A Finish! (just not mine)

I'm taking credit, however, because my double-dog-dare is what started it all.

Our son got a chicken coop for his birthday back in May.  It's one of those prefab, easy to build coops that's ready for chickens in a day, or two.

Of course, the moment I saw his cute little coop, I wanted one for my own chickens, but Richard decided that he could build a better one, and much cheaper.  But that was back in May.  

Since then hungry raccoons have come for a few meals.  Also since then seven little bantams were hatched.  We've housed them in a coop that at least has kept the coons away.  They are getting too big for that small coop, so I mentioned our buying a pretty house like Rory's.  

Well, I got that same "build a better blah, blah, blah."  Without thinking, I spouted off (something I tend to do), "Sure, sure you can. And you will....not."

Of course, he threatened to start "tomorrow."  I didn't really believe him would.  But he did!  

He's been working on it for weeks.  It's a slow process when all you can do is cut the wood and put in screws.  He has to wait for someone to come hammer in the nails, because he suffers too much with his back to lift heavy wood or hammer any nails, especially those monsters he likes.  

Check out his resourcefulness...Rich recycled a handle that Adam removed from the carrying frame of a new door.

A porch.  Yes, he added a porch on the front of the coop.  That's so the chickens can sit and cackle in the afternoon.

There's a roosting ledge that goes all around the house. And, thinking that maybe he'd like to have a few pigeons, he added some nests from a previous pigeon-house above the roost.

My very favorite are these two old hinges. They are old and rusty and way too big for this little door, but they came from my daddy's old barn in Plaucheville.  

People have been stealing the cypress wood off the barn and these were left behind, so Rich brought them home thinking he'd find a use for them.  I love the creaky sound they make when the door opens and closes.   

Plus, because they are so rusted, the door simply stays put at any angle--less worry about it closing on a chick.

How about this?  He's just too funny.  He asked me for an old wooden spool to use for a handle on the door latch, but I didn't have one.  I did have a new plastic spool and an old bent bobbin.  So the put the bobbin in first then added the spool on top to make a perfect handle.

Nests...

and more nests.

and some really happy bantams.

Roost approved.

Not a bad life for a chicken!

Chickie, chickie!

I walked into the studio last weekend and discovered this wooden box near the front door.  Hmm, what could that be?

The peeping sound gave a hint, but I didn't expect to see these pretties.  It turns out that they are bantam chickens, which are small chickens that are generally very hardy.  Richard decided to add a few to our flock because they are good setters.  

Should we decide to put some eggs to setting, the bantams will gladly take over a nest and do the lazy work.  They are quite docile unless the biddies are threatened.  Yes, I'm afraid of mother hens, so I probably won't mess with these any time soon.

After Richard bought the bantams, Marley decided that she had to have some chickens, so Adam bought six.  Buying chickens means buying a flock so that they have a better chance of surviving.  He bought three whites and three reds so Marley could tell them apart.  She hasn't named them, yet, but she did agree to put the biddies in the box with the bantams. Her mom was grateful for that!

See the egg in the lower right corner?  Her poppa told her that the biddies left two eggs in the brooder just for her.  At four, she believes every word that comes out of his mouth, and having her name on the egg makes the thought even more true.  The magic!

What fun we had over the weekend.  Some of the other grandkids came for supper Saturday night and the poor chicks were inundated with love. 

 I am very certain that the biddies were happy to see a couple of vehicles drive away.

At 15, Dusti's goal is to fill Snapchat with "selfies."  She must have taken 50 photos with one biddy after another.  A selfie is taking pictures of oneself with a front-facing smartphone to post on social networking websites, usually while making strange, contorted (often ugly) faces.  

I got a shot of Dusti taking a selfie, and when I mentioned it, her mother noted that taking a picture of her almost must happen while she is taking a selfie.  Nh, uhn!  Not true!

Mostly we enjoyed having part of the crew over for a meal and some fun, even if the poor chickies are a little worse for wear. But, then again, feathers do grow back out.

Have a great week,
Mary

Little Peepers

I have no idea why, but I decided some time ago that I wanted a few chickens.  We live on a farm, right?  What kind of family farm doesn't have a few chickens?  Right, so there I was picking up a bunch of kids at the LSU Ag Center and 4-H Museum just a few miles down the road from our school and a lady there was selling baby chicks that were just so cute and fuzzy.  

Okay, I managed to resist the temptation, besides I didn't have any cash on me AND I didn't really have a place for outside babies.  Afterall, we do have cats.  Lots of outside cats who eat anything on legs--mice, bugs, lizards, small snakes, birds--they have a varied palate.  How long could a couple of baby chicks last?  So I put the cute fuzzy away, gathered up the kids, and loaded the bus.  About halfway back to school one of the kids tells me he got my favorite chick for me!  I almost ran the whole bus off the road.  One chick?  I was now saddled with one chick?  And he was so sweet about it.  I couldn't hurt his feelings.  

So one chick was coming home.  But then the 4-H sponsor noted that one chick probably wouldn't survive alone and so maybe he should just keep the chick.  Yeah, sure, that worked for two seconds, then our sweet boy decided that he'd give up one of his chicks so my chick would have company.  The one chick dilemma solved.  Well, what the heck!  Chickens were wanted and now we'd have some.  Of course, two chickens weren't what I was thinking, but our sweet boy solved that as well.  

The "ag boys" returned the next day and although I wasn't at school, I got another five chicks.  So, now we have seven.  But wait, there's more!  A couple of teachers also got baby chicks--it is Easter, after all.  Once they found out that I have some chicks and a now a place to house them, they asked if I'd adopt their chicks after Easter, you know, when their kids get tired of caring for the chicks.  

So, there are now seven and possibly more on the way.  Of course, if you have a family farm with a few chickens, it makes sense to have a few ducks and rabbits, too.  Why not?  We have a too big garden, a large pasture with horses no one rides, an occasional cow or two, and lots of room for small fuzzy darlings.  

What we don't have is a protected space for them.  The chicks are quite happy in their borrowed hutch, but that's because they are quite small.  In a few weeks they'll be much too big for the little cage they're in now.  That gives Richard only a couple of weeks to build a bigger birdcage!  We've decided on a large (cat-proof) pen with a hen house near the shed.  I'd like about 15 or so chickens, enough to give us eggs but not so many that they overwhelm us.  Of course, that's my plan.  Richard does everything just a little overwhelming, so we'll see how the plan goes.  In the meantime, I'll keep you posted on both the plan and the fuzzy peepers.