video introduction: the chickens

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNZLZHJ7XMU?wmode=transparent]

These video clips are a little lengthy for chicken footage (1-2 mins each), but I wanted to capture our adorable new chicks on film. Before they were born, I covered a dog carrier in chicken wire and put the nesting box that two of our hens were sharing inside it and put the whole thing inside our chicken coop. I did this to protect the soon-to-be hatched chicks from the other chickens and from rats and so far it’s worked great. They and the hens are enjoying a happy little existence inside it for now. The hens still don’t want to leave and the chicks ride on their momma’s backs by day and sleep under their momma’s feathered bellies by night.

The day I took these videos, I brought the dog carrier outside so that the hens and chicks could get some solid fresh air and sunlight. The chicks are getting big enough that I figured I could safely move them around. The first video (above) is of the chicks and the second (below) is of the rest of our chickens in their run. Enjoy!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8tW3wml7vU?wmode=transparent]

order & chaos

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So I’d say our farm, like most, is a bit chaotic. Not in a stressful, busy kind of way, but in a we-have-a-lot-of-stuff kind of way. I think it’s pretty natural for farming spaces to become ‘collection’ spaces, but like anywhere, collection spaces can quickly become messy spaces. That’s why one of our farm goals is to sort, purge and organize (something this blogger loves).

We’ve been chipping away at tackling parts of the farm storage system that have been forgotten, discovering valuable tools and useful odds and ends in the process. I took a stab at tidying and reorganizing part of our barn last weekend (photo above) and while thinking about other areas to tackle, came to realize that we’ve actually made a pretty good dent with this stuff already. Bit by bit, on all fronts, this lovely little farm is becoming even lovlier. It’s almost been a year since we started and our progress is showing – yay!

So, to all the other neat-freaks out there like me, here’s to many more organizing parties & experiments in creative recycling!