Update on chicken stuff

Almost as if on cue the weather switched on Sept. 1 and got colder.  Fortunately my sweet guy decided he wanted to spend his birthday insulating the chicken coop so they won't freeze this winter.

 About a month ago he put a ceiling in and over Labor Day weekend we went to Menard*s and got some sheeting and rolls of insulation. It's even been wired so that we can have a light on in the winter and even put in a small heater, if necessary.

 There used to be more perches but the girls decided that they only liked one so when the boxes and perches were re-installed it was decided to just keep one.  The girls hop up onto the nesting boxes and then hop up onto the perch.  

 We've also had these nesting boxes installed for a while.  There is some interest in the boxes but not much.  The babies have spent a few nights in there though.  I think it's because it's enclosed and when the four of them cram themselves in it stays pretty toasty.  Hard to believe that those little bodies generate so much heat.

Artsy photo of the coop

 Probably about a week after we got the babies we knew we couldn't keep them in the house for very long.  Being the capable man that he is, my DH build a "nursing/brooder" coop for the babies.  He did it without any plans and had it done under eight hours. He is so smart that way.  I love how he can think something and make it come to life.

Here are the babies jumping out of the pen after being let out when we get home from work and school.  All the chickens free range together in the evenings and the weekends now.  They still haven't formed a cohesive group but they are getting used to each other.  Since it's starting to get colder out at nights we've been having the babies sleep in the coop. But putting them in their pen during the day.  The big girls still chase and harass the little girls and I don't think they can be enclosed together just yet. 

We are pumped that we will have this for next spring when we get a new group of chicks. 

 My guy built this almost all from scraps we had around the house from building the big coop and pen.

Here's an inside view of the coop part.  Yup, we put windows in on the sides.  The babies spend some time in there during the day.  They even have a perch to sit on. 

I'm debating on whether the coop part should be painted to match the big coop, which matches the exterior color of the house.  Yes, we are cute that way. 



Beets were planted in these two containers and they didn't really do anything.  I'm sure it's because of the cooler temps we had this year.  So we let the chickens have at the foliage. They loved it.

 Thankfully, the chickens have no interest in the lone two tomatoes we have.

They would rather eat the moss off the birch in the back yard. 

Weekend project

A few weeks ago my guy was able to get some kitchen cabinets that were in need of some TLC and rehab work.  This week the cabinets were delivered to the homestead and this weekend my DH set them up in the garage.

Don't they look great?  Now my guy has got himself a work bench, a place for tools, storage space and a place for processing any deer that may be harvest this year and the years down the road.

We purchased the counter this weekend at Menard's for a great price and he installed this a.m.

The cabinets completely change the personality of the garage. It's a bit brighter and the garage doesn't feel as cluttered as it used to. 

Just like that, summer is over (Or, school is back in session)

My son started the new school year Tuesday this week. My little man is now in third grade.  That just seems so surreal.  *I* have a third grader.  Before I know it, he'll be driving. (yikes).

Tuesday started with a power outage. We woke at 5 a.m. and I thought a light was burned out until my DH said that all the power was out.  I told him "This is not a good start to the first day of school"  Thankfully, the local power company found the problem within an hour of us waking up.  One of the power company's trucks was going up and down the road, flashing their spot light.  I can only assume they found the "issue" on the power pole across the road from us, in the neighbor's yard.
 

First day of school 2013.  Look at that smile!

Despite any protests that my son may have put up, I think he really was eager to get back to school and some sort of schedule. We are four days in and he still seems eager to get up and get going.   He's also on the other side of the elementary school and it has thrown me each time I've gone to the school.

This summer flew by.  I feel like there was so much stuff that I wanted to do.  But for one reason or another, it didn't happen.  I was certainly busy enough, especially the last few weeks with all the blackberry picking. I really should take a picture of the blackberry jam jars together.  I think we still have over 100 jars.  I still have so many pictures of things that I want to share on the blog. And memories, but now that so many things have past I worry that half of it won't make sense. ... Like when we had family our for a picnic and we all had such a good time.  Oh well ... This just shows me that my life is "full" not necessarily "busy" and that I'm out actually doing something instead of life passing me by.

The weather has really cooled down.  Though I guess we are in for a hot one today.  But I think that for the most part, we are on the cool down til winter.  The county next to me already had a frost advisory.  All in all, it's been a cold summer.  I do see some color in the trees already.