New chickens, and a new home for the chicks.

I rented a library book called "Living With Chickens." Seth took and interest in it, took it to work with him and read through the whole thing in one day. He now has an incredible love for chickens and we've spent the weekend getting things situated. Since he has taken kind of a 'backseat' approach to the whole homesteading thing, it's really great that he's so passionate about something and he's been directing things as far as the poultry go.

This morning he started off asking his uncle Ronnie if we could have the rooster and hen he had leftover from his chicken rearing days. He'd been keeeping them in tight quarters and I've always felt bad for the poor things, so we finally brought them over here and they are staying in quarantine in the 'hay ring' where we used to keep our other hens. They are a beautiful silver-laced wyandotte/cochin cross bantams but the hen is somewhat ill so we aren't introducing them yet. Their names are Freddy and Celeste.

The 'fantastic four' hens-- now named Nora, Star, Bella and Janine, have moved to a bigger pen, which we have all just labored and sweated over for the past 5 hours getting it secured for them. We actually picked up the basic structure of this coop from Seth's grandmother, and hauled it down the highway on a trailer while it swayed and threatened to break apart in the wind. It stands about 11-12 feet high, 10 feet long and about 6 feet wide so it was a monster to carry down the road.

We've finally got it here, replaced the most rotten of the boards, secured the wire and we've tucked a tree limb in there for them to roost on (not sure if they've figured it out yet). I'm so excited about the new cage and I hope the ladies stay safe in there.
During the days, we've been letting them roam freely. Hawks are our main concern but I haven't seen any on the land so far, and they spend a lot of time up in the tallow groves so hopefully they'll stay safe.

We also came home from the feed store with 4 more chicks-- 2 Americauna pullets (blue and green egg layers!) and two straight-run Rhode Island Reds.

It's been a long, productive day. None of the hens are laying yet, but I'm much happier knowing that we've got their living quarters all worked out. I cant wait until were getting our own, fresh eggs.

Seven hens, one rooster, and two unknowns. Pictures soon!