RIP

first forgive me if there are grammatical errors in this post.

since getting the Lucy and Nugget,the pullets, my dog has been wound up. I have only been letting her out back when there is someone out there with her. Even when we are out there, Sage would walk around the chicken run, or lay there next to the fence, just watching the birds. I knew she was trying to check them out. She hadn't eaten her food since we brought them home.

fast forward to tonight. one of the kids or maybe my dad, who knows, left the back door open. I went out to lock up my car, and when I came back in, I noticed the dog wasn't in and the back door was open. I get to the door and Sage is coming out of the coop and I notice that one of pullets is on the floor. She jumped the fence (about 3 ft). I'm in shock, disbelief, angry.

I yelled "what are you doing?!!!!!?" She knew she was in trouble, her tail instintly went inbetween her legs. I mean if she can do that to a chicken, who says she won't turn on one of the kids if they start running.

err...must put kids tobed. will be back to finish probably tomorrow.

New members of the H.-D. house

I was perusing craigslist and a lady was selling 2 barred rocks, 2-4 weeks away from laying eggs. I emailed her and was the second in line. I didn't think that I would get them, but she emailed me back and said that the first person never called/showed, so if I wanted them, then they were mine. wooohoooo! We went and picked them up tonight.

One is a bit bigger then the other but they're the same age. She had just gotten them, but the larger one kept flying over to the neighbors'. Mad was sooo excited, she's now saying that she wants a chicken birthday.

I can't find the camera to computer cord or I would upload some pics. Maybe later I can find it.

More Chicken talk

On Sat. went over to Zenger Farms in SE to hear about the chicken co-op that they have going on. It turned out to be a really nice day for it. We listened to Holly talk about the chickens and the duties and the ins/outs of the farm in relation to the chickens.
We were able to enter the area the chickens were in, and the kids went into "I've got to catch a chicken" mode. Mad did catch one, by the tail, as I raced to stop her, the hen flapped dust in her eyes so she let go. She wanted to keep after them, but I didn't take sunscreen and her cheeks were getting red, I picked her up and headed for the car. C on the other hand, I think was afraid of the chickens, as he would try to reach down to catch on, but then would pull back at the last minute. He was upset when he still had not caught his "own" chicken and Patrick said it was time for them to head back up to the barn.

He kept asking when were we going to get chickens? All the way home.

Mad fell asleep in the 5 minute drive home, and E and I talked about the co-op. It didn't sound like we would be able to work at the farm each week, which means that we wouldn't get eggs each week. It lit the fire more for us to have our own chickens. So in that 5 minute drive, E and I talked about that we might not even get chickens until next year cause of the cost factor. Building a coop, getting it secure so animals couldn't get in, food, the cost of the chickens themselves, it would just be hard getting it all done in time to get chicks for this year. We also decided, that we wanted our chicks to be teens or pullets so we didn't have to keep them inside while they were young.

So last night while looking at chicken coop porn and wishing I could build a cool coop for the yard, I was over at craigslist and there in the free section, a chicken coop! So I emailed the person as quick as I could, and I was the first person to respond!!!! E and I went over there this morning and picked it up.


Now it's nothing fancy, it's a dog house that was converted into a coop. And there's some chicken wire, 2 waterers, and 2 feeders.


Just that much closer to our own chickens.

E decided that he wants Barred Rocks.


Oh, we saw 3 racoons coming from the neighbors garden last night. As long as they stay out of my yard, I'll be fine.

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chickens....

I got a call from our landlord today about some reciepts, in talking to him, I told him about the garden we planted. He said, wow, you do have a lot! and said all you need now is a goat to get milk from. I said, naw, I was thinking chickens for eggs and compost. He said SURE! I was are you serious, he said YES, He thought it was a cool idea!!!!

Oh my landlord is turning out cooler than I thought!


In other news, we have corn, snow peas, tomatoes, red bell peppers, green bell peppers, cantalope, watermelon, pumpkin, onions, potatoes, strawberries, and baby lettuce planted. we also have rosemary, cilantro, parsley, oregano, and garlic planted in the front of the house, in a planter under the kitchen window that wasn't being used when we moved in.

I think we'll need to plant more letuce and maybe a couple more tomato plants. We love our salads!

Food for thought

So we are trying to get the garden dug up and ready to plant. I know, we are having a late start with it, but better late then never. The original location was taken over from the swimming pool given to us, so, without blocking the view from the master bedroom, we are doing a long row, maybe two, against the north fence.

I know that we will have tomatoes, strawberries, pole beans, cucumbers, potatoes, and onions. All but the potatoes and onions, I'm going to go vertical with them to save space.

In my researching on the internet about gardens, I came across this site and it talks about the Mittleider method of gardening. I won't be able to use it this year as I will only have one bed of veggies, but next year, I hope to encorporate it in.

just a little vent

so I have my "chores" all set out by the day. Mon is the upstairs bathroom, Tues our bedroom, Wed is outside toys, Thurs Dining room, Friday Living room, Sat Kids bedroom, and Sund is the kitchen. And it works when I can do them.


My problem. Some one in the house has a job at night and sleeps all day. So not only am I trying to keep the kids from screaming/yelling/running/ jumping/ any and all noises that could cause one to wake up, I can't fucking do my "chores" until said person is awake. aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggghghhhhhhhhhhh. So while keeping the kids quite, there's only soo much I can do, put dishes away and laundry. Everything else is too noisy. Heck it's a wonder I can do the sewing machine during daylight hours.

I just want to be able to clean the friccking house when I want to. Hell it's not like this person does anything to help clean. I feel like I'm the house bitch. Cooking and doing dishes and cleaning the fucking house. Uhm the kids don't even want to clean thier toys cause no one else is cleaning but mom.

I just want to go on strike but then I know that nothing will get done. The kids will be hungry and we won't have any dishes to eat off of.

It puts this mama in a cranky mood.