Scavenging. Also: Something off my TO DO list.

Something that's been on my plate for a while now!! It's FINISHED!! More photos HERE!
I love it when I can mark things off the list. Felt like it had been FOREVER since I had been creative.
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Chicken Update

The girls are doing GREAT!! They are so fun to sit and watch...
It's mesmerizing really...
They love their food...

I can't wait until they are old enough to chirrrrrrrrrp in their Hen voices... I bet there's a name for that sound...
Hash CANNOT stop obsessing over them...

I found this LOVELY ditch next to the back side of the hen house where he tried to dig under...

At least I have proof that the hen house is pretty sturdy...
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Peace in the Coop

There is peace in the coop...

MaryJane and Crystal went back to Maggie's house... I just didn't feel right keeping them cooped up until the little girls were big enough to fend for themselves. I'm also really thankful that Maggie isn't the kind of farmgirl to mind taking back. :)
So it was back to Holly's for two more of her chicks... which I did yesterday.

The boys insisted that they had cooler names for the two girls from Holly we got first... so now, we have
ZEBRA, and MARSHMALLOW. (crossing my fingers and toes that Zebra doesn't turn out to be a boy...)

But I get to keep the cool names we thought of with the NEW new girls...
EGGstacy:

and P.C.Peep:

The NEW new girls are settling in just fine, and Zebra is making sure that even though she stands out, the other girls know she's not the underdog. Bossy little thing. :) But not so bossy she might kill anyone. So there's peace in the coop... and hope that we have all girls... which only time will tell. Here's to EGGS in our future...
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It's really HELLO...

It's strange when the youngest kid in a family leaves one stage and starts another... I don't normally notice much about it until we get to the part where I realize I'm saying goodbye or doing something for the last time...
Last night, I said goodbye to five. We won't have five in our house again... Three times we've had five... and this was the last...

Isn't five CUTE... and PRECIOUS?

He woke up pretty cute and precious too...

Only now he's SIX.
"...but I'm still my five SIZE," he says.
So... HELLO six. It's going to be a good year. I can tell already!! :)
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Offically the WORST daughter EVER.

I called my mom this morning.
Called her to talk about CHICKENS...
We had a really nice little chat.
She even sent me this picture of her grampa and her with his CHICKENS.

The thing that NEVER came up?
HER FREAKING BIRTHDAY!!!
It's today.
I know this.
Macs' being her birthday present by just 4 hours 6 years ago.
WHAT KIND OF A DAUGHTER AM I!?!?
Officially?
The WORST daughter EVER.
I love you mom!! Happy Double Nickle Day!! (click on that link to visit my mom's blog and lave a birthday wish if you would like!) I'm buying breakfast tomorrow. It's the least I can do as the worst daughter you have.
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Introducing the new chickens

We went and got the new girls last night!! They have NAMES. The black and white one is a Barred Rock. Her name is Eggstacy.
The orange one is an Orpingtion cross. Her name is P.C.Peep. :) heh heh They are so SWEET. Still a little nervous, but sweet. :)

We put them into the hen house to roost, but this morning, when we put them all out together...
Crystal and MaryJane did NOT like the new girls, and the new girls are about HALF their size, so picking on them is SUPER easy. Something had to be done.
SO.
I did what any computer savvy farm girl would do, and GOOGLED.
We had already done the night time thing... no go.
Tonight, I'll try and feed them some treats together...
Until then, the big girls are in a pen inside the pen. Not sure how they like THEM apples... lol

Tomorrow, it will be the little girl's turn to stay in the little pen. We'll keep switching until there is peace in the coop... which.
May be a while... because from the sounds of it, the little girls will be better off once they are bigger. Bigger will take time.

Thought I'd share my Anti Roost system for the area over the food bowl... I had Travis put in a Roosting Bar down the length of the coop for daytime roosting if anyone had the urge... and because of our space, needed to be sure that they couldn't roost (and then poop) over the food bowls. SO
I wrapped wire from the roof of the coop and around the bar, so that they can't get to that spot! It's working really well, and so far, no poop from a roosting pullet!!

ETA!!
Katy from TheCityChicken emailed me to talk about my tractor, and asked to share it on HER SITE!! Thanks so much, Katy!! I'm honored to be Hen House of the MONTH!!
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Chicken Lessons

It's only been a few days... but I'm already learning a few things!! The first couple nights we had the girls, I had to climb into the pen to catch them and put them in the hen house at night! lol That was FUN.
BUT after just a couple days, they were THERE one night when I went out, and they haven't needed catching since!! I love it. They REALLY do come home to roost.
Some things I've learned on this adventure so far:
Although I know that other Chicken Farmers do it, MY chickens didn't take to using a rabbit water bottle at ALL. So we changed.

When "they" say hen houses need ventilation, they MEAN it.
When you are making ventilation with a drill, that means a LOT of holes.

You don't NEED a nest for every hen. They will share. Two nests will work just fine for four hens.

Speaking of FOUR...
I should be finishing off the flock this week!! Another friend of mine has pullets that I can come and take! I can't wait to have them ALL!!
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Uncle Jerry

Three years ago, I signed up to be part of Project 2996. I just realized today, that the tributes have been happening fresh every year, but I have only taken part in it the first year that it happened. There is a little more about Jerry to be found now... more family that have used the internet to remember him... Next year, in addition to remembering Jerry, I will be taking on a new name. I will write their name on our flag.

Here is my original post about Jerry DeVito that I wrote three years ago. Please take a moment to remember Jerry with me.

Jerry DeVito. He was 67. That's what THE LIST says. It says that he was 67 and that he was a Driver. That's it. A name, and an age, and what he did. I looked. I looked. I looked so HARD....
I
couldn't find
A N Y T H I N G.
(ETA: I found new information this year that says Jerry was actually 66.)
Is that what 9~11 has become?
THE LIST
It has over 2996 names on it. Name after name, after name.They are all there, in neat little letters. All tidy. So precise.
But I
REMEMBER
m o r e......
heart wrenching red eyed puffy faced snotty nosed dripping chin
M
O
R
E
Jerry. He was 67. He was a Father. He was an Uncle. He was a Friend. He was a Husband. He was a Son. He was There. He was alive.
was.
Now, he's part of it.
Part of
THE LIST.
I want him to be
MORE.
Because he's been lost in all those letters, and ages, and places, and jobs. Lost in that horrible cloud of grey suffocation. Lost in the roar of plane engines. Lost even in the flags that flew for months after.
I did find a few things about Jerry.
Things written over three years ago by people who knew him. loved him.
miss
HIM.
I don't know why there wasn't
MORE.
Maybe those people don't need to rethink and revisit that day. I don't think that I would want to if I were them. I don't think that they have forgotten. I don't think that their pain has lessened. I know that for them,
Jerry IS more.
(ETA: This is evident in words written 7 years ago by Jerry's Nephew) "Uncle Jerry: For never passing judgement on others; for always being there; for your love, friendship and smile I am forever grateful. You are loved and missed very much!" ~Albert Carrozza, nephew)
He was always making others laugh.
He was always taking care of friends.
He was a Baseball fan.
He was giving.
He brought donuts EVERY TUESDAY.
He was a hard worker.
He loved life.
He cherished.
He savored.
He told really good stories.
He worked in Hollywood once upon a time, and owned a cigar store once.
Everyone came to his retirement party even though he really never did REALLY retire.

I know Jerry. I had Grampas like him. Always there with a smile, a laugh.
Hardworking, and full of integrity.
You know Jerry.
He's the man next door. The guy who you can count on to follow through.
I know that you have heard it before.
Live everyday like it is your last.
I didn't know Jerry,
but I can tell you that from what I was able to learn about him,
I am pretty sure he did.
I have lived by this rule for quite some time now.
I think though, that I will be adding Donut tuesday to my list. It's not much, but it's a sweet way to remember. To keep Jerry from being swallowed up.
by
THE LIST.
It's easy to say that you will remember, but it's easy to let the names and the ages and the places and the planes and the news and the interviews push the
i n d i v i d u a l
back into
THE LIST.
To the Friends, and Family, and Nieces, and Nephews, and Daughter, and Son, and Grandchildren, and Wife, and Co-Workers..... I have not forgotten.
I have flown the flag since that day. It never comes down. I have added Jerry's name to the edge of that flag. And we have Donut Tuesday at our house now. The second Tuesday of every month. May his memory bring you smiles and good thoughts.
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Clucky Clucky Chickens!!

Officially, teenage chickens are called Pullets. So today, I'm officially a Pullet Farmer. I can't wait until the girls are at ease around us, and come to us for attention!
Maggie says that she thinks my tractor will be able to hold off BEARS. lol I hope we don't find out! Officially, I'm DONE with the tractor!!
First things first.
THE GIRLS!!

View of the entire chicken tractor! You can click on any photo to view it larger.
Notice the stealthy hunter cat in the grass...

Here's the inside of the coop. There's a roost (a bar for the chickens to perch on) stretching down the back side of the run. Travis added that AFTER this picture, so it's not IN this picture. :)

Here's the Horizontal Storage Shed Turned Hen House. There are handles on either end of the tractor, attached to the 2X4's so that I can move the tractor around the yard.

The Hen House has a lid AND two doors, so I have two ways to access the inside. I can just open the door to check the nesting boxes.

Here's an inside view of the hen house. I used 4.5 gallon buckets for nesting boxes!! I think they'll work really well. The girls were both in ONE box today!! lol

Crystal has more brown on her than Mary Jane, and seems to be the more active of the two. I can't wait to see what they look like as big girls!!

Maggie left some eggs from the mommas she things may be responsible for the girls. That way, I could see what our eggs might look like. I think they are BEAUTIFUL. Can't wait to see which ones the girls will lay!! (These eggs are NOT from the girls. We still have a few months before they are old enough for that.)

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Guerilla Goodness

Labor Day night, my friend Joanne, her daughter, and their new exchange student came over to help me commit Guerrilla Goodness!! Here are the photos I promised!!
Leaving to go out and sidewalk chalk!

Josh and Me

Macs and Me

FRESH


Some other Shenanigans.

Caught!

he NEXT day, I went to Joanne's town, where school was starting a day later... At my house, Joanne's daughter had mentioned putting war chalk on our faces... so the next night, we did...


ETA:
We don't know what the reactions were... since our boys didn't go to school the next day!! I haven't heard from Joanne!! lol
If you're just tuning in, and wondering what the HECK Guerrilla Goodness is, GO HERE!
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Killing me

My hands are KILLING me.
:)
Turns out, chicken wire and hardware cloth are tougher than my skin.
Also.
Man tools aren't Girl Hand friendly.
BUT.
I'm getting CHICKENS!!
I've been wanting chickens for a long time now, and haven't ever taken it anywhere.
Until NOW.
I recently mentioned that I thought I might take the leap to a gal I work with, and she HAPPENED to have two teenage chicken girls!! She has a larger flock, and a rooster, so she allowed one of her hens to hatch babies!! They'll be perfect for taming down to be great pets AND they should be layers by SPRING!!
SO
I have been looking at CHICKEN TRACTORS on line, and reading up on what I'll need...
Then I found a HORIZONTAL SHED... Actually, THIS exact style horizontal shed.

Which just happens to be the right size, a nice weight, and have GREAT access doors for checking nests. I tried REALLY hard not to need the hubs... using 4.5 gallon buckets for nesting boxes... a pre built plastic shed. Still, I ended up needing his extra set of hands, and he's been a really great sport about helping me. We finished up tonight, with just a few little details to go. When we're all done, I'll have a hen house big enough for three hens. (I'm starting with the two) AND I'll have a run with 10 square feet of space for each chicken. (with extra room for the feeder and water, so I don't take away from their run space.) The hens will be fully enclosed for safety, and I'll have the ability to lock them up in their house at night too!! It's too dark for photos today, so I'll share some tomorrow, after the girls get here!!

In our grand tradition of naming our pets after drugs, the girls will be receiving the names
Mary Jane and Crystal. :)

By the way.
My hands?
They're KILLING ME.
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