The chickens are in the coop

Well, today they were anyway. The coop is pretty much done!  It is (hopefully) predator-proof, now it has just about everything except nest boxes and roosts in the henhouse. It'll probably also get a paint job at some point. Here are the girls enjoying what will be their new home. We'll probably start putting them outside during the day and bringing them back into the basement at night this week, then they'll be outdoors full-time.

Brave new world pt. 2

The chickens had another adventure today.  They got to kick it outside again, and meet a BABY!  It was a cute-off for sure.

Brave new world

The chickens had their first taste of outdoor chickenhood today - we let them wander around on the lawn in the sun for a while.  With the dogs locked inside, staring intently through the sliding glass door and whining.  We should've taken a picture of that.  The chickens enjoyed pecking and scratching around in the real world, and they didn't even get eaten by any crows or anything, joy!

Living room

New avocado-colored chair and globe in the living room. Same crazed dog.

Teenagers

So many feathers!

Adventures in chicken-raising

We brought the chicks outside on the deck today for some sun and excitement.

 They were fairly calm about the whole thing, and I found out that if you pet the back of their neck they really like it. Also, they're already getting their feathers - you can kind of see here that their wings are almost completely feathered.

Hopefully they'll remember the good times we had snuggling and be really friendly their whole lives.

In the meantime, the coop is coming along quite nicely! We let two of the chicks check it out this evening - two girls one coop.  One of them pooped, which we'll take as a sign of approval.

We didn't want Dakota to feel left out, so we let her have a turn in the nascent henhouse as well. What a goof.

This is the foundation of the coop - the frame has chicken wire loosely attached to the bottom, then dirt shoveled over it.  This will hopefully keep out any fossorial predators. The henhouse, adjacent run, and roof over both will go on top of this foundation.

More chick pics

All the ladies in the house.

Life under a heat lamp.

Cuddle friends - Ladyhawke and Britney.

They grow so fast!

We got chicks today!

Our first chickens.  We got four.  They're 4 days old, and they're already getting some feathers in at the tips of their wings. Here they are: Gaga the speckled sussex, Britney the buff orpington, Ladyhawke the white plymouth, and Paula the Rhode Island red. Adorable!!!

Gaga, up close:

We're going to try to hold them a lot so they're friendly when they're older. Britney:

They fall asleep on their faces a lot. Paula:

Dakota is WAY too interested in them.

But we let her have a supervised hello.

They'll have a lot of their feathers in only 1-2 weeks. Peep peep!

forsa

got a couple days in with the family in sweden last weekend. here are some random photos from my short trip.

showed up just in time for mormor's 90th birthday, with lots of cake!

met a well trained hound that would serve as a great role model for some other turkeys i live with

sweden is developing lots of wind power, on the way to town i saw the below sign that reads something like 'NO to windpower on our beautiful mountain'. Just like home.

mum at the falls

this raw milk vending machine was newly installed at the local ICA grocery. the feds don't allow the farmers to sell raw milk in a retail environment but there is a revolution starting. i wonder when we will see these vending machines in seattle?

the local mountain. no, the wind farm would not be installed here but rather 30 miles away in some hilly forests.

Meanwhile, back in Seattle....

The hot tub has been installed out on the deck.

my first weekend in copenhagen i went to kjuge in sweden for some climbing (1 hour train and 1 hour drive). there happens to be a 'castle' nearby where you can stay for a bed and breakfast. it was certainly the high life as fas as climbing accomodations go, but the breakfast puts one in fine shape for climbing.