Oct. 14, 2009 - Moving the Chicken Yard
As I said in the last blog, Kevin decided to move the chicken yard. This great event occurred on Monday.
Before
Kevin putting up the first section of fence, with Joseph as an admiring audience of one.
Putting in the fence posts was hard work. It'll be nice when our children are old and strong enough to help their Daddy with jobs like that.
Naomi helped Kevin with the boards at the bottom of the fence. These are necessary to discourage dogs from pushing under the fencing. We've had 2 strange dogs visit our yard this week, and we don't want a repeat of our spring tragedy when the previous set of chickens were killed by a neighbor dog.
The chickens were very confused during the construction.
"Why can't we come out?"
The last section is up!
Could anything be better? After weeks of coping with a muddy yard, the chickens now have fresh grass and a garden. They were ecstatic!
Interestingly, the chickens most enjoyed the old garden because of the dirt. It was nice, fresh dirt with plenty of worms and bugs and they have spent many happy hours scratching and pecking.
Now, for a story without pictures.
Kevin put up the fence on Monday as he had the day off.
Mornings are always busy in our house, and Tuesday morning was no exception. So as usual, I asked Naomi to let the chickens into their yard while I dealt with things in the house. Two minutes after she left, she came running back in in a flurry. The chickens are creatures of strong habit. The door that is now the OUTSIDE door to the coop used to be the door into the yard. And the chickens, well, they assume when that door is open, they should run through it! They stampeded poor Naomi, and 9 chickens, NINE chickens, escaped!
Isaac and I dashed out into the cool October morning (in our bare feet) and spent the next 10 minutes chasing chickens. Some were relatively easy to catch, but the last one led us on a merry chase under and around and over anything she could find. I eventually, with much difficulty, cornered her and threw her firmly into the yard. Whew!
So for a few days, I'll let the chickens out and I will use the ULTIMATE weapon to keep them from rushing out. An umbrella. For some reason, our chickens fear and loathe opened umbrellas. I've found that if I bring an open umbrella and lay it on the mud in front of the door, they will cower back in fear. So we'll use the umbrella until they get used to the idea of not making a break for the coop door.
Comments
Oct. 14, 2009 - Interesting
Posted by Sheila
**grin**
Sheila
