New Chicken Run Construction and Chicken Update

Today turned out to be a great day; it had a rough start, but once we got going it was great. We started putting up posts for the new chicken run, which is now going to be 25' x 30' and 4' high. Matt Nathan and I dug out 20(I think) post holes and put in the posts(4 4x4's and trees we cut out of the yard). After the first couple of hours it looked like we would never get finished, but by supper time we had actually completed putting in all the posts and filling in around them.

This week I will start digging the trench to bury the wire. Eventually we will be moving the existing coop and adding on to the side of it. We have been trying to decide what to do with the existing coop, if we should add on, add another, or just start over. I hated the idea of starting over because it seems like such a waste. Building another, although a good option, isn't very pract

ical, so I think we have decided to just modify what already exists to accommodate the new brood.

Since it looks like we will not be able to let the girls out as often as last year, I have hopes to maybe split the run into two parts, and grow grass on it periodically so that the chickens don't live in a muddy mess like before, but have not completely figured that one out yet. That will probably be an on going project to accomplish, I have a feeling it will be a very challenging one.

As of Wednesday, the new chicks are doing great. One of my roosters wasn't growing well and hadn't figured how to eat and drink well on its own so I have been feeding it a mixture of sugar, water, and feed with a syringe. Last night it seemed to be doing much better, but it is smaller and getting picked on quite a bit by the bigger birds. The Leghorns and Austrolarps seem to be a bit more aggressive than the Easter Egg Chickens and Wyandottes that we had last year. My little rooster is a Easter Egg Chicken and they are really being rough on him. I really hope he makes it. (The picture is of my little rooster, not the best picture because of the broken camera, but you can see he is really cute.)

Also, it has been about four day without my camera now, and it is almost driving me crazy...not to mention all those people around me that I keep telling, "oh what a great picture that would be..." It should arrive at the Nikon fix it shop tomorrow and I am really hoping it doesn't take too long before I hear something from them. The auto-focus just stopped working on it last week and I am hoping that they can fix it and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg since it should still be under warranty. So there will either be no new pictures, or old pictures until further notice.

Wordless Wednesday

Random Thoughts of Spring

This year has been very challenging so far. Winter just seemed to drag on way too long for some reason. It is interesting how hectic life can get, but yet the level of accomplishment just doesn't seem to go along with it. It's not to say that nothing gets done, it just gets done at the level of a scattered-brained snail's pace. How do you handle the fog of Winter and get into the Spirit of Spring?

We are finally starting to see and feel the warm sun again. March is a very exciting time of year; new life comes in many forms this time of year, a time of renewal, rebirth and birth on many levels. For many religions it is the Lenten season; a time to step back, remember, and refocus our priorities in our spiritual lives. It is also the beginning of a new Spring and time to get household priorities together and begin to prepare for all the projects both inside and out. It is garden time, time to start organizing the planting beds, getting seedlings started, preparing garden spaces and landscape areas. Farms and Zoos come alive with all the new baby animals. It is such a wonderful experience for children to see the happy playful new babies.

Some of the projects we have started(some conceptual some actual). In welcoming spring I have begun planting mini-landscapes and and creative plantings to get ready for the coming farmer's market season. The kids are looking forward to being involved in the Farmer's Market this year with activities of their own which could be a great learning experience. Because of warmer weather we are all looking forward to being outside to do more nature studies and hopefully getting nature notebooks together. We will be expanding our chicken coop and run area, we lost too many chickens last year (We should get chicks this week). We are also enlarging our garden space and trying new plants this year. Expanding on the products that we make for the soap company and looking for new stores to carry our products.

These were just random thoughts that have been floating around lately. What are your thoughts on Spring and how are you refocusing and start the renewal process for spring in your families?