Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Chickens Part 3: Home. Now What??

We parked by the road while we wandered the property looking for the best spot to put the coop—which, we decided, would be by the garden.
By the time we got back to the van, the first neighbor had arrived to see what we had.  He smiled and just shook his head.  But he helped my husband unload it with our skid loader.  They put a chain around it’s belly and hoisted it in the air.  We thanked him profusely!
Then he went home, apparently to call Neighbor-Number-Two.  Good grief. 
Neighbor-Number-Two appeared shortly thereafter to laugh his head off.  Said he had just gotten a call from Neighbor-Number-One. 
The rest of our neighbors showed more restraint.  They simply filled our dead end road with traffic as they walked, jogged, or took to their golf carts to get a better look.  
I did my best to ignore them while we worked.  However, I began to regret that we didn’t put it farther back on the property!
We put the puppy’s kennel around the coop.  Then we added  a wire covering, and used the loader to dump 6 inches of extra dirt around the edges . 
Finally, we put the coop back together, painted it, and called it quits.  If they survived, they survived.  They would already be dead if we hadn’t brought them home.
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The girls seemed to like it just fine! 
See the cardboard in the corners?
hens_thumb1[2] Neighbor-Number-Two told us that raccoons will stand at the corners and reach their grubby little hands in to grab a chicken.  He said they would pull a leg right through the fence.  Nice.  Apparently chickens aren’t bright enough to retreat to the middle.  They would just run from corner to corner.  In keeping with our redneck theme, cardboard was the only thing we had on hand to give them some cover.   
We left the next morning for Pennsylvania.
Two days later, I got the following text from my friend along with this picture:
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“Look! Three eggs and three live chickens!  My husband wanted to know if I was going to put them in your fridge, I said no way!  I’m eating these!  Lol!”
Two days later I got another text from my friend:
“Three eggs yesterday, two today.  Somebody is slacking off!”
You’ve got to love good friends!
We have found two eggs every day since.  I guess two out of three isn’t bad.  It pretty much keeps us in eggs.
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But our chicken saga isn’t over.  I know you wish it was!  Lol!
But, thanks to Craig’s List (I really need intervention!), there is a Chickens Part 4, and provides proof positive or our lunacy.

5 comments:

Christine said...

Those chickens are doing exactly as they should, my fellow rednecked friend. For every three chickens, you should get 2 eggs a day. And yes, chickens are not the brightest animals. Can't wait for part 4!

Kim @ Homesteader's Heart said...

Oh goodness. I just read both part 2 and 3 and I'm cracking up over here. We would be dangerous as neighbors, I'm just telling you that right now! LOL!
Keep it coming girlfriend!
HUGS
Kim

Mari said...

Can it get any better? Waiting for #4!

Elsie the Cow said...

I always wish your pictures would load faster on my computer because I would really like to see them!! How are the little chickee-poos??

Elsie the Cow said...

I always end up wishing your pictures would load faster as I really want to see them!! HaHa!! So how are the little chickee-poos doing??