this unusual weather...

has made for two happy kiddos.

I mean,what little nearly 18 month older, isn't thrilled to be outside, in January?

 And what little 3 year old wouldn't try to soak up every opportunity to be outdoors, in January?

What little baby lets you swing them for nearly an hour straight, in January?

And what little guy, gets to say "higher, HIGHER!!!" in January?

And then slide nearly 50 times, in January?

And what little gal wouldn't be tickled to tag along with the hens, in January?

 And what mom wouldn't give up a day of chores, to share in an adventure outdoors with their littlest loves?  

That and try out their new lens on wintered plants?

$800 egg

Our hens, rather a hen, has started laying eggs.

Bayli got the privilege of enjoying the first egg (well, really not the first-that one came from above while the hens were roosting and ended in a big mess on the floor of the coop.  *Can you imagine how a hen feels when they lay their first egg, I mean no one has told them what will happen.  It just happens.  I am sure they become filled with a bit of panic that first time.  Then their instincts kick in (hopefully) and they become a natural egg layer in no time.

Anyways, back to that first egg that Bayli enjoyed.  She was super stoked and said that it was the best egg ever.  Of course, being Bayli, she packed it around in a basket full of dolly blankets and it was as though we were killing her when Jed finally pried the egg out of her clutches and cooked it up.  As much as I love that girl, I do not want the risks that can come from a raw egg being packed around for days.

Not to mention, that was the most expensive egg that we have ever purchased.  Having chickens isn't very economical.  Sure you get benefits from them,  but it is not cost effective at all.  We could purchase a lot of eggs for the price that it took to build the coop, not to mention purchase the chicken feed.  But as Jed says, it is enjoyable to have them around.

They are seriously our entertainment committee every evening when Jed gets home.  This being because Jed and Bayli are on a quest to capture the rooster.  Jed has succeeded many times in this quest, but sadly, Bayli has not.
Our rooster is pretty friendly and fearless.  He doesn't budge much when you walk up to him.  But Bayli is a bit timid and he can sense it.  Also, the rooster has come after her a few times.  Leaving her with a few scratches.  She probably deserves it though, since she harasses that poor bird so much.

Always so beautiful, even when rooster chasing.

Chase even gets in a bit on the rooster chasing fun.  He, unlike Bayli, has no fear of the rooster.  Probably because he hasn't been attacked by him yet.  And overall he doesn't have as much interest in chasing chickens as Bayli does.  He prefers to lasso them.

But in the end, they ask dad to help them.  Because he is a master rooster catcher.  I wouldn't categorize him as a master chicken catcher yet, the hens are a bit more flighty than the rooster.  Jed is still training like Rocky Balboa to become faster.

This is how many attempts often play out.

Despite the look that he just might take a bite out of him, Jed LOVES his bird. 

Once they have a hold of him, the rooster pretty much plays dead.

Bayli attempting to hold him by the feet.  She prefers to cradle him in her arms.

Proud of the catch, still even prettier.

BTW  this is our birds favorite place to hang these days.  Which is a pain in the butt when it is time to round them up into the coop.  Nothing like corn pollen covering you entirely. 

***Thanks Jed for the wonderful anniversary gift.  Without it, our memories of these events would be just a blur. (He got me a Canon EOS Rebel T2i-LOVE IT!!!)

it's official

we have ourselves a rooster
and he's a crowing
well, sort of
more like screeching or dieing

pretty much at that awkward age
puberty
you know, with the voice changes and all
that is what he sounds like
so imagine a young man, going through puberty
speaking or better yet singing
and yeah, that is what he sounds like
only he speaks chicken

jed's impression is spot on
just ask him to speak rooster
then you can get a better idea

i kind of compare it to a beagle
or a dog that has had it's bark removed

we will take a barking chicken
we are in the business of competing with all of the obnoxious neighbor dogs anyways

chickens. or as my husband refers, peckers.

After years of proclaiming his love and desire to have chickens, Jed's dream FINALLY came true.  I finally gave him the go ahead to get some, and let me say that he jumped on that boat FAST.  He must have been pretty worried that I might change my mind.
I gave him some limitations on the birds.  They had to be as far back in the yard as possible.  They are HIS birds, he feeds, waters, and cleans up after them.  And, they are to never run free poop in my backyard or they will be made into soup.  I totally sound like a mom. He has kept his end of the bargain (I have only fed them a few times).

Jed chose out his birds back at the beginning of April.  He picked out an Orpington (the yellow), 2 Rhode Island Reds (obviously the little red ones), a Barred Rock (my favorite), and 2 Black Sex-linked.  Although he asked for hens, we think that the Orpington just might be a rooster, we shall see.

The cute chicks, only a few days old when they came to live in our basement.  I am very glad that it no longer smells like a barn down there.

He borrowed his dad's brooder (box/crate with warming lights).  And he began his hunt for the perfect coop. Of course, he couldn't find the perfect coop to purchase.  Either they were too expensive, or they were made poorly.  So, he began accumulating plans and pictures of coops that he liked and began the process of building one himself.

He began building the coop, in the basement shop.  His tools were all right there, and the weather has been less than cooperative over the last few months. 

And during the building process, he kept getting inquiries from me.  They pretty much entailed, "how in the heck do you plan on getting this out the back garage, turn the corner, go up the hill, turn the other corner, go across the grass, and make it to the back of the garden?"  He got pretty annoyed by these inquiries.  But on my behalf, it was completely a legitimate question.  And, I wasn't the only one asking.

So, on "moving" day, this was his plan of attack:

And let me say, it was a little bit intense.  Not to mention, my blood pressure was boiling as I watched my paint job mess up (I did contribute to the coop a bit-have I mentioned how much I despise painting?  Hey, I have to get my share of the eggs somehow.)

I think I was the most scared at this moment.  Turning that corner is crazy even without a little house on the front loader.

Poor little house needed a few touch ups when the job was complete.  Thank goodness Jed did the touch up paint, I think he might have gotten the hint that I was completely DONE painting.

From this point, on the edge of the grass, I was very interested to see how he planned to get it the rest of the way without the tractor.  He wasn't about to mess up the back lawn and garden.  This is where we definitely are missing a big piece of the move.  Just imagine the house up on stilts with long boards connecting them and 4-5ish strapping young to middle aged men packing it.  I don't know that our neighbors will ever answer the phone when Jed calls again.

Cute little coop, finally complete.  After he got the house back there, he had to patch it up, shingle it, and complete the run/yard.  He was pretty excited when the project was complete.

The nests are inside this door, easy access to the eggs once the hens start laying.

Our mystery Orpington.  Boy or Girl??? We are kind of hoping for a boy at this point.  One rooster would complete the bunch.  He can compete with all of the blankety-blank dogs in our vicinity.

The Orpington and Barred Rock (the black and white speckled one) are the most interested in us.

I will say, that they have grown on me.  But, I still will not include them in my chores. 

Little biddies better be good layers or we'll be having chicken soup!