Photo by Chunky Monkey Photography
Showing posts with label chickens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chickens. Show all posts

Friday, September 28, 2012

Monday, September 10, 2012

The Eagle Has Landed

Um, I mean Chicken.  The chicken has landed.



Friday we were "gifted" an orphan chicken.   Rumor has it that some people that own an asian restaurant had some chickens in their back yard which is against the rules in the nice community they live in.  Someone called the authorities and when they came to investigate, they opened the coop and let them loose before they could get back to them.  They hoped they'd come back home later.  Well one of them decided to take up residence in my inlaws yard for several days.  They were tired of it so they called us to come get it. 

James and the boys headed out at about 9:00 Friday night.  Chased the chicken around the neighborhood for a while then brought it home.  We left it in the dog kennel overnight and part of Saturday.  I then sent the Rhode Island Reds out of the coop for some roaming time and put the new little chicken in the coop.  Later, we brought them all back in and they seemed to get along.  Well we let them out again (intending on keeping the little one inside).  She escaped the coop, too, and flew over the fence.  Henry and I chased her around and finally lost track of her.  We gave up and decided she had either been eaten by a neighborhood dog, hit by a car, or found a new place. 

Just in case, I posted a lost chicken sign on facebook... because I'm cool like that.  On Sunday, a friend posted a pic on facebook of a chicken that had been spotted listening to the children's sermon at church that morning.  The boys and I were very happy to hear she was alive and well! 
 


We spent the rest of the day hoping she'd show back up at home. 

Fast forward to Monday morning.  We were in the back yard and the neighbor called over the fence that he had seen one of our little chickens, the whitish brownish one, fly over the fence while walking his dog.  He told us it had ran across the street to our other neighbors bushes.  I checked the food that was in the kennel (we'd left it open hoping she'd come back) and sure enough it was empty. She had come home!  She was gone again but at least we knew she knew where to come for a meal.  We tied the dog up so he wouldn't scare her away if... when she came back.  It was long til Nelson spotted her out the window.  We made a trail of feed across the yard into the kennel but she was too smart.  She stayed in the shade and finally nested down in the corner of the yard.  We tried to catch her but she ran through the fence.  Henry and I decided to chase her one last time.  I grabbed the rake and off we went.  She gave us a good run and finally ran under a neighbors dumpster lid that was tilted up on the ground.  I slammed it down and then hoped I didn't squash her.  Oops.  Turns out she was fine.  Henry ran home and got a trash can and we scooped her up and brought her home.  She is confined to the kennel until she gets her wing clipped and outgrows the ability to fit through the slats in the fence.  I'm not sure she'll ever be that big though so we'll have to come up with another way to let her roam the yard without escaping. 

So that's the story of our  new little chicken.  Stay tuned for more stories from the funny farm...  ;) 

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Fresh Eggs

Our chickens are laying a lot.  We got 2 eggs a day for a couple of days then it went up to 3 for a couple of days and then 4.  I *think* our 5th started laying today.  We'll see if we get 1 more egg later today.  James wanted a fresh eggs sign for the coop so I made one yesterday and LOVE how it turned out!
Gotta have DQ happy hour with any project!
 
 
 

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Perfect Day

I love days like today.  When I don't have to rush to go somewhere first thing in the morning.  When my husband comes home from work and slips into bed with me (and Jack today, lol) for a little nap before the house wakes up.  A good cooked breakfast instead of the usual oatmeal or cereal that we have during the week. Relaxing and enjoying each the company of our sweet little family.  Afternoon naps. The boys hanging out and getting along.  And now... Now I sit in the cozy kitchen chair and watch Kash as he talks to Daddy and Jack through the window while they are out grilling our supper.  Our delicious supper of steak & shrimp with corn-on-the-cob, new potatoes and squash in foil packets... I love a good grilled supper! 

Besides the tragic death of a chick, we have had a perfect day!

Friday, April 27, 2012

Chicks

In case you missed it (I can't remember if I blogged about it already and my computer is too slow for me to go back and look!) we have chickens.  They started in a box in our garage and recently made it to a coop built by my amazing husbands with 3 of his little helpers :)

This man... I kinda sorta love him a lot! 

It fills my heart with joy to see the boys working along side daddy!


Another fact you may not know is that we have a great dane.  The boys do a good job taking care of him and the chicks. But, the dog, Captain, wants to taste the chicks.  He stands gaurd just waiting for the right moment to get in. He tried digging and may try again but we're hoping the has given up on that.  When it's time to tend to the chicks, Captain MUST be put inside the house.  He really is waiting for just the right moment to slip into the coop...and a couple of days ago, he got his chance.  I was inside tending to Kash when I heard Nelson hollering outside.  I sent Henry out to check and then he started yelling.  I rushed outside leaving Jack & Kash in the house to find Nelson in a panic, Henry yelling and crying, and Captain running across the yard with a chick in his mouth.  I start yelling for him to drop it and he does.  But he goes right back for it and grabs it up again!  I finally got him to drop it again and while Nelson and I try to catch/distract him, Henry catches the chick and puts it back. During all of this, I have escalated to screaming at Captain, then at Nelson (when I stopped I heard our elderly neighbor outside talking to his dog...oops), and Kash & Jack are trying to get out the back door... why not? They probably think we're having fun out there! After the chick is returned to the coop, we get Captain inside so I can check on the chick.  It's fine.. phew..  BUT we count and there is a chick missing! What?! Henry goes inside to stay with the little ones while Nelson and I search high and low. Is it possible that Captain had a snack without us realizing it?!!!?? Finally, Nelson finds the chick in the wood pile behind the coop.  When he uncovers it, it runs.  We chase it around and it finally runs through a gap in the fence.  Nelson calls Henry back out and they go to the other side of the fence. (Henry is our official chicken catcher).  The chick comes back through the fence and I miss it.  Then I run it back through the fence where it darts across the street.  Henry corners it and catches it near the neighbors fence.  Sigh..... The chicks survived their little adventure, Henry hates Captain now (aka chicken killer even though he didn't actually kill any) and Nelson is certain to put the dog up before opening the coop.  :) A day in the life.....