The Eviction Notice

Last weekend I finally evicted the Girls from our den. It's really hard to say who was more delighted: they or us. Needless to say, they were happy to get out of the now-cramped dog kennel and into a bit more space and fresh air. And we were delighted to have our den back.

Before I could move them out completely though, I had to do just a bit more reinforcing of the coops, so I bought some hardware cloth and placed it underneath the coop, then secured it to the frame of the coop with chicken wire (how appropriate.) Then I spread a layer of bark chips all over it, and set up their food and water vessels. I also bought and attached a latch for the egg-door, to prevent curious raccoons or rats (or dog noses) from getting in.

Finally, with Matt's help, I built a little ramp for them out of some old plywood we had lying around. Giving them a ramp rather than just lowering the face of the henhouse gives them some extra room, which they will soon need because they are growing like weeds! I think it came out pretty well:



So by Saturday night, the Girls were moved into their new home and made very comfortable. Kylie was pretty perplexed by the move though..she had only just got done telling us for weeks that THERE ARE CHICKENS IN THE DEN!

Now, everything had been turned topsy-turvy! Suddenly, she had to warn us urgently that THERE ARE CHICKENS IN THE YARD! No matter how many times we assured her that we did know that there were chickens in the yard..that we had, in fact, placed them there ourselves, she still was concerned that we might not be aware that THERE ARE CHICKENS IN THE YARD!!.

Still, I wasn't too concerned about it. I felt pretty good about it actually..after all they were nice and secure.

Until Monday, when Matt yahooed me from home.


"Um, honey? I think we need to shore up the coop a bit more."

"Why," I asked.

"Oh..just because." he replied. Then he sent me this:



*sigh*.

I've been letting the Girls out for a few minutes in the morning while I make coffee and shower, and then again in the evening so the can stretch their legs and snatch up some tasty cobwebs. On Tuesday morning I learned that, while they are always eager to come out in the morning, getting the to go back in when I want them to is a bit more challenging. I tried using the Scary Blue Broom, but that only caused me to commit a Laurel & Hardy routine. I even let Kylie out to see if she chased them, would they just all flock immediately into the safety of their coop? Nope. What happened is that the Girls just ran right past the open door and started going in circles around the coop and henhouse, with Kylie right behind them. Soon I joined in, and before you know it, all we needed to complete the scene was Benny Hill in a wig and someone playing Yackety Sax in the background. Especially when, the moment I got them almost lined up..the sprinkler went off.

Note to self: Do not wear white dress pants outside to chase chickens on sprinkler day.

Finally, here's a couple of shots of the girls enjoying some corn, generously donated by my friend Windy.