Husbandry & care

How we keep the animals on this farm, written down so you don't have to learn it the hard way. This page grows as we learn more.

Chicken housing

Our chickens live in a fixed coop with an attached run, sized so every bird has room to roost without crowding. Roosts are wide and flat — chickens sleep on their feet, not gripping like parrots — and nest boxes are bedded deep and collected from daily. The run is covered against hawks and wired against everything with paws.

The chicken coop and attached run — The coop and run. Everything in it gets cleaned on a schedule, not when it starts to smell.

Rabbit housing

Rabbits are housed in individual wire hutches, raised off the ground, with resting boards in every cage. Each hutch has its own automatic water line — a rabbit without water in an Oklahoma summer is dead by afternoon, so the system is checked twice a day, every day. Kindling does get a nest box with fresh bedding a few days before they're due.

The rabbit hutches and chicken coop were built by hand by Logan. All plumbing was done by Logan as well. All wire rabbit cages come from KW Cages — the gold standard for rabbit cages. We also have a quarantine section for rabbits (not pictured).

Row of raised rabbit hutches — The hutch row — raised, roofed, and shaded.

Rabbit hutch with automatic watering line — Every hutch has its own nipple on the water line.

Automatic water fount for poultry — The water fount — clean water, always on.

Feeding & nutrition

[Feed program — base rations, supplements, treats, what we don't feed — to be added.]

Parasite & pest management

All poultry on the farm are treated for mites and internal parasites on a regular schedule — not just when we see a problem. Prevention costs less than treatment, and a bird with a heavy parasite load is already behind. Ask us about the specific protocol if you bring birds home.

General care philosophy

Small numbers, daily observation, clean water, dry bedding, and culling decisions made on the animal's quality of life first and everything else second. We would rather keep fewer animals well than more animals adequately. Anything we'd be embarrassed to show a visitor gets fixed before it gets photographed.