The Chicken Coop

In mid-March we bought 10 two week old red pullet chicks so that we can soon have fresh, free-range, organic eggs and know the chickens they came from are very well taken care of and healthy.  We kept them in the garage for a few weeks, but once they started to try to fly we knew we had to get their chicken coop built quick!  A couple of weeks ago my dad came over to help Jason build the chickens a nice home.  We already had a 10 x 10 dog pen for their run area and built the coop on the outside of the pen to give the chickens the most running space we could.  ( All of this is also enclosed within a quarter acre 4 board horse fenced area with wire mesh - aka The Dog Yard. ) We based our plans from this coop and it turned out quite nicely!  I still need to paint it, but these photos will give a good idea of how it was built and how it turned out.  They seem to love it!  We open their hatch every morning and put them back up every evening around sun-down.  They pretty much put themselves back in the coop when we walk into the pen in the evenings, but sometimes we do have to capture a straggler or two.  I can't wait for farm fresh eggs!  Just a couple more months...

Muskrat - 11/52

This is a muskrat that Jason rescued from our friend's swimming pool last Sunday. He apparently thought he was going to get a drink and maybe find a new home, then abruptly realized once he was in, he couldn't get back out!

Molly - 10/52

While helping to take care of a friend's dog over the weekend, I managed to get a quick shot with my phone to send to "Momma" who was away.  This pretty girl is Molly, a beautiful Australian Cattle Dog mix who is as sweet as she is gorgeous!

Hot Tubbin' & Snow - 9/52

Saturday I had five girlfriends over for a "big girl slumber party". We had a fantastic time - we ate good food, played some Wii dance, had a craft session in the craft loft and spent the majority of the evening soaking and chit-chatting in the hot tub.  This is the view from the hot tub in the daylight. I can't wait until the leaves on the trees start coming back.

After our 70 degree day on Friday, this is what we woke up to this morning - boo!  Pretty, but BOO!  But tomorrow is supposed to be in the 60's so that's ok.

Goldie the Betta - 8/52

Over the weekend Goldie the Betta fish ( named by my 6 year old niece ) got a house upgrade from a gallon and a half vase to a lighted, Fluval Chi 5 gallon tank. With the extra space I decided to get him some guppie friends.  So far he's not being aggressive towards them, but he was chasing them around before they got a chance to settle so he's currently in "time-out" until the guppies get their bearings. I also got a couple of ghost shrimp to see if he will be ok with shrimp - my last betta, Poe, was fine with them, but Jason's betta, Adolf, hunted them down and killed them.  If he plays nice with them I will get some red fresh-water shrimp.  These guys are just the guinea pigs of the tank ( sorry guys )!

This picture is before the guppies were added, but I'll post an update of them all once we see if they will swim in harmony.  In the photo, Goldie is the blue blob hanging out in the bottom right corner.

75 Gallon Saltwater Tank - 7/52

The new saltwater tank is coming along quite nicely!  Jason added in some new rock over the weekend that helped fill it up nicely and gives lots of new nooks and shelves for more corals. We have missed having the saltwater tank and are both happy to have one again. It's fun to sit and look for all the critters that hide in the rock - some we see on a daily basis, others only show themselves here and there.  This isn't a very good photo, but it's the only photo I managed to take, thus it's my project photo for last week.  I'll try to do better this week.  ;)

Snowy Morning - 6/52

Another Kentucky snowy morning, barely. It was gone an hour later.  We've had very little snow this year and most of our days have been in the 50's.  I'm not complaining a bit!