Our Second Batch of Chickens

A few weeks ago, I went to our farm store to get dog food and found out while I was there that it was our last chance to get chicks this year. I went home and told my husband, and asked if he thought we should go back to get a few, since they had the breed I'd been wanting.  "Sure", he said, "get a few of the ones you want, and then get some other kinds too. Get a dozen." So we did.

(chicks in a bathtub, under a red warming lamp)

They grow SO fast! Today was nice and warm, so we locked the big chickens out of their run and let the little chicks run around for a while in it.

Just as we were getting ready to put them back into their crate, one met with a fatal accident when she darted underneath a descending foot, so we're down to eleven already. Life in the country can be tough!

Chicken Feathers

We lost a chicken.

No one saw it happen, so at first we weren't sure exactly what got it; we just knew that at 5:00 in the afternoon there were two big piles of feathers and only 12 chickens cowering in the chicken run.

Our German Shepherd tracked whatever-the-culprit-was until it crossed the creek, and we were impressed that he found three more piles of feathers along the way.  He had been with us in the garage while we worked that day, so we didn't blame him for not scaring off the predator, but we were very impressed with his previously undemonstrated skill of tracking on command!

The next afternoon around 3:00, I took a break from our garage work because a chicken was making a strange noise out behind the barn.  I walked out to where they were, and found ten chickens huddled together next to the barn, and the remaining two squawking noisily next to the elderberry tree halfway between the house and the creek.  I couldn't see anything wrong, so I walked past them toward the creek, and when I turned my head there was a big coyote just standing there by the creek looking at me.

Wait, did I say a big coyote?

I was wrong.

It was a REALLY big coyote.

So of course I did what any self-respecting country girl would do.

I shouted for Mike.

And threw a stick at it.

It ran away, and when Mike didn't come (because he couldn't hear me over his music), I shouted some more and threw a few more sticks for good measure.  Shouting at an invisible coyote while throwing sticks at said invisible coyote is extremely therapeutic.

The next morning, after many cups of coffee, Mike was upstairs in our bathroom when the dog started barking his special just-let-me-out-of-this-fence-and-I'll-tear-you-apart bark, and two of our girls (upstairs in their bedroom) starting screaming, "Coyote!  Daddy, there's a coyote!"

By the time Mike got to the window, the dog was trying to climb the fence, and the coyote had almost disappeared back into the tall grass along the creek.  There just happened to be an antique Russian sniper rifle loaded and sitting next to the bathroom window, and the screen from the window just happened to have been removed the day before, so Mike squeezed off two quick shots at the disappearing coyote.

He missed.

But that coyote hasn't been back (in the daylight hours) since.

The Chicken Whisperer...With A Side of Ham

The chickens love this girl! 

They run to her...

...and will follow her anywhere!

For the Love of Eggs: Part 5

The chicken coop, as it was, wasn't quite how we imagined a chicken coop should look.

So after some research Mike built some nest boxes, (which we call the Chicken Hotel),

and he added a few places for the chickens to roost.

This week, after all the time and money we've spent caring for the chickens, they finally started earning their keep!

On Monday, we found three eggs.

Tuesday, we got one more.

So far today, we've found two.

And all but one of them have been found on a shelf in the barn on a pile of plastic bags.

 Silly chickens.

(Glass eggs to plant in the nesting boxes have been added to my shopping list...)

For the Love of Eggs: Part 4

The chicken run is finished!  We got the chicken wire on, then Mike and Isaak went back and closed the seams with heavy duty wire.

 Then he built a door, and I filled in the trenches to bury the wire.

 Once everything was secure, we let the chickens out into the run,

 which resulted in happy kids and happy chickens!

For the Love of Eggs: Part 3

We started with fifteen chicks in a box...

in our guest room.

A week later, the fourteen that survived moved to the bathtub.

They quickly outgrew the bathtub too, so they've moved into the chicken coop a little ahead of schedule.

The chicken run is almost done; just a few more finishing touches left to add...like chicken wire!

For the Love of Eggs: Part 2

The Chicken Run

***

First we dug a trench a foot deep around the perimeter of the run.

And by "we", I mean Mike.

Then, while he worked on the trench, I dug the post holes.

12 of them.

Helpers were enlisted to get the first posts and boards into place,

while I kept working on post holes.

For the Love of Eggs: Part 1

Have I ever shown you the chicken coop that's on our property?

Well, here it is from the outside,

and this is the inside.

Exciting, isn't it?

Under the current management it has not seen much use, but that's about to change...