In 1874 he took over the church in Davey Street, Hobart, Tasmania, but resigned in 1877 due to ill-health and bought a farm near Geeveston in the Huon district. He grew apples, which he began to ship to England, thus becoming a pioneer of the Tasmanian apple export industry. In August 1891, however, the Bank of Van Diemen's Land, with whom Bird held a mortgage, collapsed and he lost the farm, moving to a much smaller property at Lunawanna on Bruny Island.