A Surprise Move

Between yesterday and today, the temperature dropped.  Yesterday we had fair skies for part of the day, and temps in the high sixties.  Last night, the wind blew like a lion, and this morning when we rose, it was 32 out.  I had to drop the waterers to break their ice (pick them up a few inches and drop them). 

I have been worried for a week about the little crew in the pasture pen.  They sleep in a dog house that has no door on it.  The pasture pen was meant for summer only, not year round use. 

So, Keith went out in the cold to try to finish the new henhouse as much as possible, so I could move that group first.  I had not meant to move them first of all... rather, Butch, Fancy, and their three girls were meant to go first... but now Fancy is sneezing, and I've got to nip that in the bud, so in the feedroom of the big henhouse they will stay for a while.

First off, I had to run down to Garnett and get Nathan, since we needed his help.  While I was on the way back, Keith called me.  He could not find his watch cap from last year, and he asked me to stop and get him a warm winter hat.

Behold... Elmer Fudd.

 

You know he is truly a nice guy when he lets me tease him like this.  It WAS cold.  He DID tell me he is going to go get himself a good black watch cap at Cabela's tomorrow. 

 

He wore it while we hurriedly moved construction stuff out of the henhouse and the henyard, and straightened things up.  I did not get a picture of Nathan, but he was doing the heavy carrying.

 

Then he did this for me.

 

 

 

(Spread the straw)

 

Then he did the really hard job... he crawled into the doghouse in the dark (I had a flashlight) and 20 mice popped in his face as he tried to get hold of the chickens, who, of course, were nestled at the very back of the doghouse.

 

 

Here are the victims first residents of the new henspa! 

 

I did not intend to move the little roosters, except for Junior, who has been taking great care of everyone. 

 

The two smaller ones will probably end up in the batchelor's quarters which will be the little henhouse/yard in the future. 

 

 

Here is how we left them, piled into the far corner, under the roosts.  They are used to sleeping in the little henhouse, with no roosts, though there were two roosts in their pen, and they used them during the days.

Tomorrow morning, we'll get their food/water sorted out... Keith wants to be sure we don't slosh water all over the floors in there. 

 

I wanted to hang the feeders and make them work for their feed, but I don't know if that's going to work now.

 

The henyard is not ready for them yet, we don't have the nets up, and the ramp does not have it's little "feet" on it yet, for them to walk up and down.   For now, they are going to stay inside and get used to their new, airy quarters.  It won't be like the pasture, but they'll get used to it, and I won't have to rake eggs out of the doghouse they were living in!

 

I'll also get some much better pictures taken in the daylight, so you can see the cool things Keith built in to the new henspa.