I found out my chickens really love my tomatos so I had to redirect their eating!
Well, I kind of went of vacation for a couple of weeks and my neighbors took care of the Chickens for me. They were all alive and they are growing! When I got back we moved the coop to a spot in my garden where the veggies didn't grow. I hear next year it should be the hot spot with the help of chicken droppings!
Day 6- To be honest I really didn't think I would have this many stories to tell but I am finding animals do crazy things to your children! So the girls had friends spend the night and Savannah decided she was going to get a chick out to pet with her friend (all of course with out my permission). I find out this evening (from my neighbor, who's dog killed the first chick) that they helped Savannah catch the mother hen this morning! Savannah later told me, "I wanted to show August the chicks so I opened the upper hatch and the mother came out and pecked me and flew away. (After a few more questions from me...) Well, we were reaching in to try to get the chicks." She then proceeded to tell me that the hen flew over the fence, over the pasture, past the neighbors house and towards the pool where Jay (the neighbor) cornered it and picked it up by it's foot and hung it upside down (I learned chickens "play dead" when you do that). Savannah was totally freaked out by that point and wouldn't even touch the hen so August took it by the foot, and carried it home, where they promptly locked it up and didn't go for the chicks any more!....You think the story is over...a few hours later (kids seem to forget things very quickly!) some different friends come over, and again, they want to show the chicks to them too. This time Savannah uses her head a little more (so obviously they don't totally forget) she goes to the coop and gets the mother all worked up so it goes to the area above and calls her chicks to come up and Savannah pulls the door shut so the mom is above and the babies are below (refer to the picture of the coop). The mother hen is not happy up there but Savannah succeed in taking one chick out to let her friends pet! Once everyone got to pet it we put the chick back in and let the mom down. I think if we let them free range the mother may attack Savannah if she is around! I think she forgot my treat animals with respect lesson, we may have to review that one tomorrow! p.s. hand washing strongly recommended when dealing with Chickens!
Day 5-All of the sudden this evening it was quiet in my house, and you know quiet usually does not equal good things. So I call down stairs and hear no one, so I go down stairs and see no one, so I go outside to try to find them and they are down by the forest being very "reverent" and I am yelling down "what are you guys doing" and "come back from the forest" (because ticks love to drop down from the trees at night!). They all slowly start walking up to the house holding hands and I notice they are also all wearing dresses. I am thinking, that is strange! Then when they get closer to me, all still being very quiet, they proceed to tell me they had each gathered flowers for the little chick's grave (Norm buried it by the edge of the forest) that Sugar killed (the dog, who by the way has not come back by the chicks but has come to make amends only going in the front yard). I know I have never been the greatest fan of animals and I really wanted to laugh that they were so sad for the chick...it just goes to show you even people who don't love animals can teach their kids they need to treat all God's creations with respect! Have to love the girls, I wish I had my camera with me. They were all begging to play with the chicks tomorrow, help me, I don't want to touch those things!
Day 4- The chickens are getting used to their home now and figured out how to use their ramp with a little encouragement from Norm. They actually started going up it when we were coming to see them, so maybe they have a little brains in them! They are getting used to the girls and the mom has calmed down. We will get to experience our first chicken coop cleaning in a few days and the release of our chickens into the yard to eat the chiggers (the most evil bug on the planet). I'm sure there will be some good adventures with that one~for now the kids just stand there and stare at them. It is quite funny. And we haven't lost any more chicks!
Day 2- Savannah letting the door down and making sure the chicks were still there, they were!
Day 6- To be honest I really didn't think I would have this many stories to tell but I am finding animals do crazy things to your children! So the girls had friends spend the night and Savannah decided she was going to get a chick out to pet with her friend (all of course with out my permission). I find out this evening (from my neighbor, who's dog killed the first chick) that they helped Savannah catch the mother hen this morning! Savannah later told me, "I wanted to show August the chicks so I opened the upper hatch and the mother came out and pecked me and flew away. (After a few more questions from me...) Well, we were reaching in to try to get the chicks." She then proceeded to tell me that the hen flew over the fence, over the pasture, past the neighbors house and towards the pool where Jay (the neighbor) cornered it and picked it up by it's foot and hung it upside down (I learned chickens "play dead" when you do that). Savannah was totally freaked out by that point and wouldn't even touch the hen so August took it by the foot, and carried it home, where they promptly locked it up and didn't go for the chicks any more!....You think the story is over...a few hours later (kids seem to forget things very quickly!) some different friends come over, and again, they want to show the chicks to them too. This time Savannah uses her head a little more (so obviously they don't totally forget) she goes to the coop and gets the mother all worked up so it goes to the area above and calls her chicks to come up and Savannah pulls the door shut so the mom is above and the babies are below (refer to the picture of the coop). The mother hen is not happy up there but Savannah succeed in taking one chick out to let her friends pet! Once everyone got to pet it we put the chick back in and let the mom down. I think if we let them free range the mother may attack Savannah if she is around! I think she forgot my treat animals with respect lesson, we may have to review that one tomorrow! p.s. hand washing strongly recommended when dealing with Chickens!
Day 5-All of the sudden this evening it was quiet in my house, and you know quiet usually does not equal good things. So I call down stairs and hear no one, so I go down stairs and see no one, so I go outside to try to find them and they are down by the forest being very "reverent" and I am yelling down "what are you guys doing" and "come back from the forest" (because ticks love to drop down from the trees at night!). They all slowly start walking up to the house holding hands and I notice they are also all wearing dresses. I am thinking, that is strange! Then when they get closer to me, all still being very quiet, they proceed to tell me they had each gathered flowers for the little chick's grave (Norm buried it by the edge of the forest) that Sugar killed (the dog, who by the way has not come back by the chicks but has come to make amends only going in the front yard). I know I have never been the greatest fan of animals and I really wanted to laugh that they were so sad for the chick...it just goes to show you even people who don't love animals can teach their kids they need to treat all God's creations with respect! Have to love the girls, I wish I had my camera with me. They were all begging to play with the chicks tomorrow, help me, I don't want to touch those things!
Day 4- The chickens are getting used to their home now and figured out how to use their ramp with a little encouragement from Norm. They actually started going up it when we were coming to see them, so maybe they have a little brains in them! They are getting used to the girls and the mom has calmed down. We will get to experience our first chicken coop cleaning in a few days and the release of our chickens into the yard to eat the chiggers (the most evil bug on the planet). I'm sure there will be some good adventures with that one~for now the kids just stand there and stare at them. It is quite funny. And we haven't lost any more chicks!
Day 2- Savannah letting the door down and making sure the chicks were still there, they were!
Day one - Before we went to church we let the chickens down to the bottom part of the coop. When we returned we were left with three chicks (the mom is covering one of them). The neighborhood dog got a hold of one. She rammed her head into different sides of the coop until she pulled the bottom of one section loose. So the girls got their first lesson in animal funerals and they got to learn about forgiveness towards animals.
Let's just say she is a little possessive now...understandably.
How fun!!! I want a hen house!!! I remember going to my Aunt Edna's farm when I was a kid and getting eggs out of the hen house...it was scary, but fun!
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