Creative Lighting

We had a huge storm come in and lost power for more than half of a day. That posed a problem for our new chicks. They needed light to keep them warm. My husband was super creative. He took out a propane camp light and hooked it up. They seemed to understand to just huddle around it to stay warm. Once the day warmed up outside I was able to take it out and they were fine and the power returned that evening so they could use their normal heating lamp.

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Just a Rat Snake

So while I love the birds and even the squirrel that insists on eating out of the bird feeder on the front porch, I am still not used to the snakes.

I actually called my husband just to ensure this one was okay. I am not really big on killing things, but I wanted to make sure with a horse and dogs in the yard and also us humans that he would not be an issue. Thankfully just a Rat Snake. He is not so great when you have chickens though, they are egg stealers.

google.com/+JennWellsandSunshineOfAutumnQuilts

Upgrading Chicken Housing

We have some chicks that were ready for a new housing area. We have been working on an older cage trying to secure it with fencing, panels for roofing etc. 

Its tough sometimes not being able to afford new wood and have super nice cages and such, but its great to see what Paul comes up with from Pallets and other supplies we come across

We still have a few more things we need, such as building nesting boxes. We have plenty of time though as these guys are much to young to be laying eggs just yet.

The biggest obstacle in front of us now is determining which are hens and which are roosters. 

google.com/+JennWellsandSunshineOfAutumnQuilts

Chicken Coop

Our New Chicken Coop My husband did all the framing and I helped him get the wire put up.

This is part of the inside- we still need to get the hen house finished so they can lay eggs and then roof it all, or partially roof and fence it. They are all young hens/roosters so we have some time before its mandatory. We won't get eggs from these guys till probably October. I hope a little earlier though. We have our older chickens right next to these guys and learned we had to put wood up at the bottom of that fencing because the older hens would reach through and grab the head of the younger ones. Interesting...