This past weekend was a really a mixed bag of weather! Saturday morning we were out at the construction site of The Chicken Inn II fairly early even thought it was quite cold! The farmer man had managed to get some of the pieces of corner molding cut so we could just work steadily along. That was the plan anyway! Mother Nature had a different idea for our day.
About mid morning while we were preparing all the wood, it started to drizzle rain...that drizzle quickly turned into sleet! Luckily we were safe, warm and dry in the barn and just waited it out while working on cutting the molding. We were supposed to go to a neighboring farm to help the farmer man there burn off some fields, but with the weather change we doubted it would burn. We did head over after the sleet stopped and tried to light the fields off....but it was just too wet. Our neighbor said they didn't have any sleet, just a really light rain and then snow! It's amazing how just a mile or two away, as the crow flies, the weather can be so very different.
After talking with the neighbor, checking out his new tractor and new chicken tractor we debated what to do next. It was still cold, sprinkling some and the radar was showing more on the way. We made the decision to make a trip to town and go to Lowe's and get some more wood that we needed. It was nice to ride in the warm truck and the farmer man even went out of the way to pick up Little Caesar's pizza for us before we went to Lowe's...he knows what I like.
Lowe's.....that was another story. You see, we didn't really have written plans for the coop and have been making changes as we go along to suit our needs and tastes. We were discussing how to make the shutters for the windows and we were going to Lowe's to get some ideas and hopefully some wood too. Well, about three hours after we left the neighbors to head to Lowe's we finally returned home with additional wood and a new plan! This left Saturday pretty much over, but we now had a plan and wood for the shutters and sofit, stain for the coop that will match the barn and all the wood for the trim was cut and ready for work on the next day.
Sunday afternoon we actually accomplished a lot. It was quite cold and the Farmer Man had stated he wished we had a coffee pot closer than up at the house. Hmmm...wait! We do have a Keurig under the counter that we don't use much anymore. Perfect!
The sun came out and the warmed up just a bit. I am ever so grateful for Underarmour though! Between the Underarmour and my coveralls I was able to stay warm and comfortable. We worked until the sun started going down and the temperature dropped noticeably. Even with some changes as we were working, here is what the coop looks like at this point:
There will be another chicken door on this end...this will be the main chicken door. We wanted two doors so when we have a broody hen that hatches out little ones we can section off a small area in the coop to keep them safe. We would then pull a temporary fence from the corner closest in the photo straight out front to give them their own little run and they would use the chicken door already cut in the coop....a nursery of such.
Still some work to do, but it is coming along
We did received our automatic chicken door in the mail this week! I'll have to get some pictures of it once we get it installed. We will be purchasing another door for the other opening, but there isn't any real hurry. We don't even have the chicks yet, and it will be 5 months or so before they will even start laying let alone get broody and hatch chicks. It will probably be next Spring before we install the second automatic door. The door is really cool! We purchased it from www.poultrybutler.com. Check out their website...they have cool videos of how their doors work. We opted for the light sensor and the timer options.
Until we have our own eggs, I think I'm going to go to Merriwether Community center on Wednesdays from 5-7 p.m. and purchase some from a small farmer's type market they have started. There are eggs, meat, milk, and I'm sure once everyone's gardens start producing, fresh produce as well. The milk is from a local dairy Hickory Hill Farm located right here in Edgefield. www.hickoryhillmilk.com. Their milk is also available in several local stores. I love to support other small farms! Do yourself a favor and do a search for local small farms or just ask around. Let's help support our LOCAL folks, keep small farm in business and in return you will benefit from some of the freshest, healthiest whole foods.
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