Vacation Time

I'm late adding a post this week, or early for next week, because we are officially on vacation for three weeks. Unlike most people we don't go away for vacation. Instead we stay home and work on projects that require more than a day or two to complete. We may take the occasional day trip but we are never gone for more than a few hours.

This year is turning out to be even harder to get the jobs done since it has rained every single day except one so far. Sometimes we will get 6 hours of work done before it rains and others, like today it rains on and off all day making it impossible to get anything done outside. On days like today we either clean the house, or more often sit in front of the boob tube and turn into vegetables.

And what is our project this year? A chicken coop. Yep, you read that right. A chicken coop. I have been given the go ahead to get a few laying hens. We ordered 10, one day old chicks from the feed store. They are arriving next week, and will live inside for two to three weeks in a small brooder box. After that they will be moving into the Grand Sparrow Haven Lodge, a two story house of leisure for the ladies complete with fenced in yard, large nest boxes, and a lovely view of the garden.

I spent several weeks over at Backyard Chickens looking at different coop plans before I decided on the coop for us. It is 5' x 4' with double wide barn doors for cleaning out the coop itself. The interior is going to be painted semi-gloss white to make it bright and easier to clean. It will have two high windows that will prop open to allow air flow in the summer. It is insulated and has a 60 watt bulb installed to keep the girls comfy in the winter. And it has an external next box, also insulated, so I can get the eggs every morning and evening by simply popping a hatch off the back. And, finally, the girls will have their own chicken door for descending down into the fenced in yard that includes the space under the coop as well as a movable cage that will let us move them around the yard with ease.

I am both excited and incredibly nervous about this new venture. I was raised around chickens but that was in Florida where they didn't have to worry about freezing to death. In truth, the chickens I was raised with pretty much took care of themselves except for the occasional cast of feed and the fall culling of the older girls and roosters. I really hope we do well by our new pets and they live long and healthy lives.