Morning Tea With Our Chickens

Well, the chickens have landed. We managed to almost complete the chicken yard yesterday. It was a long day of hard work that was still going on when I received the text that it was time to wrangle chickens. We were not anywhere near completing the task of providing a safe home for our new charges.

The farm store shorted us 25 ft of chicken wire which made the task even more difficult, since it was a three hour round trip to go back to get the wire needed just to get the run finished. That was not going to happen, since I actually had to go pick up the chickens in a few hours. Our focus turned to securing the yard with what we had and putting a temporary coop in place. We could have used a few more days to get the job done right.

Number One and I finished the temporary coop and secured the yard as best we could without the wire and I headed off to start wrangling. It only took 15 minutes to catch 14 hens and 7 roosters with the help of many. I have not officially counted to see what I ended up with, but I'm sure it's something like that. When I got back into the car to leave Lil, the border collie, was in the back seat with the chickens keeping a close eye on them and licking her lips I'm sure. I don't know how she got in the car, but it was funny. I thought the chicks were breathing awfully heavy.  I got back home and released the birds into their new yard. This was their first experience in the outside world. In a pen, anyway.

They were clueless. It got dark pretty fast, so I went back out there to make sure that they went into their temporary coop. Nope, they had not. They were all huddled up beside it, so I gave them a hand into their new digs. I checked on them throughout the night to make sure no predators were looming. None were seen.

This morning I got up and went out to make sure that they were out of the coop and in the yard. Nope, they were not, so I gave them another hand back into their yard. I have heard that chickens are not the sharpest tools in the shed, at this point I must agree. Then I took my cup of tea and lawn chair out to the coop and watched the chicks enjoy their new found so called freedom. It was the best TV that I have watched in a long while.

Did I mention that I am sunburned. The worst part is behind my knees. I must have changed hats and clothes three times, but I still burned. That's just the way it is for me. The wind blew non-stop and is still blowing. We started the Sabbath late (last night), but we are enjoying every minute of rest today. We will hopefully finish the yard tomorrow and start on the real coop. I thank God for our "Hill Billy" ingenuity, but I can't take pictures of it. I will keep track of the real deal with pictures.

Blessings,
Tina