Happy Chickens!!

Hi All!! Sorry it's been a while since I posted, but there's been a lot going on (I went on a real vacation!). The important thing is that the COOP IS DONE AND THE CHICKENS ARE LIVING IN IT, AND NOT IN MY BASEMENT!  Wow, sorry I yelled but I'm just really psyched, especially about that last part. I think it is going to take a while for the smell of bird to clear out down there, but it's FINE. They are happy, and I am happy, and you will be happy looking through these pictures. The joy will cross the bounds of your screen into your mind. 

TA DAAAAA! Here's the long shot view. The chickens are all in the coop right now. They LOVE it in there. They stay in there most of the time, even when the weather is gorgeous and they could be outside eating bugs. Chickens enjoy the simple things in life. 

Here are the chickens in their coop with the access door open.  My girls were anxious to spend some quality time with their chickens. The chickens feel wary at best when it comes to my children and here is why...

The squashing. And toting around like feathered sacks of potatoes. Doesn't Sunshine look like she's enjoying herself? No? Moving on...

We took Sunshine and Rose out of the run for some snuggle time and Rose immediately wanted back in, desperately. Clucky is giving her the "hahaha you're out there and I'm in here" look. How rude. 

Then Birdsbun and Caterpillar joined in the taunting. Rose was not happy. But then...

Evelyn gave her some love which she accepted with good grace. Sunshine on the other hand refused to let Vivian love on her.

Run! Run for your life! There's a toddler chasing me! Oh the humanity! Er, the chickmanity? Things got pretty desperate. And then this happened...

That wily chicken climbed the coop and sat her fluffy self on the very top. Viv wasn't happy.

Poor Vivian. She just wants to squish you with her love, Sunshine!

Evelyn also tried to dislodge Sunshine from her lofty perch, but to no avail. She did manage to scare her enough that she poo pooed. I'm so glad I captured it in this photo. Aren't you? I think Sunshine wasn't so much scared as she was just doing what comes naturally. Chickens poop a lot. 

She's lording it over us. Haha silly humans! You can't reach me up here! I'm invincible!

Drats. 

A Man And His Coop

Hey Peeps! (Get it? Chicken blog? Peeps?) Nerd alert! Ok well moving on....here is the post I told you I was coming concerning the building of the coop. It is actually a "chicken tractor" which is basically a smaller coop with a small run and wheels on one end so you can move it around your yard, ensuring the chickens always have a fresh area to scratch and peck at while they are safely enclosed. Chickens have a lot of natural predators such as hawks, owls, raccoon, possum, weasels, and minks. I'm mostly concerned about the hawks. They're the ones that would dare to attack during broad daylight. Those feathered bullies! 

Here is a picture of my wonderfully indulgent husband spending his Saturday working on the chicken tractor I HAVE to have for my beauteous hens. He dragged my father in law into it as well. What can I say? They both love me....or they're afraid of my wrath. Either way, it's happening! I'm very excited. The garage has been temporarily turned into Coop Central. It's a three car garage. We have two cars. No cars can be parked in the garage currently. Hmmmm....I think we have too much stuff.  Moving on...

Look at all these tools! There's a drill thingy, and a bar of some kind, and other miscellaneous, unrecognizable thingies! And look at this!...

Wood! Tools and Wood. Fascinating. 

Here she blows!! Erm...I mean here's the A-frame tractor in its early stages. What you see here is the coop part. It has a hinged door on the side for easy access to clean (chickens poop an awful lot I've discovered) and a smaller door on the back to retrieve eggs from the two nesting boxes. Gah! Egg collecting! Fun! There will also be a window so they can see the stars at night. Do chickens enjoy star gazing? I'm going with yes. The bar secured diagonally across the coop is the roosting pole. Chickens gotta roost, man. 

Here are Phil and Bob working together to attach the small door that will lead from the cozy coop into the enclosed run. Doesn't Phil look dreamy with safety glasses on? No? Moving on...

Vivian was working hard trying not to trip over all the tools and cords everywhere and

 needed a flavor ice break. She seems to need a flavor ice break when she does just about anything, come to think of it. Toddlers are sneaky like that. And I'm a sucker for those big brown eyes. 

Here's Bob doing what he does best during planned gatherings that involve physical labor: Supervising. Looking good B-O-B! 

Here is the nesting boxes. The view is such that one would have upon lifting the little hinged door that will be in place upon completion of the tractor. You really only need one nesting box per five hens, and we have five hens, but I opted for two boxes because I want my hens to live in luxury. When the tractor is done I'll fill up the boxes with cozy warm straw and then they can lay away! Well, they will when they are about five months old, so around August. Wee!

And later Vivian carried poor docile Sunshine around the backyard some more. Look how big that chicken's feet are! She's only five weeks old. I think she's going to be our biggest hen. She's kinda my favorite. Don't tell the other girls! Playing chicken favorites. For shame. 

Here she is giving Caterpillar some love. Nothing like a full on chicken face snuggle. Boy, posting this picture comes at a very good time for me. I've got a Harry Potter movie on and it's the part when (spoiler alert!) Dunbledore gets it. *tear* I think I need to go face snuggle a chicken. Until next time here's your chicken fun fact of the day:
Chickens experience REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. (I wonder what they dream about?)

So we got some chicks...

Hello! Greetings from Musgrave Farms! Er, well, not a farm exactly but a rather large yard. I've embarked on an adventure in chicken ownership and thought I would share with you all! Fun, right? No? Well give me a chance at least! Gosh! So on April 3, 2013 we picked up these five wee baby chicks from our local (45 minutes away) Farm & Fleet store. 

Aren't they adorable? Five baby girls. One Rhode Island Red (Rose), one White Rock (Sunshine), and three Black Australorpes (Caterpillar, Birdsbun, and Clucky). 

Here is my two year old daughter, Vivian, holding the chick that will later be known as Birdsbun. Vivian has not quite figured out at this point that the chicks won't hurt her and are in fact completely defenseless. When she finally does figure it out she starts squeezing them Lenny style and trying to give them rides in her toy Diego dune buggy of death. 

Oop! Look at that cute fluffy bird tush! The main reason we got these darlings is so that we could have our own home grown supply of organic eggs. So there won't be a post down the line about how we ate them (the chickens). They are our pets as much as our dog Mona is. I got a late start on this blog so I am catching you up with this post.