The Crazy Eight
Chickens have been on the radar for a few years. With enough confidence that we made our farm logo and sign with chickens right on it. Pretty brave for people who change their mind a lot. I also carried around with me a picture of a coop that was to be the inspiration for the one we would build. When our trip to Cabo got canceled this year, we decided to take "vacation" funds and turn them into "chick mansion" funds and we got to work.
Bear drew up the plans for the coop. How he took my ramblings and "I think I want's" into an actual architectural drawing, I'll never know how, but he did! (My original "sketch" was "chicken scratch" indeed!) We had the same man who built our barn frame up the coop (we can at least recognize that measurements that matter aren't our specialty; we are more of "yup, it looks level!" kinds of folks!)
We spent quarantine time finishing the rest of the coop up, which for me meant decorating and landscaping and for Chief, it meant digging, fencing, swearing and making the place as raccoon proof as possible.
We did all this with a deadline. In order to get the breeds I wanted, I had to get my day-old chicks in early March. The bigger they grew, the more the brooder stopped being a good abode, and the faster we worked to finish off the coop. The quarantine didn't help. We had stocked up on all the materials we thought we needed ahead of the closures, but you know how projects go and so we had to make do in some cases or go without in others to get it done while stores were closed or limited.
All that said, in May, the girls moved into the new home. Within the next couple weeks, they could use their run as well. And by the end of June, we realized we didn't have eight girls; one cockerel had slipped past the gender inspections at the breeder and we now have our hands on a rooster-wanna-be. Sigh.
The Crazy Eight keep me very entertained. I visit at least twice a day and by visit, I do mean there's usually conversation and snacks. Well, I converse; they snack. It's a good deal both ways.
We spent quarantine time finishing the rest of the coop up, which for me meant decorating and landscaping and for Chief, it meant digging, fencing, swearing and making the place as raccoon proof as possible.
We did all this with a deadline. In order to get the breeds I wanted, I had to get my day-old chicks in early March. The bigger they grew, the more the brooder stopped being a good abode, and the faster we worked to finish off the coop. The quarantine didn't help. We had stocked up on all the materials we thought we needed ahead of the closures, but you know how projects go and so we had to make do in some cases or go without in others to get it done while stores were closed or limited.
All that said, in May, the girls moved into the new home. Within the next couple weeks, they could use their run as well. And by the end of June, we realized we didn't have eight girls; one cockerel had slipped past the gender inspections at the breeder and we now have our hands on a rooster-wanna-be. Sigh.
The Crazy Eight keep me very entertained. I visit at least twice a day and by visit, I do mean there's usually conversation and snacks. Well, I converse; they snack. It's a good deal both ways.
The Crazy Eight:
April (Easter Egger)
Beatrix (Jubilee Orpington)
Della (Blue Splash Birchen Maran)
Harper (Light Brahma- Rooster)
Hazel (Green Egger)
Millie (Blue Splash Red Laced Wyandotte)
Ruby (Columbian Wyandotte)
Iris (Lavender Orpington)
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