Mayhem in the hen house.

We had a bit of a setback with the chickens last night. A few of our chickens turned canibal last night. My chicken book says it could be damn near anything from crowding to overheating. It seems that just the meat birds got pecked but it was pretty bad. We moved them into the chicken tractor for the evening to protect them.
On a bright note, the township mowed the ditches. I raked up the cuttings and let them dry in the sun. I doubled the amount of straw in the shed in one day. One more time and I might have enough chicken bedding for the winter.

Electric fence

Well today i noticed that something had been chewing on the as yet un-electrified, electric fence around the chickens. Well I repaired the fence and hooked up the charger. I called Cooper over to the fence and he tested it for me. I can't be sure he was the animal that chewed on it, but I think he will not chew on it from now on. With fence in operation i figured we could let the chickens out into the yard for a bit. Jess and i had to herd them back in this evening but otherwise I think it was a success.
I also received my new hammock this afternoon. I love hammocks. Jess and I disagree on the necessity of spreader bars. I chose a giant nylon hammock without one. I got an hour nap in this afternoon in it. I am very happy.

Garden Work

Well today I planted out some small sickly plants that I had started from seed this spring. I had been hardening them off on the deck and they were constantly getting dry. (It is just a tad bit windy here!!) I also got a good watering done on the garden. The new raspberries are still going strong. I am thinking about adding a Mulberry bush or two as well. Still need to finish the outdoor run for the chickens .

A quick correction

Well I guess there are two grey kittens out there as well as the black one. So now we have Smoke, Ash and Soot. Otherwise we brought some electric fencing today and a charger. Still will need to set that up sometime this week.

Suprises in the wood pile

Well I went out tonight to take a few pictures of things we have been working on. The hops are growing well and I think that the Fuggles are almost 4 feet tall already. I also took a picture of some hay that I am drying and of the goose berries by the bunker. I noticed one of the many farm cats that inhabit the pole barn across the street. I had been seeing her a lot lately and was assuming she had learned to stand up to Cooper and was just hunting over by the bunker. That is when I spotted the kittens. I have nicknamed them smoke and soot since they are by the forge. i will try and see how trusting they are tomorrow.

Update

Well the chickens are adapting well to their new home. I still need to make a temp. controler for the milk house heater. I am also needing to put the light on a timer. I will most likely build them an outdoor run this weekend.

Pictures as promised

Well here are a few pictures. First one is a quick shot of the meat birds. The second shot is a picture of some radishes we had for lunch today. The last is the picture of the coop, complete with fresh coat of paint applied this morning.

Coop work continues

Well Jess and I put a coat of paint on the coop today. We also hung the door and added the plastic flooring to the coop. I will probably cut the chicken door tomorrow if time and weather allows. Then all that remains is to put another coat of paint and add some trim paint. The inside still needs nest boxes but the chickens probably won't need them before this fall. I will try and snap some pictures to post tomorrow as well.
Speaking of chickens we have learned that they love June bugs. All we need to do is knock a few in a bag and add them to the coop and the chickens go nuts. We have been doing this for the last few nights and now you have to shoo the chickens away from the door to do anything in the coop.
They just stand there and beg for more bugs. Since we still have them confined it seems like a great source of cheap protein.

Chickens coop.

Well the coop was finished yesterday. So today Jess and I got to work modifying it for service as a chicken coop. We Primed the bare wood and built an inside door and wall. Tomorrow if the weather is good we will finish the painting if not we will pick up some flooring plastic and finish installing wire on the wall.

Progress

Well taking the week off of work is turning out to be productive already. We got our old truck towed away. It was a great old truck but I just didn't have the time and resources to bring it back to life. I guess it was truck-triage. Also got a decent mowing done on the yard and am trying to dry some of the longer grass from the ditches for use as straw bedding. The process that I am using is too time consuming for larger use but I think it is showing itself to be an option if I improve my method. The Chickens continue to grow fast as weeds. Good thing we are having a shed built today to convert to a coop.

Memorial day

Well it is Memorial day already. So much to do now that summer is here. It is easy to get caught up in the planting and planning. Just the same though I feel it is important to stop and remember the servicemen who bought our freedoms with the dearest of coins.

Why?

The other day my wife told me that people at her work asked her why we were raising chickens. I figure that is as good a reason as any to explain what we are doing here. I am not entirely sure where or when I started to take an interest in self-sufficiency. I know that I always enjoyed the outdoors, always wanted to explore the woods and rivers. I have always been fascinated by growing and living things. I guess that in a big picture way of looking at it I was always heading down this path. So why chickens then? Well we were ready for livestock and our acreage is to small for sheep or cattle.

Projects update

I figured now that the chickens have a new home I should update you all on the status of a few other projects. The Dandelion wine for 2007 is off to a good start. We also ate radishes from the garden tonight for dinner. Also the hops have survived and are starting to grow up the twine. The only failure we have had this spring is the raspberry transplants. And on top of it all we finally got some rain today, gotta love that.

Chickens moved out today

Well Jess is much relieved as the chickens are no longer taking up residence in our kitchen.
We moved them in to the chicken tractor today and plan to keep them there until their coop is built next week. They are doing a bit of hop flying already at only three weeks old today.

Chicken tractor is finished for now

Well the chicken tractor is finished for now. I plan to move the chicks into it for the next 2 weeks and after the shed is built I will move them into that. I still need to add wheels of some sort and plan to give it another coat of paint before it becomes a chicken tractor for real.

Chickens

Well the chickens continue to grow and and work on the chicken tractor continues. So far the tractor is fully built and just needs to be painted. I hope to post pictures of the painted tractor tomarrow. We also ordered a shed to be built on the property on Friday. Otherwise the drought continues. Looking forward to rain possibly a soaking rain later next week.

Chicken tractor

I spent the last 2 days working on a combination chicken tractor and brooder coop. I need to hurry as the chicks are feathering out quickly and are starting to try and fly.

First post

Well it is 1:oo AM, must be time to start a blog.