Meat Birds Are Moved into the Chicken "Tractor"

My dad and nephew came over today to move the Cornish X chickens from the brooder into the Joel Salatin inspired "chicken tractor".  I made the tractor, which I think of more as a mobile pen, over the past several days.

 

Now it's time to work on turning the two old corn cribs into a coop for the guineas, ducks, geeses, turkeys and laying chickens.

In other news, I got a new (to me anyway) farm truck!

George and Calvin Visit the Chicks (and Other Baby Birds)

My sister Heather shot some video of my nephews checking out the chicks.

Keets!

Replacing rotted rim joist/sill plate in farmhouse

When I started to frame the fireplace opening in the floor I found some fairly significant rot.

I built a series of temporary walls inside the house to support the weight that would normally rest on the sill and today started demolition. I’ll pour a concrete cap on the old foundation and put new floor joists on top of that cap. Then take out the temporary walls.

(Click on any picture to make it bigger.)

I did the west wall, roughly 30 ft long, today. Tomorrow I'll start on the north and south walls, at 20 ft each. A total of 70 ft.

I've worked on a number of old houses and never seen the masonry piled up in between the joists like it is here. That accounts for part of the rot; all that masonry wicking moisture right next to wood.  On the other hand the building has lasted for 100 years. 

Oats and Clover Are Up

The Badger oats as well as the red clover we planted on 4/23 on the 13th Street acreage are up.

Dead Trees = Firewood

One dead ash tree - 50' tall

 

 

Becomes firewood

 

About 1.5 cords, stacked.

6 am Mailcall

For the second day in a row I got an early call from the post office.

McMurray Hatchery's "Homesteader's Delight" showed up.

The chicks I thought were baby turkeys (aka poults) are in fact turkeys - Spanish Black

Though I never would have guessed that these little critters -

grow up to look like this -