A Real Barn

We are home once again from a trip that was mostly uneventful, but has left us tired and behind on our work at home.  It was nice to spend time with family and celebrate all we have to be thankful for with the other people in our lives.  I love watching the girls with our family.  Traveling long distances is always hard with little ones, and we are very glad to be home.  We have spent most of this Sunday trying to get caught up and seeing to the week ahead.

The first structure on the property when you emerge from the creek is an old barn that doesn’t belong to us, but we have recently been allowed to use it by our landlord. It is about two football fields distance from the cabin.  When we came home last night, we couldn’t resist checking on the chickens that we moved there last week – if only to see how our work had held up in our absence.  The two hens and one rooster that survived the move (We had one causality when our other rooster flew the coop and almost immediately was eaten by something hiding in the woods.  We were moving them at night.) were roosting snuggled together and comfortable.

The barn where the side entrance to the chicken house now is.

All we had to do was clean up a bit, build new nest boxes, and construct a chicken run that was as critter proof as possible with fencing and a gate.

We began with what was left of the old.

Old nesting area and boxes.

Roosting Room

The girls jumped right in raking leaves and moving light boards.  John tore off the rusted chicken wire (poultry fencing), gathered posts for the fence, and removed the nest boxes.  I started digging the trench to bury the fence under the ground.  Before too long we were digging the post holes and nailing the chicken wire to our secured posts.  I forgot to photograph the run and fencing because I am so enthralled with the inside that I didn’t even think of it.  I’ll have to do that soon to share here.

Ivy moves dirt.

We all love outdoor work better than anything that can be done in the house.  The exertion and experience of fresh air lends itself to a greater sense of accomplishment, I believe – at least for us.  The warm few days that it took to get things completed were so exciting for the girls.  Deladis could and still can hardly contain her joy and eagerness to get at them chickens.  Ivy loves anything physical, so she was right at home.  Now, if only the girls could get the chickens to let them touch them, then they would have it made.

When we were finished we were all smiles.  These pictures were taken this evening after checking in with our little flock.

Like the fancy border on the nest boxes?

Moving on up to the deluxe apartment in the sky!

We still have another rooster and three hens that run loose around the cabin.  I’m afraid they are going to be impossible to catch and move.  They roost high in a planted Christmas tree that grows outside of our bedroom window, so high that they can’t even be reached with a ladder.  They allow us only to get so close to them, which isn’t close enough to touch.

I can’t wait until Spring to go again to the stock sale for more chickens to add to our new chicken house, and a goat!  There are three stalls on the other side of the barn and we’ve gotten the approval for a goat or two.  🙂 Oh, milk!