Wednesday, July 28, 2010

So I Got A Little Sidetracked

It's been a while since the last post, I admit.

Since then I have completed the chicken coop the way I wanted it for the summer. I'm not sure yet as to whether this will last throughout the winter so instead of walls I've surrounded the 4 sides of the coop in heavy duty chicken wire, leaving one side unattached aside from a hook that keeps it closed so that I would have access to the inside.

Unfortunately I learned about 2 weeks ago the lesson that a door only works when it is closed. With a heavy heart, I'm sad to announce that one night the door was left unhooked and with the tenacity of a hungry stray cat, the door flew open and released all the chicks. From the there it was a game of cat and mouse or rather cat and chick. Another of the Golden Comets was taken in the night as the others ran for cover under the large squash leaves growing in the garden. By the time I had awoken the next morning to feed them, my mother had already coerced the still shaken chicks out from under the crops and placed them back in their coop, doors hooked and all.

I've also used the remaining chicken wire to fence off a section of the back yard, under a big cherry tree, for the girls to roam free in and peck at the bugs. The bird seed that they end up kicking out of the coop as they scratch and peck at their mixed feed ends up in the run and after a few rain storms grew into a nice thick patch of grass that the girls just go crazy for. It's probably their most favorite food. That and any type of weeds I can find growing in the cracks on the ground.

Pictures will come in the next post.