The George Family Journal

Sunday, November 16, 2008

The Detainees are Loose!

Well, it was a family effort, but, the chickens, they are out!

Well, it was about 40 degrees out today, just warmer than water freezing temperature.  It felt like it was going to snow all day.  But, we persevered and got set to let the chickens out.  Alexander even helped out with some crying and screaming and moaning about the cold.  Come on, Alexander, we need help--not complaining!



The first step was to get the cinder blocks out for the coop to sit on.

Then Stu and I carried out the base to put on the cinder blocks.


The next step was the frame of the coop--this is the heavy part that is very awkward to lift.  It’s about 6.5 feet tall and lifting it above the base to get it in the right place was VERY hard!

Eventually, though, after much laughing and dropping on Joy’s end, we got it up.

I took Alexander in then to warm up.  It was a little cold out for him.  We had lunch while Stu put the doors in place.

We tied the run to the cinder blocks to try to keep any wild animals from getting in--and the neighborhood dogs that run around all over the place…
Stu put the ladder into the run and then it was done!



Stu hung the food and water until we can get hooks for them.

And after we let the chickens be inside the coop for a bit, we got them out so they could see around.  They’re cold and scared, but hopefully they’ll snap out of it soon!


I’ve got some video I’ll try to get together soon!  We’re very happy that the chickens have their own home now!

Monday, October 20, 2008

Fall / Autumn Updates

So autumn is here, or fall. The leaves have gone from a bright green to a burgundy red, all around us the mountains are in various shades of yellow to red with the odd blotches of green from the evergreen pines.

I’ve got my seeds for the coming spring already here. I’ve got two buckets of compost that needs to be dumped on the garden and mixed in…

I’ve got a garden that needs tilling and turning to sit over the winter.

Our four chickens are ready for their coop and to move outside.. Speaking of which, its 95% done, there are only two panels on the back of the coop that need to be cut and affixed, then I just need to seal some gaps and prime it all with an oil based primer.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Peeps arrived

So the peeps arrived. I got a phone call at 7am to come get them. Wow they are noisy little buggers! They found there food alright and some are drinking, I will let them adjust for a while and see how things are going…

The downside? We ordered 8 (wanted 4) and all 8 survived! So now we have to pick 4.. Some are a week or so older than the others too, they are getting their wing tip feathers.. I think they are the barred plymouth rocks.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Baby Chickens

So, today we ordered baby chickens!

All the chickens I ordered are good brown egg layers that will produced 4-5 eggs a week, they drop off production a lot when its super hot or really cold, but these are breeds that can handle much colder winters than we get, so that is a good thing.

They will leave the hatchery as day old chicks and take I think, two days to arrive here via USPS…

So what did we order?

2 Australorps (An Australian breed!)
2 Barred Plymouth Rocks
2 SexLink Red Stars
2 SexLink Black Stars

Yes, 8 in total. That is the minimum for postage as there will be fatalities, the plan is to keep the strongest 3 or 4 and free-to-good-home whats left. (Might give them to Morgan if she wants them)

The sex-links are a hybrid breed good for egg laying, but most importantly when they are born the sexes are different colours (because nobody wants roosters), they are crossed Rhode Island Reds with Plymouth Rocks.

The Stars are very good egg layers and very hardy birds.

We will have pics when they arrive, but I’m not expecting them for a while.