Chicken Dog?!

So, I'll just get right into the story... I came home from town Monday afternoon. I let Blue out and then decided I would take a little rest before the kids came home. I had just gotten to that in between sleep and awake state when I was jolted by a shriek. I jumped up and looked out my bedroom window, which faces the front yard. There I saw Blue with a chicken hanging out of her mouth! I was in panic mode!! I jammed my bare feet into my boots, grabbed my glasses and was heading out the back door. As I opened the door there she was with the chicken screeching in her mouth. I yelled, "Blue! Put her down!" and she did! The poor Buttercup girl ran to a corner and hid. I scooped her up and held her close to my chest afraid to look at the damage. Blue ran in and laid down under the kitchen table as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on. Still clutching the hen to my chest, I went out to the coop to see if anyone else was out or hurt. I quickly noticed a hole going underneath the coop. Sherman built the coop up off the ground, so there is a gap between the coop bottom and the ground. Too small for my big fat blue heeler to fit in. But perfect for a mischievous cat to prowl in. The "Little Kitty" (as we call her, because she was the runt and smaller than the other two) had pushed her way in under the coop and into the run. I had barricaded the gap with wood and rocks but she worked until she made a hole she and a chicken could fit through. I'm assuming she went into the run and all the others made it safely inside the coop but one found the hole and escaped into the backyard. That is when Blue scooped her up! Everyone back at the coop seemed O.K. so I closed the chicken door and trapped them inside until I could fix the hole and doctor my hen. I took her into the garage where there is better light, armed with a bottle of Rooster Booster-pick no more lotion- it's to doctor wounds. I was so worried I was going to find puncture wounds from Blue's teeth. I thoroughly checked her all over. She was wet with foul smelling dog drool but I couldn't find a scratch on her!

She was very out of it and almost fainting. She was weak and wouldn't stand up. Her breathing was very fast and her eyes were wild. I wondered if after finding she wasn't injured if I would loose her to shock. I tried to comfort her and found a small box to put her in so that I could keep an eye on her. I was a little afraid to just dump her back in the coop with the others because they"ll pick on the weak. So I carried her in the box out to the coop with me while I checked everyone closely for injury. When I sat the box down she quickly perked up and hopped out to join the others.

She went straight over to get a drink and then laid down over in the corner. I watched to see how the others treated her. They didn't seem to notice anything different. She rested for the rest of the day and was leary of going out the chicken door. But by the next morning you couldn't tell anything had happened to her...She was back to herself! By the time the whole ordeal was over the kids were hopping off the bus. No nap for me!! Just crazy chicken drama!! Now... I'm going to assume the very best of my girl Blue. I figure the cat rounded the chicken out into the yard and Blue was saving her. The fact that she carried her so gently in her mouth is quite amazing to me. If she had wanted a chicken snack she certainly could have been well on her way to gobbling it up... that she brought her to the back door to me is amazing as well. The chicks did grow up in the house...maybe they bonded and she is now a chicken dog! I have seen her herd off the cats as they stalk the outside of the fence of the run. Maybe, just maybe she is loyal to the flock and will protect and serve!! I hope that is the case! I know she impressed me by not munching down on my poor hen! She is fat and lazy and not good for much BUT if she protects my chickens she will be greatly rewarded and live a long happy life!!!! I found some leftover wire and patched all the possible entries under the coop. The girls and Rock a Doodle are safe and happy scratching around in the run! You should see them fight over a June bug!! Funny!! Let's hope the entertainment stays in the coop and the girls live well and happy and grow to produce LOTS of eggs!!! That was enough excitement to last me awhile!!!!

How Does Your Garden Grow?!

My garden is growing up nicely! My tomatoes are there in the pic. The corn is over to the left of the pick. My spinach was down by the corn but the 100* + temps fried it to a crisp! I don't know if it will come back or not. Spinach doesn't like extreme heat. I may have to try to grow it in a container so I can bring it inside if these temps continue to be so hot! My onions and herbs are in the plot directly behind the tomato plot. My herbs are growing well and the onions are coming along good too. With this heat I guess the ground is plenty warm enough for me to go ahead and plant okra. I may have to do that in the next few days!



I finally got my bean patch plowed! I'm planting pinto beans and black eyed peas! Yum! I have 3 rows of each. This hot weather is really drying everything out. We had a good rain but it soaked in so fast you can't even tell anymore! It is amazing what a good rain will do for your crops. You can water every night but a good rain will give your plants a huge boost! We could use another good rain!







This is a pic of the squash patch. It's planted in front of the chicken run! Which is FINALLY finished!! YAY! The chickens now have a nice yard to run in. It turned out great and they love it!
It took them a little time to get use to using the chicken door. But they soon got the hang of it and run in and out freely. I close them in every night and open it every morning. They usually go out and scratch around in the morning and evenings and stay inside the coop in the heat of the afternoon. With the hot temps I've been putting jugs of frozen water in the coop to cool them off. They gather around the frozen jugs and absorb the cooler air they produce. It seems to work very well and is easy to do. It is sad to see them panting and trying to keep cool in 110* days...Which is what the thermometer registered last week!! Crazy hot! I hope this is not a preview to what the summer will be like. It will not be fun to have this heat hang around all summer. I pray the temps become more pleasant and we have a few nice soaking rains without all the bad stuff! That would be nice!! How is your garden growing? I hope we all do well and have veggies in abundance! Happy gardening to all!

Moving in the Coop!

This is the coop! I named it STARCLUCKS! Open and ready for egg business! Well almost! Egg laying won't happen for another 14 weeks give or take.

I moved the chickens into the coop this last week. They had completely out grown their box and well, it was just time! I was SO ready for them to move out of my house and into their own! So I built them a pen outside to peck around in and got busy preparing the coop for move in.

I painted the windows and doors green. Since I picked the name I tried to make it resemble the Starbucks color. It turned out very nice. I'm really liking the green. The windows are covered with screen to let the air in. You just prop the windows and a nice breeze blows through. The chicken door leads out into the run...that is not built yet. My dog Blue is sniffing around wondering what is in there! She is very curious about the chickens. I'm not sure if given the chance she wouldn't gobble up a chicken snack.

The egg doors are also painted green. I can't wait till I am going to these doors each morning checking for treasures! I just KNOW my girls are going to provide me with many eggs!

I don't have much patience. I'm so ready for eggs! Every time I go the grocery store and have to buy eggs I just think WOW pretty soon I won't have to do this anymore! Whoo hoo! That will be such a great feeling to walk past the eggs in the store and not have to buy them! I just can't wait it makes me very excited. I think finding an egg in the nest will be like finding a ed ripe tomato in your garden. Knowing you worked hard and get to have the awesome treasure to enjoy. It is such a cool feeling. I can't wait to feel it!

The girls and Rock a Doodle rooster were so happy to have space to run around in. I set up the food and water on blocks so they won't kick bedding in to it. It is working well and staying clean. They were happy to have a meal in their new home! I've been using pine shavings for bedding. I like it! It works very well and is easy to clean. It smells better than the sand and is easier to manage. You can buy a pressed block at the feed store so it lasts a long time. It is cheap and will be easy to compost when I have to clean out the coop.

The green to the left is the chicken door from the inside. We nailed slats onto it like a ladder for the chickens to walk down. It will be nice when the yard is finished and I can let the door down in the mornings and sit outside and watch them scratch around. I built a temporary yard for them to scratch in till the real yard is finished. It's just a 4x4 square but they love it! They eat every bug in sight!

That is my girl Dorthy there in the middle the two speckled girls are the Buttercups aka The Twitchy Sisters! There are 3 of them and one has become friendly and even flies up to my knee if I'm bent down. Dorthy always flies up to my knee and even my arm or shoulder! She is such a sweet girl! She is the largest and most feathered still. This heat is really getting to her. It is up in the high 90* today and the humidity is so high. They have been panting and drinking lots of water the last couple of days because of the heat. The coop is giving them protection but it's only a few degrees cooler in there than outside.

I like this pic with Blue watching in the background! I've had so much fun watching them play around in the yard. I know sitting outside in the morning with my coffee watching them come out and scratch around will be one of my favorite times in the day! I can sit and watch them for hours. It is so entertaining! I know I'm so blessed that I haven't lost one. It is not always the case many times a chicken dies. I'm glad all my girls and rooster are doing so well. It's been quite a journey to the coop and I know it will continue on. I'm just glad we've moved on to the coop phase and moved out of the house phase!! haha! More pics and updates to come!