Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Poultry Times

The Girls are here...
New crop of chicks
Monday morning brought 25 pullet chicks from Iowa to the Parker Plantation.  I chose some of my favorite laying breeds:  Speckled Sussex, Ameraucana, Brahma, Faverolles, Delaware and a few broilers. 
The hatchery ships day old chicks (min. 25 to a box for body heat) through the postal service. Incredible journey!  


Currently, they reside in a toddler playpen in my multi-purpose room:  a.k.a.  guest room, tack room, feed room, tool room, yoke building shop and now it will be a chick nursery for the next couple weeks until the weather improves. 

Cole has been having anxiety attacks due to the peeping going on behind that door.  He only wishes he had opposable thumbs!


Cannibalizing the landscaping trailer

Construction of the portable chicken coop has therefore begun in earnest.  Today, I removed the tool compartment from my 16' trailer to be used as a laying box on the new trailer.
Now, all the parts are spread around the front yard waiting to be assembled.

On Friday, family from Canada will arrive for a farm sojourn.  They're in for a one-of-a-kind experience.
Chickens in the house, my two dogs, two boarding dogs, metal fabrication project in the yard and two oxen who wander in for breakfast. 

Dad gives them a day, then they'll be at the Marriott!


Mack at the breakfast table, safe from thieving horses
 This is normalcy around here and I love it!