Things I Have Learned About Myself

The week I spent building my chicken pen and brooder with my dad was amazing…lots of physically demanding work , problem solving and above all, conversations. Daddy talked to me about all kinds of things…

I am a Vermi-composter…I use worms to eat my kitchen scraps and turn them into great additives for my garden. Daddy saw my two multi-tiered bins back by my shed and asked about them. He looked at me kinda funny and told me that when he was a kid they used to take coffee grounds and other scraps from the kitchen and put them in this mound out back of their house…hmmmmmm….Vermi-composting is in my blood! Who knew?

He also shared with me for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE, that his family had chickens when he was growing up for fresh eggs and meat. This is NOT something I expected…Daddy grew up “in town”, the son of a Psychiatrist! So, maybe I was meantf to have chickens?

Yesterday was my mom’s birthday and she was in town briefly, so I had lunch with she and my dad. Mom told me she thinks I am a lot like my Dad’s father…always eager to learn, always wanting to immerse myself in new things, and I definitely got the animal gene from his side of the family.

Isn’t it fascinating how the things we are passionate about sometimes are things we are destined to be passionate about?

The Chicken Pen is Finally Finished!

I’m so tired.  And my dad is worn out, too.  We pushed ourselves hard today, and daddy definitely overdid it.  We completed the last panel and installed it at nightfall.   It was dark! 

First thing this morning, I got up and checked on the chicks in my laundry room.  My olfactory senses were offended….Wow, chicken poop stinks!  (You were right, Lauren!) Daddy and I completed the brooder in my shed first thing, installing the radiant heater, insulating the windows, putting down newspaper and pine shavings, filling the waterer and the feeder.  We transferred the girls to the brooder and waited for them to settle in.  By nightfall they had ventured all over their new space and were eating, drinking, and pooping, happily! And, thankfully, my laundry room no longer smells of chicken excretions.

I have so treasured this week with my dad.  Together, we have actually planned and built a pen for my chickens and it is really nice to look at.  We problem solved, screwed up and figured it out, made adjustments, drilled, nailed and hammered every 2 x 2 together so that no predator can get to the girls.  And, I know it was hard for him, physically demanding, at the least, but he persevered.  He did it and he feels good about it, too.  And, I’m just thrilled. 

He’s had it though.  He’s ready to go home and have a quiet weekend without physical labor and a sun up to sun down schedule.  I get it….But, I will miss him.  I’ve really had fun and I’ve loved doing something special with my dad, just the two of us.  He’s a great guy….interesting, smart, goal oriented, and talented.  How lucky am I?  I said that Daddy can build anything…and he did.

The Chickens Have Arrived!

Staple gun failure, a broken drill bit, three trips to Home Depot, chicken coop arrives and weighs 240 pounds, 1 hour plus drive to get “the ladies”…nothing went as planned today, but it all worked out in the end. 

Where to begin…Daddy and I got started early this morning, in the 40 plus degree temperatures, building our panels and getting the brooder ready.  Unfortunately, we realized early on that we were missing some very needed hardware, so off to Home Depot we went. Upon returning home and working to assemble the panels with wire, we realized the drill bits were broken, so off to Home Depot we went for a second time.  Finally, getting started building the panels, we pulled up the wire and grabbed the staple gun only to come to the conclusion that it had died….off to Home Depot we ventured one more time! 

Finally, we seemed to have everything we needed and everything was working!  We completed the brooder and began work on the panels for the pen.  It was lunchtime, so we finished the panel we were working on and took a break to have some lunch.  Of course, as I’m putting the turkey and cheese sandwiches on the griddle the transport company arrives with the coop.  Oh my goodness….what exactly is 3’x4’x5’????  I’ll tell you this….it is way bigger than I thought it would be.  And, it weighed over 200 pounds!  The delivery man (that’s right ONE delivery man), couldn’t get it where I needed and wanted it, so I called in my son’s friend, 6’5” Pelham, and asked him to bring an equally capable and large friend!  And he came…because he knows I love him and he loves me, too!

So Pelham, his friend, Michael, and Pelham’s girlfriend, Simone, helped us hoist this massive chicken coop up and over a 5 foot granite wall and 4 steps , then haul it (and I mean these guys were struggling with the weight of this massive coop) all the way to the back of the property where my pen is set up.  They carefully dropped it onto the ground and panted, paced, and tried to catch their breaths!  What fabulous guys!  I am in awe that they are doing this for me!  My daughter, Jessica, had made cookies and brownies the night before, so I encouraged the three of them to go get a Vitamin Water from the fridge and grab some cookies and brownies while my dad and I attached the legs to the coop, which was not as easy as I told him it would be.  Finally, the coop was assembled and we all took a corner and moved it, basically, where it will be when we complete the panels for the pen. 

 

Then we jumped in the car and made the hour long drive to Jackson, GA to get the ladies.  Zachary, the ladies first “Daddy”, was adorable and led me on a much anticipated tour of his operation.  Zachary is 12 and got hooked on chickens from a 5^th grade science project.  He has been hatching and raising them ever since.  We loaded the 6 Wyandottes and 1 Polish (which I purchased in honor on my dad and gave to him as a gift, which I will keep for him) into my dog crate and then into my car. 

When we arrived home, my daughter put the dogs into the back garden so that we could take the chicks straight up to the laundry room for the night.  It didn’t seem fair to arrive in the dark and put them in a cold, unfamiliar shed.  Tomorrow we will introduce them to their brooder. 

My dad was awesome today and I don’t think I pushed him as much as I did yesterday.  It was too crazy and disjointed a day to do that.  So although we were both tired at the end of the day, he was excited about the girl’s arrival, too.  And the girls are resting quietly in my laundry room.

Building the Chicken Pen with my Dad

The Chickens are Coming...Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the day…the chickens will arrive one day early.  I can’t stand it any more…I’m too excited, so I arranged to go get them a day earlier.  Daddy and I are half way completed with the chicken pen.  Earlier today we scrapped the chicken tractor when I realized I couldn’t lift it, let alone move it, by myself.  I’ll wait to make this part of my plan a reality.  For now, I just want the chickens to be here at my house, in my chicken pen, in my coop. 

I wore him out today…seriously, I did.  Daddy asked to stop working.  How horrible a daughter am I?  I didn’t see that I was pushing him…I was too focused on the goal.  Later in the evening, he asked me if I ever sit down.  Ugh!  So for tomorrow, although there is a lot to do, my mantra will be to “slow down” and enjoy the experience. 

Although the chickens arrive tomorrow, we have a brooder set up in my shed…they are still babies, after all.  The chicks will not be living in the coop any time soon.  I want to be able to put them in the pen so they can get used to scratching and eating bugs and grasses, but mostly they will be in the shed, protected from the elements and predators, until they are fully feathered.

The coop arrives in the early afternoon, which will enable us to complete the pen.  We have all but 3 sections of the pen completed, so we will have to make those as well as attach the wire.  The wire is the most difficult part of the process…both Daddy and I have bruises and calluses on the palms of our hands from the wire cutter!

Building this pen together is what is important to me.  I feel vibrant from the process…being outside, building something useful from scratch and doing this with my dad, the conversations, the problem solving….I can’t imagine the experience being any better than it has been.  So, tomorrow, I think we will accomplish a lot, but I am also going to work hard not to push my dad so hard and to enjoy this process. And tomorrow night, I think I will have a hard time sleeping knowing my new babies are all alone out in the shed.  It will be a struggle not to bring them into the house….

Countdown to Chickens

Daddy arrived around lunchtime, so we made grilled turkey sandwiches and talked strategy.  Then we walked the space and made a plan for the chicken pen, making a list of all our building needs. Having someone to talk with about the enclosure made it so real...it isn’t just an idea in my head anymore!  We then went to Home Depot and got all the supplies we needed to build both the chicken tractor and the chicken pen:  2” x 2” x 6’ wood, L brackets for stability, screws, hinges, locks…and when we returned home, immediately got started cutting the wood and putting the pieces together. 

We decided it made sense to build the “chicken tractor” first.  The tractor is a 6-foot-long by 3-foot-wide by 2-feet-high enclosure on wheels.  It is completely “caged” so the chickens will be safe from predators.  The idea is that the chickens can be in the tractor and moved around the yard eating bugs and weeds but not decimate any particular area.  We also decided to put a “roof” over part of the tractor to give the chickens shade if they need or want it.  Quitting time was about 5:20, since Daylight Savings Time means earlier darkness.  We were tired anyway, so it was good that darkness was descending upon us.   We weren’t “quitters”.   Daddy had driven 3 hours to get to me, so I know he was stiff from the drive and ready to have a nice, quiet evening and a good meal. 

The best part of the day was having the opportunity to partner with my dad on this project.  I felt like a little girl again when I believed he could and did do anything!  Today I was in awe as my dad made the ideas in my head come to life.  He really can build anything….and we did!  The chicken tractor is taking shape and tomorrow morning we’ll finish it and get started on the pen.  I’m counting the days until the girls finally arrive.