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 5th 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.
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