A Chicken Story

This is a picture of the entrance to a cozy little chicken coop. A nice little abode for our feathered friends.

This is the bounty they share with us. All winter, they laid all their bounty in one corner in the coop in a nice, accessible little pile.

They still lay them in a nice little pile...

They just...aren't so accessible.

And each time we find a pile, they pick a new spot. "Never in the same spot twice" or, "how many spots can we hide our eggs?" must be their motto.

It's become an Easter egg hunt. Every day. And they cheat. They use the woods.

The little stinkers.

Our newest arrivals

We had a busy day, leaving right after breakfast, picking up Eva, hitting up some garage sales (yay for garage sale season!), running a few errands, the library, groceries, and then, picking up 9 cute fluffy additions to our brood.

I intended to get a bunch of meat birds, but the local fleet was out for the time being. We came home with 2 bantams, 5 Rhode Island Reds, and 2 Black Australopes. All but the bantams will be hens, it's a toss up with those what they'll be (a.k.a straight run, meaning they weren't sexed).


The kids are loving them. They would sit and hold them all day if they didn't have to take "naps" and be left alone:)


Getting these chicks came at an opportune time. Last night our dog Sam "ran away" if you get my drift. He had been running/visiting the neighborhood all spring, and nothing we tried seemed to get through to him. Finally, the other day the kids and I went for a walk to a neighbors to check out their baby goats...Sam went nuts. From that and other reports we've gotten about his shenanigans, we had to make the decision to put him down because he was clearly a hazard to any small animals in the neighborhood. It just wasn't worth it. (Not to mention the ticket if the DNR caught him chasing deer) Fortunately the kids are so excited about the chicks, it's helped keep their minds off Sam being gone. They've talked some about him going to puppy heaven, and that "he must have went running in the woods and a reindeer got him." Not sure where the reindeer come in, but sure. They'll miss him, though.

Cackleberry Gone Soft

Hmm. What is wrong with this egg?

1) It has a tail.

2) There is no shell!!

One of the odder things we've seen with our chickens so far. From the little bit of Googeling I've done, sometimes a chicken will simply lay an egg without a shell. Often it is the first egg she lays, but it can happen at any time. "It just happens."
Very, very odd.

The welcoming committee...

at our house. It's hilarious. When I've come up the driveway the last few days all 16 ladies and the one dude in our bunch come running. Peep-cluck-adolescent rooster squawking away. Sorta like "you're home, you're home, we've missed you!" Then Elsa tries to give 'em lovin' right back...

It's good to feel appreciated...even if it's just by chickens!

Flowers, Chickens and Gardens

Last night I revived what was left of the flowers from the wedding by mixing them with lilacs.
They don't really have anything to do with this post, but aren't they pretty?

This weekend really kicked off summer around our house. My hubby actually put sawmill and other projects on the back burner and got some of our own work done on Saturday, then spent Sunday at our family cabin relaxing and fishing. (A rarity; sometimes I think that man doesn't know how to relax!)


Monday, I turned our chickens loose for the first time. What an adventure.


Did I ever show you our chicken aquarium? When the chicks outgrew the Rubbermaid tub they were living in, I rigged up this structure. (The actual coop is still a work in progress.) We acquired a pile of the old freezer doors from the local grocery store when they moved into their new location. We intend to construct a greenhouse out of them by next spring for growing seedlings in. Being freezer doors, they're well insulated and should do an awesome job.

Anyhow, their current job is being walls for a chicken room in our shed. Two sides of the room are doors, one end is plywood, and the other is a tub on end to create a more protected space. The great fun is that you can watch them from the outside, just like an aquarium. Although it drives the dog nuts, the kids love it!

So, back to yesterday. I opened the door and let the chickens out to roam. The kids were enthused, to say the least.


I finally had to get them to sit out of the way to keep from chasing the poor things right back where they came from.

It took them a while to quit peeking and actually come out and explore. I don't think they made it more than 20 feet from the shed all day. What brave little souls.

Oh, and speaking of that dog, Sam- I see some long days chained up in his future...at least until he decides the chickens don't look like lunch...

And then there was the garden. We're growing our own this summer, rather than going in on my in-law's down the road at the neighbors. It'll be close. Handy to run out to. We're excited about that. Prep started with plowing (this picture is actually at the hay field Eric's doing this summer... but it's the one picture of plowing I have. Ha.)

Then discing, raking, cleaning, measuring and marking rows.

And planting.

We borrowed the neighbor's seeder, and boy, is that thing slick. Up and down those 120 foot (yes, 120 foot. My husband is enthusiastic.) rows a few times and the start of it was planted. We've still got to do the mounded stuff; melons, that sort of thing. Thursday. I hope.

Gardens, chickens, beautiful days at the cabin. It's gonna be a good summer.