It started with us purchasing 12 chicks to replace our current flock. Replacing chickens serves two purposes (for us anyway) – 1) it allows us to start our flock fresh, knowing exactly how old our chickens are and 2) we will have both meat and eggs. When we first got our chickens, we bought them from different people who were uncertain about their ages. And chickens lose 20% of their laying abilities each year after the first year…. I know, I sound like I’m trying to convince myself. The lady at the store who helped me with my chicks looked at me as if I were crazy – replacement chickens?? Then I started my next college class online – business ethics. Normally I love learning, which is a dramatic change from my high school years, but these online classes are sucking the life out of me. I can’t wait until they are done!
Then I weaned our goats off of their lunchtime bottle – well, I should say it’s a work in progress. They still cry a LOT at lunchtime, but I just switched them to grain and they seem to be getting over it. And, as for crying, well, Bonnie is a Nubian and from what I hear, that’s what Nubians do – cry a lot.
After that, it was the normal, day-to-day stuff – household chores and taking care of children, animals, and husband. Actually I was waiting for the rain to stop long enough for us to get the vegetable plants transplanted. The rain didn’t stop until the 10th and we’ve been busy since.
We moved the chickens to a new coop - it’s actually a stall inside of the barn that we closed off. We wanted to give them a place to lay eggs without the threat of my boys terrorizing them. The new coop has a door with a lock on it so maybe it will give the chickens a sense of security from my boys. And the stall is HUGE compared to their little coop.
I felt a sense of empowerment over the weekend because I, the one who hates bugs and generally being outside, mowed the entire backyard. Not an easy feat but I did it. And it only took me 2 hours. And the best part – watching my husband fly kites with our boys while I did it. It was nice to see him have some time to play with the kids. His current schedule keeps him away from us for 4 days out of the week and the other 3 days he’s been working on the farm.
Yesterday was the best day – it was gorgeous, sunny and warm so we dug and tilled the garden. We were able to cut the sod out and start laying it over the “sandpit” (where the previous owners had their pool). The kids spent most of the day outside (complaining the whole time but nevertheless outside). We had our first grilled dinner of the season – T-bones no less. And we retrieved 5 eggs from our chickens – the most in a long time. Maybe the new coop is serving its purpose…..
Well, I guess that’s a pretty good “catch-up” of the last few weeks. I’ll try not to let so much time go between postings.
