars each were now in a fancy store.

I got great satisfaction today in screwing the big bolts I’d bought for the purpose into the walls and hanging my wheels, finally, on my goat house. I think they look great. I need to get more of those small rusty barn stars I hung up on the soffit so I can put them around both goat house and coop. Maybe I can do a better job of centering them over the windows, too?

Did I not predict that Gracie would be the one goat to get paint on herself during the painting of the coop and barn? Here she is just with the red paint on her. By the end of the day she’d added some nice touches of grey as well. And it was oil-based stain. I had to scrub her with a paint thinner-soaked rag and then give her a bath. She just has a hint of red left to her now.

Just down the road from Grey Lodge was the Frost Valley YMCA Farm. They have a farm camp there and lovely yurts to stay in. They didn’t have a lot of animals, but they were all very friendly and they had a really nice assortment.

It was a really nice place to visit. All the animals were happy and clean with plenty of room to roam. The barns and coops were clean. It’s really nice to go see a farm and come away with a good, warm feeling about how the animals are being cared for there.

I had my vet scheduled to come to the farm today for checkups on all of the goats. Wanting to make a good first impression, I spent some time this morning cleaning up the “human” part of the goat house and finally assembling my milking stand that I never ended up needing this spring.

Two young female vets came that I had never met before, and they were very nice. Everyone was due for their vaccines and rabies shots, and while they were here we trimmed hooves and wormed them all.

While all of them loved having one-on-one attention from me, none liked any of the uncomfortable things very much. Kiki was very upset about the shots, and Melina was pretty much upset about everything being done to her. Surprisingly, Princess Kate, who is normally the most shy one, was the calmest through the whole procedure. She would have happily stayed slung over my legs, as she was for the hoof trimming, longer.

Afterwards, Kiki was clearly exhausted from the trauma of her shots. She didn’t do a whole lot of moving this afternoon, but seemed to be feeling perkier by dinnertime.

And finally I’ll show you the current condition of the chicken coops and goat house. I had them change the color scheme on the door. I like it better, but I’m still not sure I’m going to keep the grey. Now I’m thinking classic white trim on the red might be best. My painter is going to love me.

Well, my new chicken coop and goat house, which were supposed to be done, start-to-finish, in about two months, are now, 5 months later, almost finished. Painting began today, and after that there is just some finish work to be done like enclosing the cement posts with wood.

I had long ago chosen a color scheme of barn red and grey for the buildings. I’m not sure if I’m loving the grey with it right now though, but I’m sure it will grown on me. Or maybe there’s just too much grey? Maybe the doors should stay red? The live-edge siding along the bottom of the structures will stay a natural color and just be sealed with a wood preservative.










If anybody that wants to weigh in with their opinion on the colors with a comment, I would appreciate it.

In the movie Despicable Me, the dogs refer to those plastic cones dogs sometimes have to wear around their necks as “The Cone of Shame”, which seemed such a perfect name for them; the dogs are always so humiliated to have to walk around with them on. The kids and I have used that term for them since then.

I returned from Lexington to find that Bullet had a very sore foot. He was limping and it was swollen, so I took him to the vet this morning. It’s nothing serious, but he does have to wear the Cone of Shame for at least a few days. Poor thing.

Another thing that happened while I was away is that the goat babies are finally weaned from their bottles! Now this really should have been done, oh, about 9 weeks ago, but Gracie is such a loudmouth and I’m such a softie, that every time I tried she would scream so loud I was afraid the neighbors would call the health department or something, and I would cave in. They were only getting 2 ounces in the morning and at bedtime, which was enough to keep them quiet. While I was away, Jim decided to take matters into his own hands and get it over with. Mostly I’m glad it’s over; one less farm chore in my daily routine. But, just as I was every time I stopped nursing my own babies, I’m a little bit sad too.

I raised Grace and Kiki as their mother from the time the babies were 23 hours old and I had to rush Cissy off to the vets, where she died two days later from Toxemia.

There were long days filled with many bottle feedings, and my summer plans were completely thrown awry.

In pondering what to do about my continuing dilemma of my 4 new hens not wanting to roost in the coop with the other hens at night, I came up with the idea of adding new roosts so they could feel like they had a place of their own. I’d been meaning to add new ones anyway, so this was the perfect excuse to finally force me to finally do it.

I walked over across the street to some wooded land and dragged out some fairly straight, sturdy branches. One branch had a great “fork” in it that I thought I could use nicely too.

Using my miter saw, I cut the branches at angles, always allowing extra length until I got the angle just right, then making the final length cuts. I pre-drilled the screw holes, and then used nice long screws to anchor them to the wall. You’d be surprised how much a bunch of chickens perching on a branch can weigh, so I knew the branches had to be strong and firmly anchored to the walls.



And so even though I still have to go and gather the new hens out of the old small coop every night, at least once they are in the new coop they are making good use of the roosts. Even some of the other hens are joining them now.



And every night I still have to gather up all of the adolescents that were forced outside by the 4 new hens and bring them back into their coop, once they are there they are delighted to enjoy some food and warmth without worrying about those 4 new ladies picking on them.

Right before I figured out that King Strut may be at the root of The Great Egg Mystery, in desperation to get my egg production back up I purchased 4 Red Star pullets from my local Agway. (I say local, but where I live the closest agricultural supply store is 30 miles away.)

Red Star hens are, I believe, a cross between a White Rock chicken and a Rhode Island Red chicken, both of whom are the gold standard in egg-laying capabilities in the chicken world. A “sex-link” chicken is one, which at the time of hatch, can be sexed by it’s color, as the female chicks are a completely different color than the male chicks. So, if you want only hens and no roosters, Red Star is a sex link and it will be easy to tell which is which.

Now most Agway stores offer “pullets” for sale. These are defined as “less than a year old”, but generally when  you get them from your Agway or other ag store they are around 20-24 weeks old. If they are not already laying eggs, they will be soon.

The one reason I do not like to get these pullets from a store and not raise them myself is that they always have their beaks clipped. This is standard operating procedure at any large poultry house, and I guess it is at whoever grows these birds for the ag stores as well. It was started back in the 1930’s as a preventative measure to combat cannibalism and feather pecking from birds that live in close confinement. I find not only does it look awful, but it’s just a barbaric thing to do to an animal. I have never had an issue with either of these things, but I realize I’m not a large factory-farming business. My hens live happy lives.

Well, that was a very long explanation to the start of this story.

I brought these 4 girls home about about 9 days ago. I kept them in my old small brooder coop for the first few days so my ladies could get used to them through the fencing. (You should always introduce a new bird or birds slowly to an established flock.) When I did introduce them to the flock, all of my older laying hens seemed completely nonplussed by them. In fact, for the most part, they chose to ignore them.


I guess, being the low girls on the totem pole, they decided to show my adolescents who’s boss. I noticed something was up the first night they were out with the flock and I went to lock up the farm. All of my adolescents, who normally sleep in my old coop, were outside sleeping on the porch, and the 4 new ladies were inside. Every time one of the adolescents tried to go inside they would get chased back out by of of these new hens.

Let’s just say if I were giving out report cards right now, theirs would all be marked “Doesn’t play well with others.”


So while all hums along pretty calmly during the day here on the farm, come sunset everything falls apart. Every single night I have to go out and, one by one, carry the new ladies into the new chicken coop. I don’t think they’ve exactly been welcomed into the coop by my established flock with open wings, but they’re just being given the cold shoulder — not being picked on.

Then I have to go and round up all of the adolescents and convince them that it’s now safe to go into their home for bed.


The goats think they’re all being ridiculous.


And for the record, since King Strut was delivered back to the Agway my egg count has gone up dramatically. Over the last 5 days I’m back to getting 15-20 eggs a day!

About a month ago I decided I needed to get a rooster. Even though my towns zoning rules prohibit a crowing rooster, I decided that I would get one and just hope for the best. My sister knows somebody that had their rooster’s vocal cords cut by their veterinarian with wonderful results.

Roosters serve a purpose in the flock. They protect the flock from predators, serving as a constant guard to danger and alerting the ladies if they need to take cover. I realized that this responsibility would be diminished if I actually did get his vocal cords cut, but I figured he could run around and frantically flap his wings and make guttural noises or something if I ever did cut his vocal cords.

Roosters also are more than happy to fertilize the eggs by having frequent sex with any and all of the hens. The only reason I was interested in this was for the occasional broody hen that I get. When a hen goes “broody”, her natural instincts are calling for her to hatch some of her eggs. She’ll lay a “clutch” of eggs, usually from an egg or two to as many as 8 or 10. She’ll even take (or steal — literally roll them out of one nesting box into hers) donations from other hens to add to her clutch.

I had one Japanese Bantam hen that tried to stuff over a dozen eggs under her. She was one determined girl. You can read all about Chow Mein and her enormous clutch of eggs here. She may have been my most favorite chicken ever. Well, her and Mrs. Pocket too.

The problem is, without a rooster to fertilize the eggs, they won’t hatch no matter how long the hens sit on them. It’s heartbreaking for me to see my girls lay a clutch of eggs, set on them, depriving themselves of food and water for days at a time, only to have their eggs turn out to be duds. What joy I would get from watching one of my proud new momma’s parading around her newly hatches chicks!

Plus, I was tired of hawks making daytime snatch-and-grabs and the occasional nocturnal predator attack by a fox or raccoon.

While at my local Agway for feed and hay about a month ago they had the most incredible variety of beautiful roosters. They had all been hand-raised by an old Italian guy in his basement, but 15 of his 30 chicks had turned out to be roosters, so he gave them to the Agway to sell. I hadn’t planned on getting a rooster that day, but this one was so beautiful I had to take him home.

For two days he was perfect. He integrated beautifully into the flock. He was not aggressive towards me, my kids, or his ladies. (Some roosters are downright abusive to their women, pecking them, and pulling out their back feathers). At night he would wait outside the door to the coop until every last girl was inside for the night before he would go in for the night. Everything was perfect.

Then he started crowing.

All the time.

Constantly.

I called my vet, who really has very little experience with farm animals. While he’d heard of the vocal cord cutting procedure, he was unwilling to perform it.

Then The Great Egg Mystery occurred. Where were all my eggs going? It was as if they were vanishing into thin air. Some days I would only collect as few as 3 eggs — from 27 laying hens!

That’s when I put the connection together that when King Strut arrived, my girls stopped laying. I think his constant crowing and the fear of being jumped on from behind had them all in a state.

So I finally decided between the crowing, (which was bound to end his stay any day anyway with a visit by the building or health department), and the disappearing eggs, he had to go.

I brought him back to the Agway. I hope they find him a really nice home. He was truly a lovely rooster.

Yesterday I collected 19 eggs. Today I was in New York most of the day, but Maia collected 18 eggs.

I was glad that my theory was correct.

Which just goes to prove a point. Even though you think a man is around to do a job and serve a purpose, a lot of the time they just make a lot of noise and make you uptight.

Adios King Strut.

Since getting rid of bedding from chicken coops and goat stalls can be an issue for an urban farmer, I thought I’d show you what I do. Now there are two rules I’m governed by here in my town: I am not supposed to create a noise or a smell nuisance with my animals. If I do either of those things the neighbors would have a right to either say something or report me to the health/building department. While I’ve had a neighbor call regularly within the first day or two of a rooster starting to crow, I have never had a complaint about causing a smell nuisance.

Last week India and I cleaned out the goat stalls down to the rubber mats. I don’t find that I have to clean the goat stalls very often, but probably more often in the winter when they spend more time indoors. In the winter though, using the “deep litter” method really does help to keep them warm. I find with goats though, who are such hay wasters, that this method just sort of comes naturally, as all the hay that they toss around just naturally becomes a thin layer of clean bedding.

Armed with my pitchfork, big snow shovel and wheelbarrow, between both stalls I think I hauled 4 big loads of old bedding out of there.

Now normally I have been putting this old bedding in a different area, but since it backs up to my neighbor’s house that just got put on the market to sell, I thought I’d be nice and start a new area. This time I chose the area surrounding the trampoline which doesn’t have any grass growing there. I dump the load out bit by bit as I move over the area and then spread it out with a rake into a somewhat even thick layer. Then I sit back and watch the chickens come running.





Now I’ll try to remember to take a photo of that area in a few weeks so you can see how the chickens have naturally broken down the hay, straw and bedding. It’s really amazing; like it’s been chopped up by a mulching machine or something. Over time it will just compost right into the ground.






Of course if you only have a few chickens and a very small coop, you can just put your old bedding in a trash bag and put it out with the rest of the garbage. But if you have a garden that you let your chickens free-range in during the off-season, you might consider using this method as it’s great fertilizer and compost for the garden beds.