Just Some Things I'm Thinking About

I read a piece in the online version of the New York Times this morning about chicken manure being the best, least savage, kind of fertilizer. I am glad that we will have a glut to put on the garden this summer. Lesson learned: chickens poop, a lot!

The girls are getting so big and we are moving them to the hen house on Monday. With the heat lamp, and warmer nighttime temperatures, they will be fine in their new home. The brooder, which is not really a brooder at all but a galvanized tub, is just too small for all of them anymore. They are staring to bicker too much about space and food. The NY Times writer described chickens as, "savage and prehistoric, a fluffier breed of lizard". I would have to agree. They bite at each other and now they are pecking at me! Dolly and Bruiser in particular. I am hoping that with a whole lot more room they will leave each other alone until they can all go outside and play in the yard!

Speaking of the yard, the coop is finally finished! Completely finished. Screened in, tightened up and fully functional. In a few weeks, the girls can take time outside, according to what has become my chicken bible. "Keep Chickens!" by a lady here in Portland has become nearly daily reading. I watch the girls grow and then read about what is coming next. This is no easy task, this chicken keeping business. I sent Jenn a text message last night after the last creature had been fed and watered, and the garden had a drink too. I told her this was going to be a working summer instead of a fun filled one like we had last year. No long road trips, no week in LA or one in NYC. We are going to be home bodies. We will travel when the farm has been put to bed in the fall, as long as we can find reliable help with the dog, cats, and yardbirds!

The journey continues...