Monday, July 18, 2011

Two Flocks of Chickens

Aidan and Athena, 14 1/2 months old:



Aidan and Back-up, 4 1/2 months old (I would give her a better name, but she was the one with the neurological problem when she was a baby that made her back up and roll over and the name stuck. Btw, she completely healed after a week of Vit. B, Vit. E, neck rubs, and isolation in the house for a week. This was when she was 4 weeks old and we think it was something called wry neck because that was her other symptom; she tucked her neck under to the point that it was twisted nearly all the way around. You'd never know by looking at her now.):


It's not easy integrating two flocks. We are keeping a barrier between the two until the younger hens are eating the same feed blend as the layers. The older one's are aggressive enough that the younger ones will just stay in their coop and not come out during outdoor time if the barrier is down. I know they need to have their pecking order and get that established, so we take the barrier down for awhile every day, but I want them outside also, so we'll put it back up after Athena (the warrior name, go figure, lol) chases them all back inside. If we walk away, she'll even go in and eat up their food, so that's reason #2 to keep them seperate for now. It's interesting to me that Snowball, who is the most skittish around people, is completely accepting of the younger chickens, even sharing scratch with them, which none of the other hens will do.

In a month or so, we'll be building yet another coop (good golly, the FIFTH time) closer to the house and they will all be eating the same feed rations, so they'll just have to get used to each other.

A Few House Updates

The kitchen after sheetrock:


After we painted and they installed the cabinets and sub-floor:


Here are some of the appliances being stored in Aidan's bedroom before they get installed elsewhere:


Ealom's bedroom:


The boys sitting on rolls of carpet padding in mine and Gil's room:


Master bathroom:


Living room with rolls of carpet and trim:

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Interior paint

The sheetrocking was completed on June 30, and then it was our turn to work on the house; interior painting. What a job! It's nice to have a strong young man for a son who doesn't even need the extension wand to paint ceilings. (I did recommend it nonetheless, but he enjoyed doing it this way also):


Aidan takes a break from painting to make a cleaver belt:


I will have to post more pictures later. :)