Mr. and Mrs. Bocker Move into their New Home

Its done! We are awaiting some final trim pieces, but its a house!
In the spring we will install permanent lights and electricity, but for now, its safe and airy.

This is showing the long north side where we will stack firewood under the overhang.
the door is my particular favorite, found on side of road and works so well.
The windows were $5 each and matching tall, industrial quality one on the west
wall and one on the east wall.

I am so proud of my DH!!! He brought to life my sketches.

Here you can see through the window to the opposite window.

Rooms with a view. I love looking at the girls sitting in their house
gazing out the windows.

The bottoms of the windows open in.

The chicken door opens up and out and I can adjust the slope
to allow for shade or rain runoff.

The "plank" is not that great, but we will make another to fit the
bill better.

I think the whole cost of this chicken house was about $400
steel, wood, nails, screws. the nesting boxes were a gift
from our realtor friend, but they are worth about $200 or so?

Heres some of the family looking out the west window.

Now, there is about 10 inches of straw in here, and we add
another bale each Friday, and change the hay in the nest
boxes also, put in fresh sweet smelling hay for them to
fiddle fart with.

This is my first deep bedding experiment. It smells fine in the
house. Not at all like chickens! so far, so good.

Nice. Do you get snow where you are?

Our roosting rack. or roasting rack?

Easy to change out these long limbs. The girls love em!
I love watching them all up there snugged in for the night.

Dear Ginger from Au
We are *supposed* to get tons and tons. This is Michigan, home of the
footballers and sports and all that. Lumberjacks, great lake oil tankers,
thought of as being one of the most desolate, coldest, windiest, wildest
who the heck would wanta go there states in the union.

I think, since I have been here, since 1996, we haven't gotten more than
a 2 foot snowfall at any time. I do believe it is attributed to global warming
and the changing wind and climate patterns. Major crops here are
cherries, and blueberries, and of course, apples, which all require the
midwinter freezing dormancy. So far, this year there has been naught.
Not good.

If you have any problems with my english language words and what they
mean, please ask for clarification. I love finding out what local words mean
in various countries. Like, bangers. etc etc. I find the word "whilst" to be
much more appropriate than "while they are". : )

I read about the python. Gads.
And I get super freaked about snakes here,,,,little ones too. This summer
I had a run in with a rattlesnake. No bites, but my hand was about 1 inch
away from its head. God.

This is what I have to deal with in the egg department.

LOLOL

Inside looking out

Know what yall mean.
Here we say 'on ya m8'
That is 'Good on you mate. or well done.
The movie 'Crocodile Dundee' was filmed in this state QLD.
The Movie Finding Nemo was based on our 'Great Barrier Reef.'
No snow here, I can only dream about it. I was born in Denmark.

Inside chicken ramp.

The geese don't want to go inside this house,
they much prefer being outside with the Qwispy Qwackers .

This is what we have to deal with.
Stealing our crops and eating our vege patch.

In my previous life, I was married (quite unhappily thank you very much) to
a member of the Danish royalty. We had 5 children who are now grown
up and having kids of their own.

I did dressage and did all the shows and the circuits and ran in those
circles. We bought and sold many fine dressage horses. My dad had
7 Lippizaner stallions.

I have some appleskeaver recipes, and a recipe for the crepes that
are served on sunday mornings in the homes. My kids scream for them
now. HA!

My girls have tiaras that were bequeathed to them. they can wear
them to the supermarket I tell them. LOLOL.
My son Daniel doesn't have a tiara.

Regards!
sheri

Is that a Kangaroo? Can you put anything in their
pouches? Is this in your backyard? Does this
Kangaroo do tricks? does it deliver the mail?

I see heavy duty work boots on someones tootsies!
Ruh roh!!!! Scarey!!!!

I learned my lesson to wear better shoes from the
snake lesson.

Actually, if I could learn to levitate, that would be the
best answer to many things. I often have dreams
of flying or levitating, and its quite an efficient way
of doing chores, etc.

Some of Mr. and Mrs. Bockers offspring. this is what its all about!

They are pretty much grown up by now, and we hopefully will
get some more peeps next spring.

I have got to go, chickens to feed, a fire to start (for the house, its
getting cold in here, my pugs are shivering!)

Its been a great year for building the chicken house and sorting
out the birds and now we plan for next season!

Take care, all.
sheri

rofl!
thank you for the most spirited answer. Perfect!!

Regards,
sheri

Great house, WigglyPaw! If I ever get a little flock, it will be a chicken tractor for them, but yours gives me "eventual" ideas.

ginger, your wallaby sounds like a vicious raccoon!

brigidlily
You are right there,
They look so cute then Whammo.

great looking chicken house - and that picture window - they must love it!

WOW....that building is almost TOO good for chickens! Ought to last you a great long while.
Keith

that's a terrific chicken coop! Your girls truly have the life in that palace.

Do you keep lights on during the short days during the winter?
Tam

WigglyPaw,

we are supposed to get tons of snow too, here in NH, but there will be no White Christmas this year for us. GLobal warming indeed!

I was all worried about getting a heated dish for the gals and it hasn't gotten below 20 degrees yet this year! haha, oh well.

The kids are all nervous about how Santa is going to get to their houses. We don't have many years where there's no snow yet at this time of yer, however it is getting a lot more common lately.

I love the new house. Awesome!

Sheesh noone is getting snow. Just my gf Lindy in the west mountain area of denver and now they
are getting more tomorrow. when i visited, we went on a journey to aspen to go skiing. I don't ski
anymore after like losing my leg, which has been reattached 4 times. ick. anyhow, it started to
snow on the evening of the trip getting into aspen and oh boy was it snowey. we were in a
jeep wagoneer, I couldn't even find the road half the time. finally we made 8it there. I was
gagging from lack of air. I was constipated for the entire week we were there.

I heard my classical music men today, one of them karl shuztberb, when home to the upper U.P.
in Michigan,and he said, up there was no snow at all either. very very strange. we are down
50 inches so far for the month of december. that is not good. my horses are still on pasure,
as the ground hasn't given way yet. there are wood violets growing and moss is growing too.

Tell the kids when there isn't snow, santa puts tires on his sleigh, just like we do when we use
the sled on the snow. but we have cars and he doesn't, so the elves fix his sleigh so it can go go go.

I got that heated dish for the girls, but so far I don't think its been functioning. the pipe wrap
around the well head has been cycling on and off for well over a month now, I keep that much
warmer. All the horses have heated water buckets but nothing has frozen yet. Now we onoly
have January, feb march some of april to futz around with. I let my chicen girls out every
afternoon for bug detail and grass detail and fresh air. they all run over to the south side of the
barn where the manure piles are and start with that. its like a giant schmorsgabord for them.

the ducks have been eating the chicken feed I put out for them, they enjoy the extra calories
and easy feed, whereas my weeders continually graze on the grass. well, the food and water
is there every moring whether they eat it or not.

There is a lot of fresh air that comes into the house, and escapes along the roofline up and
out by where the new house connects to the new barn. the siding is good steel, matches our
house and barn. We put treated wood along the ground and slopped the goop on the upright
supports for the framing work.The girls love looking out the windows. They are utilizing the
nest boxes so perfectly, squashing their little fatso bodies in there and making like they
are making a nest and laying eggs. Its all very open and cozy and well thought out. I can
divide the inside into halfies, so when I get 25 meat birds this spring, I can keep em on the
east side of the house with their own window and own chicken door, but a much smaller
roaming area. I want them to eat all the calories they can get form our chicken foods and
then they are being butchered and sent to the happy finger amish family, i had my fill
of plucking them this year. i think for a $1 they will put the bird into a featherman and
turn the wheel and out come the pins and flights, everything. one clean chicken. I hear
you can do 40 at a time in the featherman.! I am excited! Look out roasters! cheap
lean fresh clean protein!
byeeee
yes, the house is names La Petite Trianon des Poulet.
sheri

I am like, ya know, so like...............JEALOUS.

Those chicks are to cute, I am following Brigidlily in that I am thinking of starting up and getting a tractor going. Y'all have inspired me ........keeping my fingers crossed.

WOW
Nice job on that

Bow bow bow
FLUMP< --------- sheri falling on the floor from bowing
thank you thank you
it was all my DH hard work, and my design.
Inside we are stacking up a bale of straw per week. it
will be super compost and weed cover.
sheri

Really looks fantastic. Inspirational!

Very nice coop! I want to build a new coop/green house this spring. Need more room/breeding pens for my different varieties...plus I want to get some old English Game Bantams in 07

I envy you...dressage and Lippizaners! I miss my horses SO MUCH! Bu-hu-huuuu :(

Where are your horses?????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Can I come to help with the new coop and GH?
My DH and I are kinda looking at the 4 seasons conservatory addition for the back of the
house, the curved roof one opening directly from the living room, but I would like it way
wider, and to have the kitchen, the living room, and the master bath open into it.

Zeppy! Thank you for your kind words! My chicks are spoiled, and just want to go outside
and not spend time in the coop. But, they come in to eat, drink their fresh heated water,
lay a few eggs in the hay filled nest boxes, peck at a few boredom busters I have thrown in
there, and just rest sitting up on the nest perches or "schmoozing" with their chicken friends.

Cottage Rose: You can come here for a horse fix ANY time you want. Since we have a
farm, we are ALWAYS here, except to run into Hastings, or Freeport or Lake O or
GR for some shopping. We go to Costco, and Sams in GR and also the Meijer there.
Hastings has the worst vegetables and highest prices in their Plumbs and Felpausch
and I won't even go to Sav A Lot. Freeport has TWO general stores (can you believe),
and a bar with good fried chicken wings super iced tea in the summer but smoke filled ugh ugh.

Lake O is a quick run with the Carls supermarket, but only for the most basic household
style foods and items imaginable.

We now have a Tractor Supply right here in Hastings though, and get good deals on all
the farm stuff we need. We still support our elevators both in Hastings, and in Freeport.

the inside of the chicken palace is so airy and fresh. There is no odour build up at all.
No drafts either, and cozy cozy cozy. My DH did a super job. He is an engineer and
tries to make everything work so well. : )))) I wish we could have insulated the roof
sections of the metal roofing, maybe with some money we will be able to by this
summer. I guess we could put in the styrofoam sheeting to alleviate the suns burning
down onto the metal and making it too hot in the house for the girls.
anyhow,
thats about it.
regards,
sheri

Sheri thanks so much for the kind invite but somehow visiting other peoples horses just makes me sad....although you are very close...and I should come over sometime this coming summer.
I'm only about 30 minutes north of GR via US 131.
I go shopping in GR all the time too.
Re. no horses...our middle son Benjamin and I are the only horse people in our family. When he went out of state to college he sold his horses. :o(
Then I had a 2 year illness and sold mine (plus all my chickens) because I did'nt want to burden my ~very~ non-horse-loving husband with caring for my horses and other critters...plus we were losing our riding trials to development etc. etc. etc. At this stage of life I'm better off (I guess) without horses to care for since Lee and I are empty nesters and don't want to be tied down with large livestock. Its really alot of work for me to do alone with my aging body....plus its hard enough to get somebody to come feed the chickens when we are gone. So....BIG, BIG hole in my heart forever because I was born loving horses and have a very deep love for them, but I'm forever blessed that I had them in my life.
Anyway...back to being sick...I got better and couldn't stand that empty barnyard so that is why I got some chickens again. I just had to have something out there poking around in the grass, plus I added Muscovy Ducks and Sebastopol Geese in 2005, and LOVE them!
Have you ever been to my website... you can see my birdies there. :o) http://www.freewebs.com/cottage_rose_birdsnblossoms/

those geese are just beautful!

And I just love haven't the chickens poking around the place?
Tam

tammy you are right. those geese are spetacular.
I went to the web site and i was so inspirid, i made my
own web site on freewebs,
its called wigglypaw,
not too much on it, but i try to add when I can.

in a catalog today, there were some fake frizzled chickens
for sale, 2 for $15. they are made with frizzy feathers. Hysterical!!!!

You shouldnt feel sad about visiting. other horses, mine need love and
cookies and apples and cakes and jelly sandwiches, someone to
brush them and love them more than I can. if you feel like giving one or
the other a "day of beauty", well, come on over. They would love it.

what am i going to do with 4 new roosters? ack.
sheri

LOL...Sheri we actually use to have an Arabian that liked pb & jelly sandwiches.
He was like a big puppy dog and the sweetest horse I have ever known.
Maybe we can get together one of these days.
I left you a message on your new websites guest book.

PS I have one pic of my Morgan mare on my puter.

My mom had a horse that loved tobaco. He'd snare the cigarettes out of the
pocket of one of the men at the place she boarded him (I think he let him do
this - it was many years ago & I was a child at the time). I never heard of a
horse eating pb & j sandwiches though. My cat eats the stringy stuff around my
bananas though.

Tam

A smokin stud!

Ok, I had 5 kids in school, all under like for instance 6 years old.
I would pack lunch boxes or just give them their pbj sandwich in
the morning, with a thermos of powdered mild (ugh) maybe a fruit
If i had it or a fruit roll up , or some cheap cookies.
once a month, I discovered that on the bottom of their back packs,
there would be a weeks worth of squished pbj sandwiches. I would
take them to Caddy, and OH MY GOD, he smacked his lips eating
them!!! Scarf them up so fast they smoked. LOLOL
He loved the kids cookies, we had a halter that had on it "Please
give me a cookie" . He died a few years ago from heaves and old
age. we put him down, it was amazingly hard for us and my vet to do.
my daughter drove out from ny with her boyfriend to see it through.
my husband was there and oh my was he sobbing. My girlfriend jan
where I kept Caddy held his halter and when he got the shot, he was
staggering around, it was sooooo scarey and then he fell down. he is
buried at that farm. i have never gone back to visit, i don't know where
it is, maybe I should get a rock and put it over him.

He was the most affectionate horse I ever had. He took all of my kids
into english equitation blue ribbons, this big huge 16.4 horse, all tucked
in and steady like a rock. he jumped, and did dressage too. you could
put 10 kids on him and he would drag 10 bales of hay with kids on the
bales out to the pastures. he ran with all the kids up and down the hills
when we went sledding, and you could dress him up in the most outrageous
clothes. he was accepting of any saddle, bit, contraption, rider, food,grooming
tool, medical procedure, shoeing, training, just an all around great loved
loved loved horse. i carry his picture in my wallet still.
I have two new horses now, Ollie is a young colt, half percher, and JOY JOY
is a huge 94" stem to stern Percheron who might be pregnant now with a
gorgous stallion percheron. I dont know, and the foal is probably due around
June. I guess i should have the doc out for a check, so if she isn't I can do
some more stuff to try to get her bred better. I have a doc now who specializes
in bringing older mares into a receptive state and then into a full term pregnancy.
we will see.

Your morgan mare has such KIND eyes. NIce neck! not upside down at all.
i love her big nose and little morgan ears. she could probably pick out hay flowers
from a stack of hay with those lips! LOL.

My cats run over when I feed the chickens and eat with the chickens. they think
they are chickens!
Meeowcluck
sher I just realized I dont have one pic of Caddy on the computer, as he was
basically before digital cameras and stuff like this. i will have to get one made.
good idea!!!!!!!!!! thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!

This message was edited Jan 28, 2007 2:33 AM

Ya all my horses were pre-digital camera days too. I just scanned a couple.
My mare was 21 years old in that photo. Here is one of her during her show days.
She came from a big show barn in Canada and was shown in western and halter classes.
She would set herself up in Morgan stretch show stance with a click of the lead even as an old lady.
She was awesome!

she looks so nice!
i sure do love those qh's!

Hows your geese handling this cold weather. finally, ours are going
into the chicken palace at night, with the ducks to bed down
cozy like for the night. They still like to wander around during
the day, and I can't say I don't blame them, what with the cackling
and buck buck bucking and cocadoodling inside, its enough to
make a person /goose take a drink! LOL

How should we prepare nest boxes for the geese and ducks
to encourage them to lay and brood? where should we put
these "nest boxes". If thats what they even need.

I love how my geese will fly around the farm about 6 inches from
the ground about one time a day, honking and fussing! what noise
makers they are! do you feed them anything else besides the
pellet food and water? ie any greens, and what kind?
do they eat cabbage leaves or stuff like that?

okey dokey! take care,
sheri

Sheri that is my Morgan mare as well in the 2nd photo, not a QH. ;o)

As for nesting I have box stalls for my geese pairs. I put a large mound of straw in the corner (I'll post a pic). Sebastopols love peace and serenity when nesting so the individual box stalls are ideal for what they like. Most birds like some privacy and don't like other birds tromping all over them while nesting.
With my Muscovies I have wooden boxes in ntheir shed that I put pine shaving or straw in.
What kind of waterfowl do you have?

My geese and ducks get 2 parts Purina grower pellets to 1 part whole oats.
I also give them apples and greens as well but not daily. More like a treat.
Waterfowl shouldn't be fed alot of corn...only a little during the cold months of winter since in can cause fertility problems.

Its been very cold here but its been worse in winters past. The birds are all fine and still go in their bathing pools and tubs but they tend to want to hang out inside more these days.

Oh I am sorry, she is a beautiful Morgan mare! They have little ears like QH!

We have fat Pekin ducks, I want to raise them for meat birds.
We also have Talouse geese, one gander and two geese. They are
nice and fat. for a little bit the gander was actually hissing at me and
getting tall. I had to get tall right back at him, now, in the winter he
has calmed down and is much more humble to be around. I don't bother
them, and I expect that in return.

My dH wants a few black runner ducks for sure this spring. do you
know any hatchery that can split orders? like, if we wanted 3 runners
and 5 more pekins, that would be ok with the hatchery?

here's to spring!
regards,
sher