New Chicky Digs

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Oh, myyyyy the girlies were curious.

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All that sawing and banging and fussing around…

coop

just to get a bigger, better place for them to live and breathe before they start laying eggs in the bushes. 
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I’m pretty dang sure they love the sweet nesting boxes, the cute little chicken-sized door…
coop 2and the lovely, palatial night roost–with room for 12 sleeping birdies.

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Thanks Rhen and Trent, for all your hard work. I appreciate it and so do the ladies.

Best of all–

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it was finished just in the nick of time!

Country Folk

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I’ve decided my grand kids can be the country folk that I always wanted to be.

They love it. I love it. The birdies love it.

I’m having so much fun with the chickens, I keep forgetting that we’re going to get eggs someday.

Serendipity, for sure.

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Out And About

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The girls have been so sweet about being out in the chicken yard, but now and then, they  look longingly out at the green grass and plants beyond their little pen.

So, this morning…I opened the door and let them out!

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At first they stood there looking at me, like, “Ummmm…lady? You know the gate is open, right?”

Yep, I know.

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In fact, I had to stand outside in the grass saying, “Come on-come on-come on.” Then, once they realized I wasn’t kidding, they tip-toed out…then ran!

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Oh, my goodness did they have fun. And what a huge deal they make out of this funny, little bush! They pecked at the leaves for an hour.

And see those purple flowers? Most of them were barely out of reach so they would stand just below and…JUMP straight up to snatch them. It was awesome.

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We’ve left the grass long because we didn’t want to scare them with the mower just yet. But they loved it that way. I think they felt a bit stealthy, sneaking around in the tall grass…

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and pecking at all the silly little bugs crawling around.

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Then, as though someone rang a dinner bell, they all marched into the yard and gobbled up their grains–that had been sitting there all day long.

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Then they promptly curled up in a bunch of heaps and went to sleep–inside the pen. I don’t think they totally understand this freedom thing yet.

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Soon enough, I suppose.

I think we’re both going to love it.

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Strolling~

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I took a little stroll around the back yard today. Soooo many pretty things to see…

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all of which, I didn’t plant. They were here when we bought the house.

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Looks as though someone put a lot of love and care into each and every plant.
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I suspect, most of them have been here for a very long time.

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A few of the bushes desperately need a good pruning…

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while others can just go ahead and grow to the moon and back–they are just that pretty.

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Trouble is–with the exception of the Hens & Chicks– I don’t know what any of them are, what they need, or how and when to prune them. I would be happy to look it up, but without knowing what they are called, I’m at a bit of a standstill.

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If any of you know what plants I’m dealing with, would you let me know in the comments below?

That way, I can do some research and take care of them properly–you know, leave them alone or cut them back.

In the meantime…

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The girls are very willing to help.

HAAA!

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The New Digs

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We’ve attached the smaller of the two coops that we have to the opening of the big pen. This way the girlies can have shelter at night or when it rains–which it’s been doing a lot lately.

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They can play and scratch around in the yard all day, nibbling on a pile of weeds…

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and then dart inside whenever it’s too nippy or something scares them. Right now, the two most frightening sounds for these ladies is the train whistle–which blows from half a block away several times a day–and a small plane flying over head.

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They run inside like a Pterodactyl is swooping down on them.

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Luckily they recover quickly and go right back to their weed feast…

and photo bombing. They totally do it on purpose.

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See?

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