Sunday 7 April 2013

stills: around the garden











 
the week in stills.
this past 7 days has seen a bit of book reading and note taking followed by construction. the conversion of one of the sheds into a chicken house and the building of a chicken run/tractor. and i'm happy to say that it only cost under $50 all up. and that was for a new roll of chicken wire and a couple of bales of hay. for the rest of the materials we used what we already had. repurposing where necessary.
my hands are showing signs of all the work though: timber selection, hand sawing and chicken wire measuring & cutting.
& today we picked up the girls from a heritage poultry breeder just out of town. all the chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl and peacocks looked very happy in their old tennis court yard.
the 3 we selected are Wheaten Marans. a docile breed. tolerating heat and cold (the latter of which we're already getting a bit of here). lay dark, chocolate coloured eggs. and have cute little feathers on their feet.
they have their work set out for them: digging in the vegie garden, eating bugs, turning the soil ready for planting & fertilising as they go. i am so very happy to have chooks once again. since moving from the coast i have missed their antics so.    wishing you all a wonderful week ahead.
 
x


14 comments:

  1. I love chooks in a garden. I still remember the names of the ones we had in my childhood. Now that we have space for chooks, our dog is not good around anything that flutters or slithers! This morning we had a fox in the garden (near the back door!) reminding me of yet another pet stress I'd create for myself if we had chooks. Your girls should be happy in such a cosy hen house, and I wish them many happy laying days.

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  2. I love having chooks too I enjoy watching them move around the yard scratching away and chasing away our doggie too if she gets too close to them:) Your garden looks so beautiful and healthy Zara mine is sadly looking rather eaten and sad after all the aphids got to them. x

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  3. Oh Zara....how thrilling...I'm so envious.....I love chooks ...when David and I got married and rented a house together he gave his beautiful girls away

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  4. Awesome! I'd love to have chickens one day in my backyard! We had them growing up and I used to collect the eggs with mum - I so miss doing that! Great photos :)

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  5. I love using chickens in the garden! Your girls look very happy - I love the breeds with feathers on their feet!
    Your vegies look very happy & healthy too!

    Sarah xo

    PS Sorry for not getting back to you on the Cupcake Cook Off entry. I just stumbled upon your email in my Spam box this afternoon - will certainly be checking it more often from now on! <3

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  6. I keep putting off getting chickens. I think I just need to take the plunge! xo

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  7. Love your new additions! So great you could convert an existing shed too :-) Mel x

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  8. Our chicken coop is nearly done!
    We are going to adopt three ex-battery hens and I cannot wait for them to arrive.

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  9. Great post Zara...chooks are the best aren't they? Enjoy them. I noticed the old Yates guide on your bookshelf, I picked up a 1952 version for $2 recently which looks identical, they are timeless aren't they? You have a great week too.

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  10. Gorgeous chookies!! I bet they love that straw.

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  11. Your book shelf looks like a wonderful read, hope your new chookies settle well and give you lots of eggs.Veges are looking amazing, ours have rotted with all the rain, with little tomatoes on as well.So disappointing.

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  12. chickens! how exciting. i love spending time just watching ours, they are very amusing!

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  13. You have quite an impressive selection of gardening books there Zara.
    Your girls are beautiful..nice job on making their coop.
    I can't wait for the day when we have chooks rooming around our yard.

    x

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  14. I'm very excited for you and your new chicken adventure. These seem like a lovely heritage breed. How lucky you are to have a heritage breeder close by. Well done on the coop! So much for $50. I hope you feel proud of yourselves.

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I love receiving comments, so a big thank you from me to you. x