Wow. New posting format... I'm kinda lost here. Anyway, today is another infodump. A lot's happened that's been keeping me away from the computer. Namely: the birds are getting big! (I call the cats "the girls" and our chicks "the birds".)
So, yeah. They're getting big. Too big for the galvanized tub we originally had them set up in. They're dirtying their bedding overnight, which means we've been replacing it very regularly, but even that isn't quite good enough.
So I've been trying to make them a coop. I've kinda been in a hurry because, as soon as I've got the coop part of the coop ready, we can move them into that overnight, and put them in an outdoor chicken run my father-in-law built during the day (while I continue to build onto the coop).
So, once again, behold the innate messiness of the infodump:
1.) Blight. We lost half our seedlings to it. I've still got my rosemary and lavender seedlings, and plenty of tomatoes or peppers, but unfortunately while we were throwing away all the blighted plants, the remaining got mixed up. So we'll have some surprise plants growing. I know the peppers and tomatoes will probably cross-polinate, but since it's all going into my Infamous Throw-Together Burritos anyway, I don't think that'll be too much of a problem. Live and learn. Learn and live.
2.) Roof. I cannot thank R. and my in-laws enough for letting us have the junk wood salvaged when they were having their roof redone. Hail damage--> Insurance--> New roof--> wood for poor man's chicken coop. Long story short. Anyway, I'm very grateful for that, and all the help I've gotten figuring out how to use the power tools in the garage. And on that note, I'm also very grateful for the use of the power tools and all the nails, screws and drill bits you guys have let me use. This would quite literally have been impossible to do without that.
3.)Hands. I used to think my hands looked rough compared to the other strippers because I refused to wear nail polish. I didn't know the meaning of the word. My hands are now covered in little red dots where the hardware cloth poked through the skin. I've got burns on my right thumb and forefinger. I've got a slash on my left ring finger. I'm just happy I haven't lost a finger yet.
4.) Trees. I can climb them. Like a black bear. I didn't know I could do that. I was trying to get a dead limb from this rather tall tree which had no limbs near the bottom to use for support, so I just climbed right up it, grabbed the dead branch and hung from it until it broke loose, at which point both the branch and I hit the ground. (I landed on my feet.) So... awesome. I'm a cat. Cool.
5.) Roosting rods. Of my birds, Wings seems the most willing to tolerate my interference, so I've been using her as a "stunt bird" whenever I want the others to catch on to a new idea. For example, I made a mini roosting rod for the tub. I put Wings on it, and she very obediently sat in place, chirping in that way she does when she's content with whatever it is that I've done to her. While she was doing this, the other stopped cowering away from my hands and ran up to the rod, pecking at it curiously to determine whether it was edible or not. I left them to it and came back to find three of them perched on the roosting rod. Sadly, it's too small for the broilers. I'd like to make them all a little birdy ladder that they can climb to get up to the perches in the coop. People who've looked at what I've made so far say the coop looks like an aviary in a zoo. Basically, it is an aviary. These are birds. Yes, they're chickens, but they're also birds. Birds are happiest in aviaries. So, I'm making them an aviary coop. LOL
Hopefully, it's sturdy and not just pretty. I'm rather concerned about predators getting in. I built the first removable "door" of it yesterday. (Will post pictures soon.) I've also run out of hardware cloth, and apparently the store is sold out. Which reminds me that I need to go out and buy a latch for the removable "doors".
So much to do. Anyway, ttyl. :)
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