Hey Farmers,
After a summer of prolonged and devoted farm stewardship (how thick can I pour it on?), the interns decided to go out with a bang. After suffering several early-summer chicken attacks, we gloomily realized that the chicken pen fencing needed an overhaul. In the spirit of making the farm chickens safe and happy, and securing the fence for current and future generations of chickens, we embarked on our last major summer project: coop re-fencing!
At the most compromised sections of fencing (where fencing was loose or where we'd observed predator tracks leading in and out of the pen), we bought thick, sturdy wire fencing, buried it a foot underground, and tethered it to the existing fence. For more stable areas of the fence, we used new chicken wire and buried about six inches.
The entire back half of the pen has been structurally reinforced with buried fencing.
The purpose of re-fencing was two-fold: firstly, to keep predators out, and secondly, to keep baby chicks in. It's our hope that in the near future, Miller Farm can breed its own chickens and let them freely run around the coop without fear of predator reprisals or prepubescent breakouts.
Most of the front of the pen has also been fortified. After the back fencing was reinforced, we took off old chicken wire patches and recycled it by burying it about three inches around the front. In all, we estimate that more than three-fourths of the entire fence have been reinforced with buried wire-fencing.
Meanwhile, the newest brood of chicks have grown up fast. Some of these teens are nearly as big as the older roosters. This is a Buff Orpington adolescent.
A Bard Rock (front) and Jersey Giants (back).
The little guys spend most of the day hiding away from the scorching sun in the high-rise weeds.
They've also taken to sleeping on the roosting hutch and the adolescent pen. Feather-footed bantham (left), a Japanese rooster (white, center), and Jersey Giants + Buff Orpingtons in the upper right. They look baby-cute, but they they're starting to act like fully-fledged chickens.
In all, the farm now has 42 chickens, 18 older and 24 younger (which includes both the very little ones plus the Polish and the stowaways Necrobutcher and King Diamond), and we have 15 older hens and 19 younger. The fall group might have to do some rooster cleaning, but otherwise the demographics look good. Come next year, Miller Farm will hopefully have enough eggs to sell them regularly.
That's all for now. We'll be planting fall crops and heading to the Saturday farmer's market soon, so stay tuned!
Luv,
Sean-bo
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