Farm Farm

Settling In

Oh, how I love this picture. Grace and Melina having an affectionate head butt.

Things have been humming along here on the farm this week. The animals have settled into their new fenced area nicely after the first few days of grumbling. I need to let them out for a little bit of free-ranging, but it’s been so nice not to have to worry about the babies wandering into the street for a change that I haven’t yet.

Grace, the part gazelle, can now be regularly seen on the roof of the old coop.


The goats have been enjoying their new ramp more than I could have imagined, and even fat, grumpy Melina is frequently spotted on it. I think I can actually see her coming out of her depression, and she has been very kind to Grace and Kiki lately, as you can see above.

A traffic pile-up on the ramp exit.

Interestingly, the chickens for the most part do not fly out of the fenced area and instead choose to stay within the confines of the fenced area. Maybe they feel safer from predators in there? There are a few that fly out for some free-ranging regularly though. The large white buff cochin that had been broody (on no eggs) in the goat’s pen has finally given up and returned to the flock. Perhaps her experience with having the chicks under her cured her broodiness?

The chicks are 2-1/2 weeks old now and are really getting some feathers now. They are doing great and it’s SO nice to have them in the old coop instead of in my basement where I’ve always had to keep them in the past.


I had these small windows I’d bought on eBay that I always intended on putting in the large dog house that the goats lived in last winter but never did. The old coop gets so hot during the day with the full sun beating down on it that I decided to put them in the old coop and see if I could get some cross-ventilation to keep the temperature down. It looks great, and the extra light will help with egg laying in the winter months by providing more light.

The framing of the silo is now complete and construction has come to a hault while we wait for the wire mesh that will enclose the walls of the silo and the metal roofing for all of the buildings to come in.

The silo framing is complete with the addition of the human entry door and roof.

I finally finished the signs I was working on for the houses. I found appropriate artwork on Etsy and mounted them on wooden plaque’s that I got at a craft store after I had stained them. Then I varnished them several times.


One of these days I’ll find a free moment to fill those screw holes with wood putty.

I had bought these tall chicken statues at Home Goods for, if you can believe it, $3.00 each. They were a little chipped up and had a few minor cracks, but for that price I couldn’t turn them down. I filled the cracks and repaired the chips (one large corner was actually missing), and then re-painted the areas to match the original paint. I had originally pictured them as newell posts for a railing, but since we didn’t have a railing in my plans, they will just stand guard on the corners of the goat house stoop to add a touch of whimsy.


and the formica countertop is in! I picked a dark red color that pretty closely matches the color that the board and batten siding will be painted. I think it looks great and will be easy to keep clean.


It has been so hot lately that I couldn’t bear the thought of sitting in the goat house to finish the staining on the cabinets. The heat finally broke today, but somehow I do’t think I’m going to get it done before I leave again for Wyoming on Sunday morning to pick India and Maia up from camp.

I’ll leave you with this picture of Grace and Kiki sound asleep on the ramp today. So sweet.

Comments

  1. Everything looks great ~ especially Grace and Kiki asleep on the ramp. Safe trip to WY!

    Hugs,
    Susan and Bentley

  2. I just noticed that my blog address was incorrect, but I fixed it.

    Susan

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