Author: Anna & Mark

Spring has sprung on our homestead and we’re
busy weeding, planting, mowing, and finishing up the chicken
pasture.  Meanwhile, so many of you have told your friends
about our homemade chicken
waterer that the
orders are flowing in at breakneck speed — we’re thrilled, but that
means less time for blogging!



I just wanted to warn
you that things might be a bit slow on the blog front for a little
while.  Don’t despair!  I’m still soaking up chicken trivia
and will have lots saved up when the rain forces me back inside. 
It’s bound to rain one of these days, right?  Meanwhile, if you
miss your blogging fix, you might wander over to our homestead blog where we post far more
frequently than anyone could possibly wish.

At
three and a half weeks old, our Dark
Cornish chicks are
mostly feathered and I’m considering turning off their brood
light.  Mark’s insulated
brooder box has
worked perfectly for the last week, allowing us to downgrade to a lower
wattage light while the chicks stay just as warm, and I’m wishing we’d
created an insulated section like this from the start.  It gives
our chicks a lot more freedom to choose their favorite
temperature.  They can loll in the encapsulated heat, or walk just
a few inches away and cool down while scratching and leaping.



Speaking of leaping,
these chicks are even spunkier in week three than they were in week
two!  The coop
that originally seemed so huge is now a small playground for our 25
cockerels.  They’ve taken to leaping up on their brooder box,
scampering across the cinderblocks protecting them from digging
intruders, and even perching on their chicken waterer.  Yikes!  Mark
made them a perch to give them a bit more play space and is hard at
work fencing in their first pasture area.