Baby Steps

Yes, baby steps.  It is what I feel like I am taking toward getting projects done here.  Alas, there are steps at least.  I did get some boards cut tonight.  I will get more tomorrow so that I can get the pens in the big chicken house done and get my birds in there to live.  Then there is the painting of the
 boards, and there is the laying of the linoleum.  Then building of the nest boxes and the doors for the chickens to go in and out.  Really exciting stuff, huh?

I started letting my juvenile birds, almost grown and the girls almost to breeding age, out onto pasture this week.  They love it, of course.  There is room to flap and run and plenty of grass to peck and bugs to eat.  Who or what wouldn't enjoy that kind of freedom after being cooped up the first few months of their life?  I hate penning them, it seems sad, but it is not to be mean or anything of the sort.  It is for their protection from things that would eat them for a late night snack.  So, after their romping around, they go back into the pen at night and get locked in for the night.

I have this one very tiny pullet (girl chicken under 1 year of age, ask Daughter, she can quote it to me ;) ).  This pullet is a Bantam Modern Game chicken.  She is the cutest little thing, but is about the size of a Robin with extra long legs.  I didn't intend to get this breed, but as luck would have it, I got her with a mix of chicks that I needed to keep a lone hatcher company last winter.  Of course, being tiny, and sweet and cute, and the only one of her kind in the flock, everyone loves her.  Her name is Birchy, so called because her color (or variety) is Birchen - black body with yellow/gold around her neck.  She really is funny to comprehend as being a chicken.  She spends most of her time in the feed can or on top of waterer.  I got out to check on things or feed them and she is right there cheaping away.  She doesn't even sound like a chicken.

I had to smile, a big mommy, warmed my heart kind of smile the other day, or should I say about 3 weeks ago?  Daughter had to go out and play with the momma broody hen and her little chicks.  We had to pull them from the pen with the other adult birds because they were pecking at the poor little chickies.  We started her in a fold-up puppy pen
 where she bawked, and clucked, and showed them how to drink and scratch and peck around in the grass and dirt.  I looked out from the kitchen window to see... me?  No, but I immediately thought, she is just like me when I was her age:  In her boots, blue jeans, sitting in the pen with baby animals.  It is so funny how in an instance you can get flung back 36-years to "when".  Wow! 

At night we put Momma and babies into the cage on the right and set them in the garage for safe keeping.  I finally decided it was time the chicks joined the others their age and Momma did the same.  She probably won't lay eggs for a little while yet, but she is back to being a grown up.  Does that make her and  empty nester?

We picked out the birds the kids are going to take to the fair, or intend to take.  I don't know, some don't have feathers yet in places they should.  We had to get them later than intended due to incubation difficulties.  They have something to take, we just aren't expecting Grand Champion this year.

So, it is late once again.  The house is quiet where I am the last to head to bed.  It is my favorite part of the day.  I must rest though, tomorrow is building of chicken domiciles and information booth for the fair.  Since it is to rain the following day, or so I see online, I better get things done outside tomorrow, or is it today?  Yikes, 1 A.M.

I bid you ado.

CC

Too Much Too Little

Too Much

Isn't it true for most of us, there is always too much to do?  My kids went to camp this week, Eldest for the straight 2 weeks for a leadership group, Middle and Daughter are both in resident camp for 6-days, will come home tomorrow evening, then go back on Sunday.  Daughter goes back for horse camp, which she is upset about and doesn't understand 'why did you sign me up for that?'.  Well, first of all, she will most likely come home afterward and ask if we can get a horse or two or three, to which the answer will be a firm NO!  Not that I don't like them, but we don't have the space a horse needs or that is needed to grow the food to feed it.  My hubby and I don't believe in just having pasture pets that would create such an ecological footprint, especially when all its food would need to be purchased.  Eventually, most horses get neglected and are not properly ridden or exercised, which is not very humane in my book.  The reason that we are sending her to that camp is for a new experience.  That is also why Middle is going back to do the sailing camp.  Neither of them may want to have anything to do with those activities when they leave, but they got the chance to try it out.  Eldest had a royal fit about having to go, even though last year when we picked them up, they all wanted to go back for the rest of the summer, and he wanted to go back to work in becoming a counselor.  So, we will see what he says when we pick him up next weekend.
But where the Too Much comes in, is there is just too much that I wanted so desperately to get done while they are gone.  Here I am down to one day left until their return for the weekend, and I have barely scratched the surface of projects I have on my list.  Our downstairs bathroom is half demolished since the chain of events that began with a toilet that wouldn't stop running, which had to be broken to move it out and be replaced, which resulted in also removing the rotting floor underneath, which also lead to tearing out the old broken tiles around the toilet, which turned into a full out demo for Eldest when we thought giving him a good, tough job would teach him about how hard it is to get everything done.  Well, here we are, I think it has been 3 months since that one began, and it is still in the demo stage due to the 101 other things that are constantly popping up to be done.
I did manage to start getting dividers in the new chicken condo yesterday.  Why is that important?  Well, because that is where I need to move many of the birds that are living in my garage in brooders at present.  I am tired of building new, portable pens when I have a new building sitting there for them but needs to get the finishing details done to it.  Arg!  It gets overwhelming sometimes.

Too Little

There is too little time in a day to get everything done that one wants to.  Again, here is no exception.  We have been trying to plan the huge project of tearing down our house to build a new one.  It seems like we barely have time to get the day to day things done around here, much less tackle the monstrous project of what we speak.  I am sure it didn't help that I got rabbits for the kids that turned into a rabbit breeding and raising hobby.  It didn't help that we had puppies last summer that took up a tremendous amount of time.  It didn't help that I started this endeavor of having a small chicken hatchery either.  But in my defense, I have been a stay-at-home mom for 15-years and I need more than cleaning house and raising kids.  I need to do things that interest and inspire me.  I love the way you can breed animals and then compare their offspring to their parents and see the different genetic differences that pop up because of genetic crossings for color and size and temperament and all that neat stuff.  As crazy as it sounds, my animals bring me the kind of joy I used to feel when my kids were little and everything was new with them.  Not that I am tired of my kids, though they make me VERY tired of late.  It has changed.  They are their own persons, and it is not an adventure for them the way it was when they were little.   The amazement of every little thing is gone for them.  When they are little even a bug or a blade of grass can be a treasure and something to investigate.  Now, they squash the bugs and complain if they have to even think about anything to do with grass. (because it usually involves mowing or raking it).

Ah, what is that?  The chickens are calling again.  They say, "Bring us more food and water, please."  and it is a call I must heed.


CC