When we started out last May, we just wanted four hens. I had my brother, David, build a homemade coop to hold four hens. The magic number here is four. By June, I'm talking about one month later June, we had close to thirty hens and three roosters. That is not four. I keep asking myself, "How did this happen?" Well, the short answer is, you can't have just a few chickens. It's like an addiction or an affliction, depending on how you look at it.
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| Our first chicken coop, with veggie garden on top. |
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| The lovely thing about chickens is nothing goes to waste. |
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| Our blue heeler, Gypsy, loves the chickens too. (June, 2012) |
This year Becky wanted some Easter Eggers who lay pink, blue and green eggs and I wanted Silver Laced Wyandotte. So...........
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| Yeah, we know. They are roosters but we also have five hens. |
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| The original home of this hen suffered from overcrowding. Now she shares a yard with three other laced hens and a young rooster only. |
And then there are the "no telling what" that we got when brother Dave incubated eggs from our hens. So...........
As if that were not enough, I wanted Pygmy goats. So..........
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| Meet baby Lily, Blossom and Sweet Pea. |
Most of our chickens free range during the day now and we lock them in the barn at night with the goats. The goats seem puzzled by all the cackling in the barn when the hens are laying and the chickens really enjoy "goat watching" as does Gypsy and her 2- two year old pups.
I would like to say there is always peace and love here at Harmony Acres Farm in beautiful Oklahoma, but the truth is "sometimes stuff happens".
The older roosters don't have a proper appreciation for the younger roosters, the stray or untrained dogs running loose in the neighborhood make me crazy (I scream like a banshee at them) and chicken hawks flying overhead give me heart palpitations (I can almost see their amused looks as I flap my arms and yell shoo). That is just the stuff outside.
We have also taken in five house dogs and four inside cats over the years and least I forget, an outside cat that hangs out in my chair on the porch (sharing his fleas with me) waiting for me to bring him dry cat food (yes, he could hunt for his food but why bother when he has room service). His name is Harvey Gene after a dear family friend. They are both a pain in the rear but very special to us.
Living on a farm, even a small one, is lots of hard work. It is not for everyone but for me it is heaven. One can learn a lot by observing the animals. Things about the seasons, the weather, the unseen danger (snakes, I hate snakes) and living together in harmony.
Thank you for stopping by. Hope to see you again soon. The adventure continues.......
Good for the body is the work of the body, good for the soul the work of the
soul, and good for either the work of the other.
