Sunday, August 29, 2010

The Finished Coop

My goodness, it's been ages since I've posted here on the 'ol chicken blog! The month of August has been busy, busy, busy....I'm not really sure what it's been busy with but I must have been doing something important to be this behind on everything in my life, including blogging! We did have a busy two weeks preparing for the wedding of a friend's daughter (more on that later, along with photos of my most handsome son, who was the ring bearer) and it seems that the work load has increased three-fold...then there's the picking of veggies that simply must be canned this week, the prepping of school work (AAHHHHH!!! I'm not ready for school yet!) for the kids, and keeping up with my never ending pile of craft projects. OK...I guess I get what I've been busy with...

That said, I'm really behind on posting photos of our babies, who are now just about full grown and should be starting to practice their art of egg laying in a few weeks. (One has already started to check out the egg box and sing her "I just laid an egg" song...seriously...they cluck a little song after they lay an egg...it's pretty funny...Google it...)

As you can see from the first picture, the coop is completely finished (with the exception of that pesky door still being unpainted...are you that type of person that throws themselves into a project 110% and then never finishes the last little bit...I am...I think my husband might be too...No wonder we never finish anything around here...Good grief, I can't even finish a sentence without interrupting myself!!) Now what was I saying?

Seriously folks, my hubby did an amazing job with the coop and I love the finished product. I think the girls are pretty happy as well! And I really like that the coop fits in so well with our existing barn. Even from the other side, it looks great, nothing trashy about it...Oh, I mean the deflated dirty pool, overgrown vegetable garden, bikes in the driveway, and chickens running around the yard looks trashy...but not that coop, it's like the Taj Mahal baby!
Here are the girls on their first night in the coop...notice how clean everything is? It doesn't stay that way...Chickens produce more poop then a herd of cows...I'm sure of it...And did you know that chickens are kind of like lemmings? Once they see one chicken do something, the rest just follow suit. Want to teach them to climb the ladder into their sleeping quarters...Just push one up the ladder and the others will follow. And then the smart ones like to teach the "simple" ones to do bad things like eat the veggies from my garden...when I'm not looking. I know they know what they're doing because all I have to do is step out onto the porch and say in a stern voice, "Chickie-Egg...what are you doing?" Up pops the head, out comes a big 'ol cluck, and she's outta there! She knows better!! Heck, these birds might be better trained than my kids!
The chickens have two areas in their coop, the run where they hang out and smoke cigarettes...Nooo...they're chickens after all. But they do hang out in the run, drink some water, wallow in the dirt, and stand close to the door, 16 little beady eyes staring at the house, willing us to come outside and let them out of their little jail. We have decided to let them free range (oh, that sounds so PC doesn't it) for most of the day. They do a great job of eating bugs (and my veggies, those scoundrels!) and wandering into the neighbors lawn and porch. The neighbors haven't yelled at us yet but I'm wondering how long it's going to take before they realize the poop they keep finding on their deck doesn't belong to the dog.
And the second area is where they roost, or sleep, during the night. Here's Brownie (always the first to turn in) getting settled down for the night. We think Brownie is the top chicken. She runs a tight ship and what she says goes. Once she waddles into the roost, the other little chickadees are never far behind. The other chickens try to force Brownie off of her end spot on the roost by putting down their little chicken heads and pushing her right off the edge. (The WWF have nothing on these birds) This goes on for a few minutes until she puts the smack down on them...then they all fall in line, say their prayers, and close their eyes like good little chickens.

We (I use the term "we" very loosely) are thrilled that the coop is finished! A lot of hard work went in to getting it done and I couldn't be more proud of my husband for doing so much research to figure out what needed to be done and how to do it...He can be a real go-getter, that hubby of mine...Think I'll keep him around for another few years...Goodness know someone has to get up early and gather all those eggs!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Snapshots from Everyday Life

Who needs a pool when you have a plastic storage bin and a hose?

Monday, August 2, 2010

Country Kids

All that's missing it a pitchfork....

One of Beanie's favorite activities, snuggling with a chicken in the big green chair.

And how about those boots? They were just gifted to us by some friends....they are the perfect farm boots and I can't wait to get myself a pair! Do you think I can get them in a 3" heel?

How about this look? Winter boots....on the wrong feet...with a stern, "nooooo, don't take my picture!" look...Perfect!