Yesterday the chickens and I played musical chairs. Well musical pens actually.
Watched closely by a very muddy Sheila. 
Lulu came wandering around the corner and did a very fast about-turn! Horrors. Filthy pig, she said. Sheila was unapologetic.
Until my new chook house is built we are still pressed for space for chickens. I flatly refuse to put them back in the old Chook house that the bastard Mink had turned into his private hell. In fact I don’t even like going in there still. I am probably suffering from some kind of post traumatic chicken mass murder condition.
And as it is taking a while to get someone to help me build a chook house, I am going to be playing musical pens for a while yet.
Next years layers are now too big for their brooder box. 
I took the big layers and moved them slowly across to the wooden ark. Which I can move across the grass myself. 
This has a tarp cover. Then I put the Baby Layers into the Fort Knox tin shack vacated by the Big Layers that is parked in the shade of the barn. The dogs are camping out beside it, Ton especially gets all aflutter when animals or birds are shifted about so they are well guarded. 
Of course in two weeks the chicks in the basement ( the meat chickens) will be ready to come out from under their light, at that point I hope to have the new chook house and we will gently shift everyone about again. I wish I had some extra time to go and learn woodwork then I could build some of these things myself. 
I love how the chicks have such big feet. FOUR Peghorn Leghorns are proving un-catcheable (I am never buying that breed again they are so devilishly disobedient).. but I know where they are laying so they are Ok for a while.
All the pigs wanted yesterday was a little food and a lot of mud. 
Today we will be cutting the hay. Then we watch the sky and worry. I am a rain magnet though even when it is forecast to be clear, so we will see.
Have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farm
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
35 responses to “Shifty Chooks”
We are watching the sky here also! Time to plant pinto beans and cut the alfalfa! This is always such a stressful time as RAIN on HAY is BAD! But, of course you know that already!
¸.-♥´¨)Linda
http://coloradofarmlife@wordpress.com
I did the course.. last year, all our hay was rained on, do you remember the last cut was SNOWED on.. today is hot and windy, and there are three more in the forecast, so fingers crossed.. c
Good Luck!!!! I so understand!!!
¸.-♥´¨)Linda
http://coloradofarmlife@wordpress.com
Our chicks for eating used to have such huge feet too and then their bodies get so big and heavy they can’t even support them so they waddle round!
Good luck with the hay. So soon! It seems no time at all since you were emerging from winter. Maybe you will be a sun magnet this time.
Things grow so fast here, it is as thought they know the summer is only short.. c
That danged rain! It never falls when it should, and always falls when it shouldn’t. I think I’d like to be a muddy pig for just one day. I bet we’d all have fabulous skin if we rolled in the mud every now and then!
“Shifty chooks”… I had visions of them in trenchcoats, peering around the corner of the barn, whispering “wanna buy a watch?”…
‘Ring a ring a rosey’ . . . as far as the chooks are concerned . . . that wooden arc all of a sudden does not look all that large . . . And no wonder all your porcine crew presents so wellfed – their noses seem to be in feed containers every time you take a pic!!
Whoops! My totally forgettable message seems to have gone walkabout! Just said ‘Ring a ring a rosey’ as far as the chooks go – that wooden arc is not as big as I thought! Good luck with all the to-and-fro! And, no wonder all the porcines on the farm are as big as they are: noses in the feedbag all day it seems 🙂 !
Oh, that awkward stage… Did I say this before? Sorry if I repeat myself. One (very early in the farming thing) year we ordered our baby chicks to arrive in February. They lived in the upstairs bathroom for months. It was, truly, a horror show. Glad to see yours are already out in the pasture.
Love all of the bird pictures today — not that the pigs aren’t cute.
When it comes to carpentry, woodwork, building stuff – have you thought about speaking with the local high school? Here in Canada we have what are (fondly) called “shop classes”. Generally they teach automotive stuff, building, etc. Perhaps the teacher would be interested in a class project? You’d likely need to supply materials and details about what you’re expecting, but might be a way to get your chook house done. Also, are there any trades colleges close by? Ones that do the classroom part of getting a trade ticket? There would be electricians, plumbers, builders – all students who are working to get their trade papers – again the instructors might welcome a project.
Love the pictures!
Chris S in Canada
Shelia looks like a chocolate covered pig in that first shot! 🙂