Our vacation was wonderful but now it’s time to get back to our Modern Homestead, Traveling the past month, taking roads unfamiliar through all kinds of weather, seeing sights we’ve never witnessed has been pure joy. It was fun to hit the road and just celebrate all that we’ve been through the past several years and appreciating the lessons learned along the way. The ups and downs, twists and turns have all brought us to this space of gratitude and rejuvenation. We are warriors at heart! Our plan for the trip was to have no plans which felt amazing. After 23 days of filling our souls ,we are happy to be back home and begin our busiest year thus far.
Rats, Ants, Heat and Chickens! It’s never easy to return home when you are running a modern homestead with a backyard farm. It’s always good to be home but there is invariably something that needs immediate attention making down time is rare. Besides having a heating system that blew during the recent cold snap along the Willamette Valley, we also have ants and rats. Ants are a battle we haven’t had to tackle in a very long time. Ants, rats and no heat is a frustrating combination as we add that to our list of “Drink your coffee and get movin’ cuz time’s a-wastin’” list.
The heating, cooling systems are 26 years old so it was just a matter of time before they decided they were no longer going to work. The cooling system gave up two years ago. We got back up window air conditioners and just waited for the heater to follow suit. Not waiting for the water heater to go as that is next as it’s just as old. Mike has a company that he really likes, who did an air conditioning repair prior to the thing going ‘kaput’ so he is contacting them today to get the project on the calendar. Soon we will have a new heating/cooling system, new air ducts and a tankless water heater. YAY! Remember I said we are a MODERN homestead so Outhouses are a definite NO. We are grateful for the luxuries we have.
There are frustrations with a backyard farm, owning animals and having a massive garden. A big challenge is rodent control. We have two stubborn guests, probably more, that seem to want to help themselves to anything plastic or whatever they deem yummy. The two ring leaders have been named Bonnie ‘Park it at the food trough’ and Clyde ‘Burrow’ as he was the first one out of the hole in the ground. Sheriff Chadburn caught one of the outlaws in a trap as it tried to eat some vittles in a snap trap. According to our house sitters, that was Clyde. Bye bye Clyde.
With project “Rat Extermination” underway, we over lap that with the expansion of the chicken aviary by adding a new play area. We have a 5 year old Rhode Island Red hen named Turtle who lost her two sisters over the last two years. We looked locally for pullets to add to the flock and give her some company, but there just weren’t any to be had. FYI: Pullets are female laying hens that are at least 15 weeks old. We found a company, B & D Farms in Montana that only sell Heritage Pullets. They are family owned and run with customer service that is outstanding. Speaking with Maria was like having a conversation with my Mom. She’s not only nice and respectful, she really wants to make sure to answer all your questions, she wants to make sure that you get the ladies you want. Love their policies about Roosters too. They guarantee that your chickens will be ladies - 99.9%.
If you are at all interested in getting any, here is their website: https://www.heritagepullets.com
This link if for your information purposes only. They are NOT an affiliate and we do not reap any rewards for sharing this information. It does not benefit us in anyway. We just found a great place to get our chickens with good energy.
We will have a total of 8 in our flock when the ladies arrive the 16th. We will have a total of 4 Rhode Island Reds and 4 Buff Orpingtons, so getting the play area up, predator proofed underneath and all around is a top priority. The building materials arrive today with construction beginning tomorrow. The new structure will be attached to the aviary, access from inside for both he chickens and humans (to clean.) We will be adding 32 square feet to what we already have and rat proofing it of the utmost importance. There is a coop inside the aviary that has enough nesting boxes to accommodate the new flock so that is a WHEW! The ladies are going to LOVE it! I can’t wait to create some fun platforms and sitting areas from our apple branches. I’m hoping that this flock are good egg layers and not freeloaders like the last bunch. We do have a list of names for the new babies so stay tuned!
Just for your information we got the building materials and structure: https://www.mypetchicken.com This is where we got the original McCluckerson Sisters and our coop shaped and colored like a little barn. Customer service is excellent as are their policies. The aviary we use is a gigantic dog cage
Took a break from writing this blog for a brief moment and the building materials for the expansion arrived. Mike was out working the aviary and coop so I schlepped those two huge boxes from the front of the garage into the open front door where Mike met me and dragged them into the house. Grateful that he met me as I was wondering how I was going to get the in the house! Mike will finish rewiring the current coop and surrounding area, then begin to build the new chicken play space. While he does that, I need to touch up the little barn shaped coop with paint. It will probably be another couple weeks before that happens but man, it needs it and so do the matching flower boxes near it.
Stay tuned for more about the extension and all the other happenings in the next two weeks. Literally our work is never done and we’re okay with that. Improving that inside of the house as well as the backyard farm/garden and all that entails is what we signed up for. Good weather or not so great weather, it all has to be done and we are excited for what lies ahead! Our freeze dryer is on the way, our bees will be here by the beginning of May and so many other exciting things happening at the homestead to be shared.
NOTE: We do not have an affiliates or benefits with the links we share. We are strictly sharing what we’ve researched, where we got what we got and why we chose what and who we chose. Do your own thing. We are always happy to hear your recommendations or how you’ve handled any situation you’ve been in that’s similar to ours.
As per usual, ask questions if you have them! Leave a comment or a like below. Again, Not necessary, just fun!