The 7 Year Scratch...

Some Folks call it the "7 Year Itch"....

we may need to call it the "7 Year Scratch"  in honor of our new chickens. 

I have laughed and told people I must be experiencing my own little mid life crisis at 39... but thankfully, no corvette and affair is in the works (except for the 6 females we have brought into the marriage to spice things up!!) hahahaha 

  I have been dreaming of this simpler farm life for awhile now and thankfully have a husband who goes along with my insane ideas. We grew pumpkins last year and really enjoyed it.

So, we cleared a little more land behind our house this past winter (thank you Mom and Dad for letting us poach on your property!!) 

and sat the kids down to make a list of what they wanted to attempt to grow this year. 

Phoebe wants strawberries and watermelon.

P wants corn and apples. Not sure about the apples, but we are working on the rest! New soil tests have been sent off,

 seeds have been ordered from www.burpee.com and www.edenbrothers.com, and we have been reading up on contour farming since the land we are growing on is on a slope. 

  And in the midst of all this, we got chickens in honor of our 7th wedding anniversary. The traditional gifts are Cooper and Wool but who wants that when you can have fresh eggs-right? 

  We tried real hard to have their new home all ready for them before we brought the girls home. We bought an all ready assembled chicken coop from www.tractorsupply.com

and then Brent built a pallet wall fence around it so the girls would have plenty of room to run around.

Big thank you Dupuy flooring for letting us have your palettes!! Stanley- I owe u some eggs!! 

  The kids and I got all white trash and painted up some tires for the girls to take dust baths in. Thank you Gene's tires!!

I let the kids pick the colors from our local Sherwin Williams

and we got to work over Spring Break holiday.

We also painted up some 2x4 stakes to mark what our different "crops" would be. I also painted the special door that Brent made a lime green for fun!

  We then ordered a bird net to go across the top to keep the girls in and predators out. The net is attached to those arched PVC pipes

Unfortunately, we have already had one casualty that got caught up in it. It was already dead when I found it.

I was so upset over this poor bird and asked Brent if I should try to get some orange flags to be tied to the netting to notify the birds that there was a net.. seemed like a good idea to me.

My husband thinks I'm an idiot!

And informed me that I could never make it as a "real farmer"...... he is prob right. So, Brent left the dead bird in the netting and calls it the "Scare Bird".. (get it? Like a scare crow!! ). I think it has worked bc no other animals have been caught in it. I'm sure they think we are hard core..like the mafia or something to just leave one of their own on public display as a warning....
  To complete the coop/run area, we put in chicken wire at the bottom.

  So the day after Easter, my sweet mom came with the P's and I up to Bastrop to see this couple who apparently at one time had 4000 chickens!!! WtH?!? I can't imagine!!!

They said they were tired and old and getting out of the business and had slowly been selling their chickens off. When we got there, they were literally down to only 15 hens. I realize, that we def got the LEAST wanted girls in the whole 4000 bunch. They were the left overs that no one had chosen before. And honestly, I think I love them more because of it!

In my crazy mind, I think they are so happy and grateful to of been finally adopted by us. They are already laying eggs and it really is like Christmas when you find one!!

And the favorite of the group so far is "Charley the Chicken"

    (Did I mention that I am 28 weeks preg??  Brings new meaning to the term "nesting". Hahahah) 

To be continued...

P.S. Big thank you to Heather Land and Kelly Moore Clark for all your egg-stra special chicken advice!!! and to Kerry Heafner at the LSU AgCenter who never minds me dropping in with a ton of questions.