Rainy days and Mondays....

...always get me down! Well, actually they don't but I couldn't pass up quoting that old song. It is raining and it is Monday, however!

The only thing that upsets me about ^these two^ facts is that we can't work on our chicken coop today (somehow power tools and rain don't get along very well) and I have to go to work instead of working on the chicken coop, anyway...Monday's are always tough at work.

We got a lot of work done on the coop yesterday. It's almost done being framed up, then we'll have to finish the door and put the chicken wire on it all. We got the door halfway done and ran out of wood screws. We were too tired last night to go get more, so we just quit for the day. It supposed to rain into Tuesday so today is a washout! So to speak! Andy is on his way to get more screws and a few more 2X4's so we can finish the frame and the door tomorrow if the weather cooperates!

We are re-planning how we'll do the raised veggie garden now. We were going to get rid of the red rose bed and the compost pile fence and put a veggie garden in there. But after looking things over, we decided to put the veggie garden in another rose bed that has almost no roses left, thanks to the RRD and winter kill! It will be much easier...we'll just have to move a few roses, build the walls for the raised garden beds and fill it with the old compost in the pile.

We are going to leave the compost area to compost our chicken poop...that stuff will make great fertilizer, but since it's "hot" manure it will have to be aged for a year before we can use it. I'm moving the roses from my red rose bed to other places, yet unknown, so I can make a place to put an outdoor pen for the chickens. It will be mobile so we can put it in a couple different places around the garden. I may have to learn to clip wings so the chickens can't fly away and so they can just be let go in the rose garden. That way they can eat bugs and get some exercise. We have a 6' privacy fence around our rose bed, but I've seen chickens fly up into trees before, and I don't want the chickens to surprise our neighbor. She really will complain then!!

This is basically a covert chicken operation. I don't know if the neighbor will complain, but if history is any indication, she will. And if she does, I'll probably have to get rid of my chickens. So I'm trying to get quiet breeds and keeping the whole thing under wraps. We'll see. If she was a friendly neighbor, I'd just tell her about it and she probably wouldn't care and she'd get fresh eggs. But she's not, so I won't and she won't!

The chicks are thriving so far! The red heat light we have on them keeps them from pecking at each other. Not sure why red works, but that's what all the chicken farmers tell you to use, so that's what we got. They are just getting cuter every day. I know that one of these days they will start looking less cute and more matronly (hopefully but NOT manly) but for now they are just adorable! (Footnote: yes their water is yellow...it's the vitamin/electolytes in it, NOT Mt. Dew...and yes their barrel looks like it's glowing red or pink...that's from the heat lamp.)









Well, I hope it's sunny where you are. I must go tend to the chicks now. They are really good at funking up their waterer. They love to scratch and it's so cute, but they send all sorts of wood shavings flying into the little waterer. With the heat being kept at 95° in their little dwelling, they are drinking all the time. So this mama hen has to keep fixing their water. :) I love it! Doing good old farm chores is my thang!