Free At Last!!

Look who is out of the Hen House and lovin' it.  Well, lovin' being out in the fresh air, but maybe not loving the wet, muddy ground so much.  I did rake and clean up the little bit of dirt that was showing to try and make things more pleasant. 

Still a lot of melting needs to happen before I can clean up the destroyed netting and put up new.  I'm so nervous for the girls because of the night owls and daytime ravens, but I think they've learned something.  Yesterday they heard a raven call and immediately everyone ran into the hut you can see the corner of in the first picture.  In fact, they spent the night in that hut.  When I went out to shoo everyone back into the hen house they went in the hut and I can't get them out.

Here is my Royal Palm hen.  I really think she killed some of my small bantams this winter so I want to find her a new home at the end of summer (I'd like to put her in the fair first).  I don't know...wish I had a Chicken Cam to see what really happened.  Maybe because the ventilation fan isn't in it was too "fumy" for the littlest chickens?  Maybe they just got stepped on too much? Maybe they just got sick?  Wish I knew for sure how I lost most of them...totally a bummer.

We should be getting almost a dozen eggs a day (little + big), but we haven't had any eggs. The nest boxes were never finished and they won't lay otherwise (picky little things).  I now have a new gallon of paint and hope to get the nest boxes out there this weekend. First I have to muck it out...ewwww...and put down new straw. It sprinkled today so I went out and put up a blue tarp with lots of fresh straw underneath so everyone could be comfortable.  This Spring we will build some kind of permanent gazebo for when they are out and the weather is bad.

Raked up the nasty in Daisy's pen, too.  Who knew one sheep could produce so much manure between October and now. Wow!  I suppose it should go into the compost bin, but I'm going to add it right to the garden beds.  I did it last year and actually grew carrots for the first time although everything I read says it is too hot. I also add my woodstove ash even though I shouldn't without testing the soil.  I like to wing it. :)  I'll get some photos of my process on a nicer day.

Daisy chillaxin' in the sun.  I raked out her hut and added some fresh bedding so she would be comfortable.  Can anyone tell me why this silly sheep eats her straw bedding when she has a pile of hay two feet away?  Goofy animal.

I posted twice in one day...wild,  huh?  If you missed out on the previous post you have to at least scroll down and watch the little video.  Lucas' laugh is so heart-warming.  Although he doesn't have a real warm heart right now.  Yesterday he got six immunizations in five different shots.  (One to each arm, two in one leg and one in the other).  Last child of eight and somehow he didn't get his shots on schedule.  Before you jump on the bashing bandwagon, don't.  It will not change that he got a bunch of shots yesterday or that he is on schedule today or that he will remember the pain (as opposed to not remembering the same pain as an infant).  He's my last kid so I won't screw it up again. :)  (But his pain does bring tears to my eyes...poor little man).

Oooo...I see sun so I'm running outside now!