Growing up...

Shannon prepping the rows with fertilizer. We used an organic compost last year which greatly added to the soil conditions. We didn't add any this year, but plan on putting compost and putting the chickens on the garden in the fall to add Nitrogen and have them eat some good bugs and grubs.

Getting ready to plant. Pyper is our foreman, and is available for consults.

Shannon found 2 moles in the garden right after tilling it. Disappointed in the lack of effort from Hammish, our wonder hunter cat, Shannon killed both moles. I was amazed at how big its front paws were and the design made for digging up our garden is astounding!

Pyper watering her garden

Pyper selecting potatoes for the garden. We told her to pick sections with "eyes" on them, and she proceeded to point to her eyes. She is one smart cookie. Well, that's what I thought until she took a big bite out of this raw potato. She's Shannon's child...

Abby is growing more and more every day. She has just turned 1, and I can't believe she is almost as big as her momma, Anna. Anna stands at 15.3 hh. I have a feeling Abby will be a bit taller. Only time will tell.

The Dixie Chicks are growing sooooo fast! In fact, yesterday when I was doing a daily once over, I noticed little tail feathers growing.

Their wing feathers are growing in, and they are getting bigger, over all...

It might be all the night crawlers and meal worms we're feeding these girls.

They are growing so fast, in fact we had to put up 2 ft chicken wire around the brooder to keep them contained. While playing with them today, one chick escaped by hopping and flying over the side of the pool. Pyper thought it was great fun to chase it all around the coop. This fence, has worked. So far.

Speaking of things Pyper likes to chase, here is our sweet Hannibal. Vicious Rottweiler, extraordinaire. He loves to play fetch, and Pyper loves to throw the ball for him. He is her ever-present companion, and faithful friend.

The Dixie Chicks!

Shannon and I (mostly Shannon) have been working hard on finishing the coop and brooder for the chicks. Shannon spent all day on Wednesday predator-proofing the coop. Tuesday night, I set up the brooder. Basically, it's just a 5 ft baby pool for the chick containment. I then put together a left over medium moving box and Shannon attached the legs, which was some left over trim work laying around in our barn. He attached the legs so the box would sit about 10 inches off the ground to provide a concentrated heat source for the chicks. He then cut a 6 inch hole on the top of the box to release the heat. I threaded the heat lamp cord up through the hole, and wrapped the cord around a spare piece of wood. This will allow us to regulate the temperature. Starting temp should be around 95 degrees and reduced 10 degrees/week. I used a 250 W red heat bulb. A red bulb is suggested to prevent excessive chick aggression. They literally can go coo-coo if a regular white light is used. Who knew??? Anyways, the piece of wood along the top of the box allows me to adjust the height of the heat lamp without worrying about clips, and such. I put down paper towels initially because I had read several accounts where newborn chicks mistake the pine shavings for food. This blocks up their intestines, and they die. So, as a precaution, I heeded their advice and used paper towels. We plan on switching to the shavings today, since they now know what is considered food.

*As a side note, if you follow this bedding advice, do not use newspaper. It leads to leg problems such as straddle leg. This is caused because the newspaper is too slick, and does not provide proper grip for the little legs.*

The chicken coop is a converted horse stall with access to the outside. Here, the door, with access to the barn aisle, needed to be re-evaluated. The top was open, so Shannon added this top dutch door, with a screen of hardware cloth. We don't suspect any hawks, owls or barn kitties will be able to break into the coop with this sturdy door. Also along the top line of the stall, Shannon added wood to seal off the coop from the inside of the barn. Again, to prevent any flying predators or curious cats from entering.

This iron guard was so the horses could look around and check out what's going on in the barn. Now, with a heavy screen behind it, it will provide outstanding cross-ventilation for the coop and prevent any flying or 4-legged critters from squeezing in. You may think this is excessive, but you will notice a bit of the ladder to the left of this picture. That is the ladder to the hay loft. I've seen our one, very adventurous cat, Smelly Nelly, climbing this ladder to get to the barn swallows that nest in our rafters. I wouldn't put it past her to climb the ladder, squeeze through the bars to eat the chicks. She's hard-core like that.

And, without further adieu....

Here are 3 of our "Dixie Chicks!" From Left to Right: The black one is a Barred Rock, the yellow one is a Buff Orpington, and the red one with stripes is a Rhode Island Red. I got 3 of each breed with a total of 9.

They finally discovered the feeder after Shannon had spread out their food on the paper towels. They were certainly happy little chicks!

The more they ate and drank, the more they poo'd. It was pretty gross, but hey, it happens!
I love hearing their little "Peep, Peep, Peeps" coming from the coop.

Just plain cute...but not for long...

This is me and Blanche. I had a Great Aunt named Blanche, and she had dark brown to black hair, so I thought it was appropriate. She also lived to be 102 years old...I wonder how long this little Blanche will live. hmmmmm....

Until next time, see ya!

THE END