Here Chick Chick!

   

Please meet my new little feathery pets! This is what they looked like a couple of weeks ago. I always loved to see other people's chickens scratching and flapping around in their yards and thought it was so sweet. I never thought I would actually have some of my own at my house! Mrs. J. was very thoughtful to give me four of her little baby Barred Rock laying hens to take care of as my own. I was really wanting a dog at the time because I had a need to have something to take care of.  I suppose my motherly instincts are kicking in because I need to take care of something. :) Anyway, she was so kind to give me these four little hens to get my own little "farmstead" going! I kept their living quarters (a box) inside the house for a few weeks until they were big enough to go outside. Because I was in need of a chicken pen, Mr. J. set his carpentry skills to work with building me a little chicken coop in our back yard.  

 

Here is what the chicken coop looked like as it was almost finished.

 

And here's what it looks like now. He added windows on the back, one on the side, and even a little flower box. He made sure that all sides of their pen were cemented underneath the dirt to keep any predators away. My chickens are happy. :)

Right away I went to buy some flowers for the window box. Thankfully, I had Mom there with me to help me coordinate the different flowers...she's has an "eye" for coordinating things. :) Iwas feeling quite overwhelmed with all of the different choices of plants myself! Next, we're hopefully going to paint the chicken coop, but I'm not quite sure what color. I may just stick with white because that looks "cottagy" and will match the house.

  

This is the back of the coop. Mr. J. also built a little box on the back that leads into the inside. When you lift the lid there are three boxes for the chickens to lay their eggs in. All I have to do when I collect the eggs is lift up the lid and grab them! That will be very nice and I can keep the bottoms of my shoes clean. :)

 

This is what they look like now after a couple of weeks of growing.

Do you see that one on the left? I think it may be a rooster. :) I hope he'll be nice to me if he is for sure a "he". :)

 

So this has been my new project! I am really enjoying my little chickens. Right now, I'm trying to train them to go into their pen when I call using  a hand full of scratch. I think I'm getting it down! I do have one chicken dilemma though...I haven't named them yet! I have had the hardest time thinking of cute chicken names. :) Right now, they're all named "chicken". Imagine when time comes to pick out a baby name! I can't keep calling it "Baby"! Haha!

Speaking of Baby...tomorrow is the big day!!!! In the morning we're finding out if Baby is a boy or a girl...and guess what...Eli got the morning off so he can come with me!!! That was a huge blessing! Please join us in praying that all goes well tomorrow. If you're interested, I'll be posting the news tomorrow evening so check back if you want!

Well, Husband will be home in a little bit and I have some laundry calling my name. :) Thankfully, we're having leftover chicken alfredo tonight so no cooking for me! Yay! I am going to make a cherry cobbler tonight though with some fresh cherries that were sitting in the fridge. I have my guy hooked on cobbler :) ...thanks Papa for the peach cobbler recipe that "hooked" him! Ah, I'm nervous about tomorrow!!!!

Comments

[Emily N.]

Allison-

I really like your new chicken coop! It's so cute with the windows and the flowers add that special touch. I second painting it white for a cottagy look. That would be so pretty! I think it would look nice with any color, though :)

I thought of/ found some cute chicken names that you might like.

For The Ladies- Daisy, Miss Scarlet, Abigal, Charlotte, Mille, Dolly Doo, Miss Prissy, Lucy, Ellie, Amelia, Irene, Henrietta, Lucy, Harriet, Betty, Clementine, Mabel, Hattie, Sophia, Miss Glenda, Tracey, Annie, Martha, and Shirley.

If you do have a rooster maybe: Peeping Tom, Randy Dandy, Mr. Doodle, Cockle, The Colonel, Richie, or Lone Ranger.

I hope that helps with one or two of them. :) It is hard to out pick names that you really do like. :)

Love Your Sister In Christ,

Emily N.

[Terri]

I like Randy Dandy fora rooster. That is really cute. Daisy, Dolly Doo, Mabel, Amelia and Ellie for the girls. My mom talked about getting the grandkids chicks for Easter but the plan fell through. I am glad just becaouse I didn't know what I would do with one. I already have 2 rabbits and a hamster. The turtle died on Kaitlyn's birthday. Soon I will even have a dog named Dollar Bill Thomas lol. The girls named him.