Ahhh...the Country Life...

 Hard to believe it has been almost a week since I posted.

Whew!

Sorry about that.

It was one of those weeks that was both a fast forward and a slow motion week.

Our county fair started last week so the two weeks leading up to it were a whirlwind of busy, trying to get submissions done.

We dropped off our submissions this weekend and then drove right from there to see family for the weekend.

Had a great time but when I got home, I just sort of tuckered out.

Lost the wind in my sails and just could not get a direction.

Has that ever happened to you?

So this is my flock.

I tried to take photos when I let them out of their pen one night.

They move fast when they get out...

Eating bugs and grass.

Taking a dust bath.

Just exploring.

Most pictures are blurry from the flurry of movement.

They love getting out in the evenings.

In winter we keep them in their enclosure because they don't like the snow anyway.

They still get lots of fresh air from their little courtyard but they do not run around the yard.

They squawk when it is time to fly down from the nesting box in the morning because they don't want their little feet to touch the snow.

Silly Birds.

When I let them out in the evening, there are always one or two feeling broody in the nesting box.  

I pick each hen up and hold her until she cools a little and wants to fly down.

Then I gather the eggs.

After the broody girls walk around a little bit, they return to the nesting box.

This is Emma and Agent C (from Phineas and Ferb).

This is Sally (short for salad).  

Most of them are named after Chicken dishes...

Chicken Salad= Sally.

Chicken Barbeque= BeeBee

Chicken Fajita= Fay

Chicken Patty= Patty

Fried Chicken= Fred

I know, it is weird.

  We don't eat them.

They are egg producing pets.

Here is Fred, from the 2 new chicks this year.

Yup, he's a rooster.

So far, so good with Chester, the other rooster.

 And here is Frick, the other new chick.

I have the most pictures of them.

  They imprinted on us so they think the humans are their flock.

Frick and Fred are Araucanas.

Frick should lay green or blue eggs.

All the Bantam hens lay little white to tan eggs.

It will be exciting the first time we find a blue one.

I am going to try to get back on track with my posts.

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these great blogs.

New Chicken Coop

We have had chickens for about 4 years this time around.

We started with 6 chicks.

After a series of unfortunate mishaps, we ended up with 3- 2 hens and a rooster.

Twice we have allowed them to hatch out sets of eggs in the last 4 years.  

Each time, all 10 eggs hatched.  

Each time we kept 2-3 hens and found homes for all the rest.

Our little flock had 7 banty hens and a rooster.

This year we added 2 Araucana chicks.

To accommodate the bigger flock, we added an additional chicken coop. 

We started with an 8 x 10 shed.

Half was dedicated to the birds.

Half was dedicated to storage.

This shelf started as a greenhouse years ago and has been used for chicken supplies for the last several years.

I cut the sides off a burlap sisal sack and used it to drape over the shelves and hide supplies.

The bottom shelf has a tub of straw.

The next shelf up has buckets, dustpans and such.

An old wagon holds galvanized trash cans with chicken food.

Every chicken coop needs a stool to sit on while watching the birds...

If you have your own flock, you know some feeders are better received than others.

This red feeder is a spare because it is not their favorite.

The top shelf is mostly decorative items.

The green basket and galvanized pail hold feathers from the chickens. 

 When find a good one, it gets saved here.

  I use them for projects later.

The blue enamelware pan holds eggs while I refill feeders and such.

There are 2 nesting boxes.

The plastic bins make it very easy to take them out to clean them.

We have added another board for them to fly up on before getting into the boxes since I took the picture.

I love my chicken coop...

We were hoping for two hens...

We think one is a rooster.

Uh-oh.

Here they are at about 2 months old.

Thanks for stopping by...

Linking up with these great blogs.