It is a joy to watch our flock of chickens roaming around the property. They love to spend the entire day searching for tasty treats and scratching in their favorite dirty spots in the lawn. It gives me (dreamer of having a flock, with her dream now fulfilled) a content feeling in my heart when I see them. We have decided that having a flock of chickens has rewarded us in many ways, not just in the excellent eggs they give us, but also in unexpected ways like the observing of “chicken lifestyle”; the way they interact with each other, their different sounds they make to communicate, the way some prefer others but not others. Some are more shy, some are more talkative, etc.
We like them to roam free. But we now have three roasters…(and the older roaster will attack small children), and try as we might, we cannot seem to keep them away from the house, and because they are each certainly little poop machines, leaving droppings everywhere…..we decided to build a fence.
It is currently 9:15pm and I am exhausted. Rich has this week off from work so we are determined to get some things done around the place. Task one: Build The Chicken Fence.
I am proud of us because we’ve worked very hard today and we have the fence done, except the gate. Go us!
It was a hot day, with several trips to town, (but at least I got an iced coffee!) and everyone got so dirty, but it was a healthy, active day outside. I just love the smell of freshly dug dirt. Really. And we made yet another family memory.
Little Sarah doesn’t mind being outside at all, and seems to enjoy the dirt as much as the rest of us.
Here they are, digging holes for the poles. Grace-of-the-long-hair was her Dad’s big helper. But, unfortunately she read on the roll of fencing that it was enough fence for a miniature pony yard, and now she really wants one (again, still, forever and always.).
Caleb gathered the eggs and dropped two of them on his way to take them to the house.
Two-year-old Seth is just the right age to be Papa’s most eager, pint-sized, side kick. Oh how he makes Rich smile with his charming little ways. He’s the perfect little buddy for his Dad and says yes to anything even if he has no clue where he is about to go, with Papa, this time.
I do plan on letting the hens out in the real yard for a little while each day, just before dusk, because chickens naturally go back to the coop to roost at sundown. How much mischief could they get into in such a short time? The benefit would be that they could have extra opportunities to eat juicy plants and bugs, since their own yard will be scratched over so much all day, every day. I want them eating as much “natural” food as possible, because it makes for a healthier “end” product.
(LOL LOL LOL I totally just made that up myself!!! “end product” = “my new name for eggs”!)
So “ends” yet another fascinating blog post. hmmmmmmmmmmmm?
Good to be Home 
lol, funny you! I like that…end product. I can hear it now, at the end of the day, “will someone go let the chicken’s out”. They will come running to the gate. Good job you all! Isn’t it wonderful to take a shower after all that! Sethy and Rich are too cute.
I love Sarah’s dirty little toes in that first picture! Life is so good and I love the way you count your many blessings.
What a great job you all did on that fence! It really is fun when the whole family pitches in. Little Seth looks so adorable and cutie Sarah is growing fast! My goodness!
Haha…end product!Your chicken fence looks very nice up against your hen (and rooster) house.Roosters can be mean! You are so blessed to have fresh eggs all of the time! We get eggs from my Mom when they have extra, and they are sooooo much better than the the ones from the store.I like little Sarah’s dirty feet….she looks like a summer baby all dirty in her little dress!Glad you had a productive day. =)What a wonderful week you are going to have with your husband home.
cute.. great job!
Now you’re making me want o raise some chickens!! What a great family day you had — I love when every one pitches in to accomplish a task!
It’s so satisfying to work together on a project. I have to say, Grace is on to something with her horse dreams. My girl loves her horse and will often ‘tell’ Penny all her troubles. When I was young we always had horses and as Sir Winston Churchill said,” There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” Even though I don’t have the need to ride horse today like I used to, it grounds me to see horses in a pasture. It sounds like Shannon and Grace share the passion!
I like how you used the wood for the posts! Your post was very end-er-taining.
My husband and I keep considering keeping chickens but there are so many home renovations on my list ahead of building and obtaining our own chicken population that I fear it will be quite a few years before that comes to happen.I loved your pictures! You definitely reminded me how much we want chickens one day!
Awesome!!! We were building a fence this past week too — all is done except the gate and some final packing around the posts. 🙂 It looks great, Shanda!! And love the “end product” 🙂
hi shanda…….you get country living magazine, right? did you read “the ultimate chicken coop” in the july issue? i was just reading through it yesterday and thought of you and your chickens. and as it turns out, at the same time you were all putting up the chicken fence! we are fortunate to buy our eggs from a local farmer, but what a blessing to get them from your own back yard.
@myhopeisinjesus – I think you would really like having chickens! A lot of people are keeping just a few, for the eggs and just for fun. @tea_lady – Thank you. I needed that…to slow down and to understand how special it is for Grace (and Shannon), to enjoy horses. There is something soulful about them.@bamsniko22407 – Come back and let me know when you get them! 🙂 I’ll understand the feeling!@connie – Yes, I do! I loved that article. And guess what? I was also excited b/c a dress Rich just bought me was in one of the pictures (not the chicken article)….in that “clutch pattern” article. It’s on page 56, I think. It’s a dusty blue color….
Beautiful picture of Sarah. It’s probably one of my favorites of her so far. I took some pictures yesterday of my friend Vera’s chickens and her chicken houses. I’ll be putting them on my blog sometime soon.