Chicken Chronicles - Day 3,4, and 5

Day 3 - only had 2 eggs…

Day 4 - had 3 eggs, the chickens finally found the perches and have been roasting there at night since, the rooster has started strutting and crowing in the mornings. I’ve noticed that he is watching over the girls, a cat came walking by about 25 feet away from the coop he would take his eyes off of it until it was long gone.

Day 5 – 2 eggs

Chicken Chronicles - Day 2.5

I wanted to fix the door problem and give them more room so I used the other dog run panels to made a 6x20 paddock on the side of the coop. Now I can leave the door of the coop open when I put the flock to bed and clean out the waterer etc. I think it turned out pretty well. The 20 degree weather wasn't the best but when standing in the sun it wasn't that bad. 
It took them a while to come out of the coop but once they did their coming and going a lot. 

The heated waterer is working too, no more ice! I have ordered some chicken nipple waterer I don't like how messy the waterer their have now is getting I cleaned it out and they start scratching and it gets more dirt and pine needles in it, it will be a losing battle for sure… One problem at a time!

The left over pieces on vinyl on the panels can be removed when it's warmer, no complaining please!

Went out and cleaned the waterer once again, decided to check the nest boxes too, found three more eggs, first full day SIX EGGS...

February 12, 2015 - National Plum Pudding Day

"It is not failure that stops most people, but rather the belief that failure is permanent. Failure is nothing more than a storm in the weather forecast for the week—it comes and it goes, and it waters next season’s yield because it teaches us where we can improve" - Jake Ducey

Chicken Chronicles - Day 2

Last Night I checked on the flock right before it got dark and they were still on the ground walking around, after it got dark I went out and found that two of the hens were in the loft and the other five were packed like sardines on the flat platform just outside the entrance to the loft. I was going to leave them there so I went back in and watched some more TV. A couple of hours later I decided that I wanted them inside the loft so I could protect them from any night time predators. I went out to move them inside the loft and I entered the coop closed the door too far and it latched from the outside, WHAT THE @@@@! Oh man I felt so stupid… I had thought about this happening and had stuck sticks in the latch before but this time I didn't give it a thought, well first things first, I got the chickens into the loft, and couldn't close that door from inside so I needed to get out of the coop. Well I'll just kick the door open and fix what ever damage I cause. Kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, WHO made this coop so strong! Think, Think, Think…. I figured since I can't kick the door open and Herc won't help maybe I can punch through the wire, punch, ouch, punch, ouch, punch, ouch, punch, through the wire and I could reach one latch. WHO put two latches on this door? Punch, ouch, punch, ouch, punch, ouch, punch, through the wire and I could reach other latch. I'm Free! Closed the loft door and the flock is safe, now this door needs some help but I have wire left over so all I have to do is fix it. Did I mention that it's 9:30, Dark and COLD! Took the door off at the hinges and went up to the porch where there is light, made the repairs and rehung the door. 

This morning I woke up and looked at the phone, 20 degrees! It was just starting to get light so I crawled out of my nice warm bed, got dressed and took Herc out to made his deposits, I went to let the chickens out of the loft and saw the waterer was frozen, I guess you need to plug in the heated waterer for it work. I busted the ice out and rehung the waterer and plugged it in. WHO wanted chickens? 

Herc was more than ready to go back into the house so I took him in and went back out to let the chickens out, they were in no hurry to come out of their loft so I went in and got warm myself. A half hour later more or less the flock was out and about so I went back out and checked them out, all of them looked fine so I took a look in the loft and nest boxes.

After the day they had I didn't expect any eggs, but I found three, alright, I WANTED chickens!

February 11, 2015 - National Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk day

"Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for" - Zig Ziglar 

It's another beautiful day here in the Ozarks, and I am grateful for it… 

Big News here on the Homestead, I was looking over the local Craigslist this morning and saw a listing for laying hens so I emailed them and went on about my morning, it was just a few minutes later I was contacted and had a phone conversation with Charles about he what had and what I was looking for. As it turned out he lives about 45 miles away but he was meeting some people in Mountain Grove ( 18 miles away more or less ) in about an hour to deliver some chicks to them, so if I wanted to i could meet him there. COOL 

Put the dog crate back together, put some straw in the bottom and Herc and I headed off to Mountain Grove. 

I'll tell on myself a little here, I went down 137 to the main highway 60 and I saw that there was no entrance on to Highway 60 going East, well I'll just continue on as I'm sure the road will cross over highway 60 a mile or two farther east… Well that's what I thought, after driving several miles with out seeing any cross roads I started to wonder if I should turn around, but this is the general direction to Mountain Grove and I'm sure that there will be a cross road soon… I finally found a cross road, after several miles and a lot of time off the clock, that went into Cabool ( a town in between Willow Springs and Mountain Grove ) and I was able to get on to Highway 60 and into Mountain Grove. OK it may have taken me A LOT LONGER but I got there. 

Charles was waiting for me and I was afraid to ask how long they had been waiting. He had picked out six, six month old hens that are laying and a six month old rooster all Rock Island Reds, all good looking birds. Deal done! Yea!

Took Highway 60 straight back to Willow Springs, took a lot less time to get home. I moved the coop over in the yard, hung up the waterer and got feeder filled up and let the girls and guy into the coop. 

Herc thinks he has more toys to play with… I had to let him know that they are NOT for him… lol 

Several of the ladies have found the loft and have checked out the nest boxes, that’s encouraging. Even found the rooster in the loft but he was most likely following a hen around.

New project; a chicken tractor so I can more the chickens around to different spots in the yards, the coop is too heavy for that.

I have been working on my woodworking bench and It's coming along good. I have the tops just about done they still need to be cut to length and smoothed a bit more but the hard parts are done. Still a lot to do but I'm happy with the progress so far.

I was asked why I don't use power tools, as it would be easier. I know that it would be easier and faster and I do have enough money right now that I could buy the tools that I need to finish this project, BUT that isn't what this is about. I want to practice some of the skills that I use to have and use went I was learning about woodworking, first to see if I still have enough of these skills left and to reconnect with a dying art form, I want to make things with my own hands not machines. I find a real enjoyment working with wood and the hand tools. I do wish that I could find better lumber, the places that I have looked have really disappointed me, even #1 grade lumber is pretty sad but that's the world in which we live so I'll do the best I can and keep searching for better materials… 

As I sit here typing this Herc started barking as if there is a monster in the yard, he was very upset, I got up to see what was going on, Mazie and her Mom stopped to look at the chickens... lol  

That's my day here in the Ozarks…

February 7, 2015 - Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day

"What’s the secret to success? There are no secrets. Be humble. Be hungry. And always be the hardest worker in the room." - Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

It is a beauty day here, the thought came to me that the first time that we came to the Ozarks the lady at the motel told us that if we didn't like the weather just wait a few minutes… that seems to tell the whole story, this week the temp. has been down to 0 degrees with a high of 30 degrees, had some rain and even got a little snow and today it's 65 degrees, bright sunshine clear day, not a cloud in the sky. 

I have started work on the woodworking bench that I need to do several other projects I have in mind. Before I could start work on it I needed some saw horses and I could have bought some but I wanted to make my own, so I spent some time looking on the ole internet and I found a design that I really liked. The design I chose is called The Shopdog Sawhorse and they fold up so storage is easy and they can be modified for several uses. The designer also has a good video on youtube if anyone is interested in them. They are not the easiest things to make but once they were done I think they are well worth the effort. I build two according to the plans and I found that they were a little low for what I wanted to use them for so I just added some extensions to the legs and they work very well. 

So I started on my workbench and again the Paul Sellers design I chose is not the easiest to build (good series of videos on youtube) but it has features that I want and I'm only building one so the extra time and expense is worth it to me. Maybe someday my Grandchildren will use it. I find myself as I get nearer the end of my road that I what to leave things behind that will be used by my children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren etc… Things that I make with my own two hands may mean something to them someday, at least I would like to thing so. 

I have laminated the legs, they are almost done just a little more cleanup, planing, sanding, and have started laminating the top together. The weather had been so cold that I brought the pieces inside to glue them up so my living room has become a mini shop. Still another reason to build a enclosed workshop… Still on my project list. 

I found a couple of woodworking vises on ebay that I want to add to the bench so I bought them and they were delivered yesterday they are old Wilton vises that were used in a school wood shop. I don't think they even made these anymore and if they do I doubt if I could afford them. Even these weren't cheap but again they should last for generations and to me well worth it. Along that line of thinking I think it's a real shame that so many schools have stopped have shop classes because of budget cuts…I learned so much in the shop classes that I took and I still use a lot of that knowledge today. Getting off track again! 

One of my neighbors just fired what sounded to me to be a shotgun a couple of times, Herc got down from the bed and is laying next to me, but not on my feet, I guess he's starting to get use to it… lol 

Not much else going on just normal life stuff.