Tuesday, February 2, 2010

I loved this snow...

...but it is almost gone now ... I guess we are not going to have any thing worth wile to remember for the winter of 2010.

I was lucky to catch pictures of what did come down.

My infamous chicken coop/house. A dog kennel complete with dog house, is what the chickens are using for a home. It is probably a good thing that we are having a light winter. When the snow starts to melt, the drips on the right side, inside, starting from the left side of the door over, is like taking a shower, except, you're dancing around trying NOT to get wet.

The door is that light patch you can see. The left side of the coop/house is dry. That's a good thing as that's where they roost and lay.

Now for a short story:
I inherited an old, old dog house when I moved in to this house. I looked for pictures, but didn't find any. It was just a rectangular cube type shape with a flat roof that lifted off, and a door in a lower corner. U.G.L.Y. It was constructed with double walls filled with sheet insulation, therefore, super heavy. In trying to get it moved towards the burn pit, it was rolled around and around the back yard until it landed upside down with the open top on the bottom on the rocks. The little doorway was now in an upper corner. Follow along now ...

The other day I was wondering why my chickens weren't laying so many eggs at the moment. I asked my friend Dale, and he said that happens sometimes. OK. Now keep following me ... I went out to let them out of their house and fed them. I forgot to bring fresh water, so went to get some, the phone rang, and it was at least 1/2 hour before I got back out there. Again only 2 eggs ... and all I could find was 4 chickens ... the 5th was not in sight. I always worry since we live in the woods, so I did the "Here chick, chick, chick" thing - 4 chickens showed up. Hmmm... I started looking at the snow for some kind of tracks. Ok, yes, there were some chicken tracks that looked fresh. I slowly followed them around the yard along the fence ... hmmm, I came to that old U.G.L.Y. dog house, peeked inside and YUP, you guessed it - a chicken in the middle of laying. I was wondering how many eggs I had missed out on. When Lacey finally hopped out I went to look ... NINE eggs! There was no way I could either move the old dog house, or fit in through the doggie sized opening. I float tested the eggs and they were all fine.

I had to call my friend to come help me to roll over the dog house! When I told him what I needed, he thought it was funnier than hell! Well, it was, but that still didn't get the eggs out. He came down the hill, rolled that thing over and down a bit further in the yard, so that they wouldn't lay in there again.

When ever I go let the chickens out or put them in for the night, my dog, SueAnn has to go too. She has taken a real fancy to these chickens. She is sickening - she eats the chicken sh*t, and cleans their butts ... can you say "Bad Breath" Whoowee...!!! She also likes the chicken feed. Go figure. I can toss out old stale bread, crackers, cereal, etc., and that dog is right in there with the chickens! She won't eat it in the house, just when she is sharing with the chickens.


Here is another shot. Darn dog - I just love her!


I hope you all don't think I've gone over the deep end, but I'm easily entertained and love these kind of happenings as long as my animals don't get hurt.

Hugs

5 comments:

Natalie, the Chickenblogger said...

Gross, yet hilarious. Oh puppy. lol
Betty is a stealthy layer too... I think she wants something to hatch, so she has to out "think" us.
Our animals are the best entertainment... keep us on our toes too.

A Joyful Chaos said...

Fun post. Thanks for sharing.

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

Ewwww! Takes the love of chicken just a little too far. It cracks me up to see how different animals get along with on another.

Have a fantastically blessed day!!!

Ravenhill said...

Delightful that you share with us.

Your dog is so darling with your chickens! They look like they get on so well!

Paula said...

So you have a dog that thinks she's a chicken. I'd only worry if she starts cackling and laying eggs. And don't let her lick you. Yuck-o!! Our animals have always been a bit confused about their species as well.

Got a hoot out of the doghouse story. Now your hens are probably a bit upset that you took their favorite nest box away!