In Minnesota it seems like all chicken houses/coops were the same..red buildings with lots of windows facing south.
Here is a coop from Far Guys Grandparents farm.
The machine shed on the left and the chicken coop on the right. The four people: I am sure that is Grandma on the right and most likely the three oldest boys with the photo being taken in about 1927 or 1928. Not sure why they traipsed out in the farmyard to get a photo…unless it was to capture the frost in the Pine trees.
The Pine forest in this photo has progressed to Aspen, Willows and Oaks now. There are a few Pine trees but nothing like the frosty stand in the photo.
I took this photo last winter. Times change. No more chickens in this coop.
Old farm buildings when no longer used age and fall in disrepair. I see it all over in our area. At one time farms were bustling with activities: full of animals and all the buildings used. Not so much anymore.
Years ago the wind blew for a day now and then. Nowadays it seems like the wind blows everyday. What happened? Far Guy and I decided that Minnesota has a new type of farmer who doesn’t believe in windbreaks, therefore when the wind howls across North Dakota it keeps right on a going into Minnesota…where more and more farms are falling into disrepair and being sold off and leveled by corporate farmers…at least in this part of Minnesota. Do you have active farms in your area?
We still have active farms in my area. But they are mostly dairy farms. When we drive out away from the metropolitan area we do see more farms in disrepair.
ReplyDeleteThere are active farms in my region, but I don't live near any of them, except across the street one of the neighbors has horses and chickens. And a rooster. :-)
ReplyDeleteYes... active farms but they don't grow row crops; most are small cow-calf beef cattle operations. A few dairies are still around but they are fast fading into history. This area used to be the "feeder pig capital of the world," but all of the hog operations vanished due to corporate farms. Similar thing happened to forests here says a friend who used to be a forest ranger on this district: used to be almost all pine forest, now only a few stands of pine remain and it has morphed into oak trees and other hard woords.
ReplyDeleteIf you really were up at 4:15 am writing this post, then we could have had some virtual coffee and a nice chat on the phone
ReplyDeleteMy area used to be quite rural, but more and more the farms are being sub-divided into "ranchettes." It's sad. Many windbreaks have been removed and very few trees planted in their place.
ReplyDeleteIn the 60s, my community had up to 20 dairy farms: today, there are none. The FFA programs are dying in the area schools.
In my area, "development" is synonymous with farm destruction (fueled primarily by the usual government search for Real Estate tax $$) - its really sad and short-sighted.
ReplyDeleteIllinois has lots of active farmers. The main crops are corn, wheat and soybeans.
ReplyDeleteWe do still have family farms, but fewer and fewer. This post makes me kind of sad.
ReplyDeleteOur family farms are being bought up by mega family corporations. A particular family I'm close to years ago decided to go big. and big they did, One child went to college earning a degree in Business Management, One went to tech for animal husbandry, one went to tech for deisel mechanics. About 20 years ago these siblings started buying up small neighboring farms. Now they hire 27 employees and milk round the clock. The way of the future, I guess? Too bad no one can go to the cooler or milk can and bring fresh milk in for supper!!!
ReplyDeleteWe have active farms in this area but they are not mixed farms. there's lots of dairy farming here. This land is very productive and the farms aren't thousands of acres. Where my brothers farm the farms are many thousands of acres. One nephew has 8000 acres. When he's finished it will definitely be a corporate farm.
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos but a shame about all the old farms not being used for their true propose anymore ! Here it is a mix of tech and farming for the modern farmers there are still lots of the old ways free range or as some people call it Organic farming to and of course we have lots of the Amish farms here as well !. Our Provence has a logo song on the commercials , Good things grow in Ontario ! Thanks for sharing ! Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving !
ReplyDeleteEvening, love the old farm pictures.....sad to see them gone. Thanksgiving wishes to you and yours, Francine,.
ReplyDeleteLots of farms around us. Dairy, chicken, pig, beef, berries, vegetables.
ReplyDeleteFunny, I've commented a few times lately that we don't get the wind like we used to. Since I'm a 'hang the laundry on the clothesline whenever possible' kind of gal, I'm aware of the wind, or more like the lack of it. When the kids were little and those cloth diapers had to be hung out, I was constantly deciding if the day was a good drying day or not. Nothing like a wind to make the diapers all fluffy and soft:)
Almost no dairy farms here any more. As you know, Louisiana grows sugar cane, soybeans, rice, corn - mostly for feed. There are a few 'small' farms, but not many.
ReplyDeleteThe chicken coop that housed his grandmother's chickens had to be torn down when we were here in '94 because it wasn't safe. Hubby has managed to finally clear down to the foundation and we're hoping to build a new one when the weather is better!
Oh. Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know what wind was until I moved to FargoMoorhead in 1999. The air is almost never still. I'm used to gust that shake the apartment building. Don't know what it used to be like, though.
ReplyDeleteHappy, happy Thanksgiving!! :):)
I really enjoy seeing chicken coops but they don't give me great memories. It was my job to gather eggs and my dad never cleaned out the floor of the chicken coop. I know that they have been really creatively built as you view the different styles of them. I like seeing the coops that were built with such great windows and saltbox shapes but they are being torn down rapidly for new housing developments.
ReplyDelete