so here they are! We took the crazy urban homestead plunge this past May - Sara had been wanting to have chickens ever since we looked at this house with our real estate agent and the print out with stats had "zoned for chickens and horses" listed. We knew we had so much else on the slate this year, so we planned on putting it off until next year, but every time I was on craigslist, I couldn't resist looking up coops, just in case. Lo and behold, a coop, chickens, feed, litter and other paraphernalia for sale, in one big lump! Pullets, already beyond brooding stage, it seemed like the perfect way to go :-) So, off to Littleton, with a bobcat trailer and the help of our dear friends Kristy and Byron, to load a full coop and the birds and bring them home.
The chickens in a dog crate - it was the only thing we could think of to transport them in
Charlie REALLY wants to know what is in that crate!!
So, if we just turn this baby over on its side, ya' think we can maneuver it over the ditch without landing in the water?
Alrighty, we got it over the ditch, now we really need to move it 3 feet to the south....mmmm....
If all else fails (and you're losing light for this project before the girls need to be locked up for the night!!) get out the big equipment - a skid steer and a rope do a pretty nice job of moving it over!
We get the cutest eggs! Since the girls are bantam (half size chickens) they lay smaller eggs. But still average one a day, in pretty shades of green and brown.
It is COOL to have chickens!
Thanks to the mad breed id-ing skills of the amazing forum folks at
Backyard Chickens, we are pretty sure this is the line up:
Snow - Easter Egger, Puff - buff brahma, Polka Dot - Mille fleur d'uccle, Shadow - Belgian D'Anvers and Ice - Easter Egger.
Shadow and Puff in the coop
All the girls together. Sadly, we lost Red (at top in this pic, the Belgian D'anvers, and also the chicken Sara is holding above) mysteriously a month ago. She was fine Saturday night, roaming around and roosting just like always, lethargic and miserable Sunday morning - she passed shortly after noon. RIP Red, you were Sara's favorite -and our little farmer girl was a trooper, she did the eulogy, helped dig the grave and made a cross to mark it. It was a bittersweet lesson in the circle of life!
Starting painting - it was a dingy masking tape ivory and we wanted to brighten things up, as well as make it super easy to clean in here - high gloss white, here we come!
Sara helped quite a bit....
Voila!
The Hidey Hole today - we were going to use some of the "green grass" carpet from downstairs up here, but there wasn't a run long enough that wasn't also terribly worn. I found these wild shag rugs at Target - they fit so nicely they aren't even seamed - we intended to, but so far it hasn't been necessary. Mom made the curtains here, too - seersucker again, bright and FUN! David thinks the kids look creepy in this picture ..."Come play with us, Danny...."
The guard dragon - I just loved this guy and had to snag one for the kids when I put in one of our Melissa and Doug orders.
Storage, controlled chaos....
The tree house - remarkably cleaned up, since we are getting ready for the start of school and trying to turn over a new leaf (teehee) with keeping the rooms cleaned up better.
