First Livestock on the Homestead
This episode captures how excited we were to bring home our very own chickens! We had been dreaming about this day for some time aboard Mirrool.
Whilst the last episode featured our puppy, this week it's all about our new chooks whom we've already spent countless hours admiring.
We hope you enjoy them too.
With gratitude
Troy and Pascale
Comments (30)
A pleasure to see Chook Hilton being resurrected ❤️
Resurrected but with vacancies. More chooks required!
as a farmer I allways was impressed by your sailing skills...now that you have changed professions I have to smile about your farming attemts. love it more than I thougt
There are some more bold attempts on the way with pigs and electric fencing!
Thank you for a great vid. Wasn’t aware of how industrious chooks (chickens) were with piles of green waste. Peaceful creatures to watch.
Nothing works harder than a happy chook! ( well, perhaps Pascy)
Mighty fine cattle you are punching there, pard! Sweet video of life on the (Free) Range!
We are looking forward to getting our sweet swine next week. Life might just get a little less peaceful
Love it guys, all 3 of you look so at home and happy there. Curious as to the day pack Troy was sporting while working on the 🐔 pen? Cheers 🍻
That is the long suffering backpack/ camelback that has been with us as long as mirrool. It stars in our Kimberley videos pretty heavily! Has water, knife and a few bits and pieces. No first aid kit and EPIRB now though 😉
Guys , you mention rats, in rural WA ras generally mean snakes which feed on them , We had relatives in Boyupbrook whom we visited once and as we strolled around his property he remarked on his chook pen as the "redoubt" saying he had trouble with the Native WA snake the Dugite who took most of his chicks. I note your aunt (the source of your chickens ) to have taken the same redoubt measure by using a finer wire about 1.5 metres highwas fastened to a galvanised tin circuit as you have already.
We do have Dugites here as well as Tiger snakes so we shall see of they cause headaches for us when they emerge in spring. We plan on having a mobile coop(s) and rear our chicks in a brooder after incubation. Stay tuned...
Great video! Really nice to see you guys getting so organized.
A change is as good as a holiday 😆
I love chickens! I'll never forget seeing this lady walk out her back door after getting home from work. From way back in her very long fenced in yard a full size adult red chicken heard her and immediately turned and broke into this Olympic level beeline sprint. That bird leapt into her arms and nestled in, they cooed to each other, and she swayed back and forth__love was going everywhere!!! ✍️))) 🐓
I had a friend with exactly the same bond with a duck. Very sweet.
Well now. We are well into my territory now! I only know a bit about chicken husbandry but I will have to agree with you about raccoons. They can be very destructive. All of our wild bird enclosures have to be well armored against the masked bandits. Tim
A big appetite combined with cunning is always going to cause trouble! We have held the local foxes at bay to date so that is something. The chickens have drawn the attention of a local hawk but she remains camera shy unfortunately, though the rooster always let's us know when a shot is available!
Great to have all that to work with, and well done restoring it! We've thought about chickens, and in spite of being in the city, it's feasible. I don't think a rooster would be welcomed by the neighbors, but perhaps the girls can get along without one. Have a few other things to work out first, but it would sure be great to have fresh eggs!
Yes a rooster can make for irate neighbours! I've often had hens with no rooster and they do alright. A small mobile pen is great for small lots- plenty of designs to choose from now. We will be making a mobile pen in the coming weeks.
Makes you look at chicken from a whole new perspective. Not from my plate. 😄 Love your stuff. It won’t be no time and you two will have that farm in great shape.
Don't worry, there is still a part of us that sees those chooks from the old perspective! 🍗🍗🍗
We've got 14 laying hens here in metro Detroit, Michigan, USA. They are a bit of a handful, lol — but we're drowning in eggs. Your new puppy is gonna be eating REALLY well, I reckon...
Yes, we have more chooks coming but we can swap eggs with our neighbours for favours as well as throw spoiling eggs to our soon to be arriving pigs 🐖
Great video. I'm in the process of buying about 24 layers. We've had chickens in the past, both for meat and eggs but due to attrition and having big projects we are out at the moment. We pretty much use a free range method. This morning I have to get our vet out to castrate our two pigs. One thing when you are farming one learns you are part of a system and that system includes wild animals that need to eat, diseases, weather that never seems to be consistent. The list is endless that provides lots of setbacks and great thrills if you are successful. Enjoying your adventure.
Yes Ed, we are going to get another dozen chooks and whip them up a mobile pen to follow where we tractor the pigs that are coming next week. Here's hoping the thrills outweigh the setbacks!
I have been informed that if they go off the lay, Rest an axe up against the side of the coop as that usually fixes the problem
Lol. They haven't been taking the other encouragement very seriously so it will have to be.
You guys are quick. We’re getting some soon too, will nourish our backyard soil in the process. So excited, the neighbors ducks are in our yard too. 🙏🏽
Ducks really make a farm. We will get some once the chook situation is in hand