I have really been enjoying my chickens.  I had no idea they'd be so easy to care for.  Many people are starting to keep chickens even in suburb areas.  As long as the neighbors don't complain, there isn't a problem.  A few chickens (5 or so) and no rooster can be really quiet and provide your family with fresh eggs.

My coop (pictured two entries ago) comfortably houses my 14 birds and is 5' x 7'.  I get anywhere from five to nine eggs everyday from them.  They eat about four cups of chicken feed a day.  That sounds like a lot but one 50 lb. bag of feed costs $7.50 and lasts me about a month.  They also get all the table scraps except potato skins which chickens can't digest.  They come to me everytime they see me hoping for a treat.

Cleaning the coop is a snap.  It takes all of twenty minutes for a routine cleaning.  Once a year it's recommended to disinfect the coop, but I haven't had to do that yet.  I put a tarp down in front of the door and use a pitchfork to toss out the old straw.  Then it goes to the compost pile.  I put a whole bale of straw ($4.50) in there at a time and I'm guessing I'll have to clean the coop like this about once every three months.  I also "stir" the straw twice a week with a garden hoe to mix the manure with the straw.  That helps it dry out and not smell.  My coop smells like sweet hay.  The small amount of flies that are attracted by the coop get hunted by the chickens.  That's really amusing to watch!

This is the mudroom as it was when we moved in.  It's roughly a 10' x 16' room.  I've always wanted a mudroom.  With four boys and all their gear, it's really a necessity.  The side door enters this room from the driveway.  I know that this will be the main entrance to our home, so I wanted it to be really beautiful as well as functional.

I saw an old house in a movie that had the trim painted black and it was stunning.  I've obsessed about black trim ever since.  I decided that this would be the room that gets it.  I also wanted to put a mural in here a la Rufus Porter.

A little background on Rufus...

Rufus Porter was a muralist (among other things) that lived in the 1800's.  He traveled the mid-Atlantic states painting primitive murals in large houses.  I've decided to loosely copy his style for my mural since my house was built in 1825.

I'm not completely finished with the room yet, but my dearest and best friend lives in Texas and I can't wait any longer to show it to her.  Here it is so far, Susan:

I'm planning on painting the side door there red and I'm going to install 1" x 4" trim all the way around the room where the mural meets the green.  On the trim I'm going to put black iron coat hooks every 12 inches or so.

This is the only completed section of the mural so far.  I'll probably add close-ups later.  In the far left of the mural there's a little scottish terrier and dog house that can barely be seen in this picture.  It says "Rufus" on the dog house as a nod to Mr. Porter.

This is the view out my kitchen window.  These adorable chickens were given to me by someone leaving the country life.  She couldn't take them with her, so I've given them a good home. 

I have 12 hens and two roosters.  These particular chickens are called Comet chickens, which is just a fancy way of saying that they're mutt chickens bred to lay brown eggs. 

We've been in our new house now for about five weeks.  It's been a big change moving to the country and we're finally getting a rhythm to our days again.  My thoughts are returning to the ordinary:  blogging, my penpal, school starting again in September, etc.  Normalcy is a relief.

We love it here.  It's beautiful. 

Welcome home.

Boys

Like frogs.

Why?

Because

They are:

Slimy,

Bouncy,

And wet.

And

So are

Frogs.