2014 Goals

1. Lift weights 3x a week

2. Run a mile under 6 minutes
3. Learn to cook beef noodle stew
4. Catch a sturgeon
5. Catch more salmon
6. Go fishing in Mexico
7. Take some admin classes
8. Shoot an elk
9. Dive for abalone
10. Organize a big family/friends camping trip
11. Shoot a target at 600 yards
12. Learn to cook a tasty mac n cheese
13. Fish, pick mushrooms, take them out to eat, etc. with my parents at least once a month
14. Play in a poker tournament

Thanks to my friend Lindsay, I have been inspired to make a list of things that I want to accomplish for this year.  She created a public blog in which she lists her goals and writes about them as she accomplishes them.  These are specific and concrete goals that are achievable. I hope that I can get these done with great company. 

Cleaning the coop.

Here are some pictures of me taking snow off of the roof.

Eggs

My chickens laid eggs! I cant believe they started laying in the middle of winter. We just had our biggest storm in 40 years with tons of snow and these girls decided to start making eggs. Silly girls. I am so happy.

Pecking order

As Doug and I were watching the chickens this morning, we noticed that Marilyn was picking on most of the other ones. She is quite aggressive with her tail feathers up and her cheek and neck feathers puffed. She was mainly chasing Jacqueline. It seemed where ever she went Marilyn would follow. They were running around the coop and the run. It was very entertaining.

I also dug up some grass from my side yard and put clumps of grass in the run to grow. I hope that they can get established before the chickens eat them all up.

Everyday I have been pulling some grass and clovers for them to eat. They love it. They will even take it out of my hand. I will post more pictures soon.

I have been getting a good amount of water draining into the run from the roof. I am considering ways of redirecting the water. I am concerned about this in the future rainy months coming up.

10 weeks old

Marilyn is back! My Dad asked me to take her back. She was getting beat up by the other 5 older and bigger hens at my Dad's. He believes that she is really a hen and not a rooster. I have not heard her screaming like she used to when she was here. I could of sworn that she was a male because of all of the noise she was making. Sorry Marilyn for sending you away for a few weeks.

She has been more of a loner since she got back. A lot more aggressive because
of the other hens. She has been hanging outside the coop while the others have been staying inside.

Front of the Coop.

Doug and the Girls

9 weeks old

8 weeks old and 3 new posts.

Marilyn turned out to be Marilyn Manson. Yes, she is really a he. I was in the garage on Saturday and he started to crow. It was sad. Marilyn was my favorite chick. So nice and the most bold and friendly. I will get a picture of him later. I sent him on with my dad. Hopefully nobody complains about him or he will be dinner. Here are the others. They are so much more happier being outside. Last night they fell asleep outside. So I picked them up and placed them in the coop. Today I put them in as it was getting dark. They stayed in once they got in. I heard that chickens can't see in the dark and will not move if you move them.

Chicken run

Here are some pictures of the run. There is also space for them to run underneath the coop.


Door to enter the run.





All of these pictures are from the side. It is in the corner of the backyard so its hard to get different angles. I just realized that I don't have any of the back so I will have to post more tomorrow.

Finished coop and run

I finished my coop and run on Sunday morning. It took many days and hours, but it was fun. I have been tinkering and making little adjustments to it. I don't think I will ever be done with it. It has a hanging feeder and some branches for them to climb on. Here are some pictures of it.


Side view of the coop and nest box.


View from inside the nest box. You can see the door and the window at the front of the coop.


This is the back of it. The back folds down for easy cleaning.


The back with the door pulled down.

Pullets are 7 weeks old

The girls are no longer chicks. They are so big and have graduated to the pullet stage in life. I hope to have them in their coop and run within a week.