CHICKENS AND GARDEN NEWS
We brought our chickens home last Friday afternoon, after spending the morning converting a doghouse into a chicken coop. Things went well, and we got 3 eggs the next morning! Well they’ve been laying like the clappers ever since!We get either 2 or 3 eggs per day, which for me is brilliant! They are captivating, these chickens. Jules and Sin hug them, cuddle them and they follow us around making a singing noise. I was told before we got them that chickens are addictive, and I thought….yeah right. (I’m not a bird type person)
Well they are addictive. We all love them, and can spend the day watching them wander around. My personal favourite thing is their dust bath. They roll in the sand and look for all the world as though they need a sponge and soap. Too cute.
They have a negative side…They got into my vegetable garden. Ate all the lettuce and tucked into the rocket. Well now we have more fences up, to keep them out of the vege garden, but other than that they are truly free range. And they don’t rip up your lawn. They break off the long grass with their beaks. They don’t rip it out at all. This surprised me.
So far they’ve caught and eaten 3 snakes. This in itself is a good enough reason to have them!
But despite the chickens efforts to break into the vege patch, the veges are doing okay. We’ve had tons of wind, so a lot of the plants are struggling a bit, but so far the tomatoes, (new lettuce),rocket, basil,onions and green peppers are surviving and are growing fruit. The peas, beans, carrots, beetroot and coriander are slowly popping up. So we’re holding thumbs for them!
We’ve decided to stick with a 2 week holiday this term, and start 1 week earlier next term, as I need a break, and I need to get a handle on next terms work. Above all of this I’m finding I need a rest. I’m finding the kids are happy to do school everyday, including weekends. But I can’t I need a break!
I’m trying to load images onto the site and blog, but can’t seem to get it right. Once I’ve mastered the art, then I can show you all our scruffy chickens!
Blessings to you all,
Susan
Filed under: HOMESTEADING on March 26th, 2008
I’m so glad I found your site! We are getting one month old chicks this weekend. We can’t wait. We found a henhouse for $40 on Craigslist.com! We also homeschool our kids but we just started this last year. I pulled them out of public school. So they are actually starting to read! They were no where close before I pulled them out. Anyway. Nice visiting your site.