housing chickens

ken figures these "free chickens" have cost us about $500. so at two eggs per hen per day, if they started laying tomorrow, it would take until new years for any sort of ROI (return on investment). my numbers geek husband. i don't care about any of that. i look out my window and this view makes me smile. that's what matters.

on naming chickens

this is cleo. 

she was the first hen to get a name. with her 'eyeliner' i thought it was fitting. this photo was taken a few weeks ago, when we first got the chickens. below is cleo now, pictured with 'flo' (the other red hen). they've really grown!

we also have 'rocky', 'clyde', 'lola', 'carmela', 'bonnie', 'beth' and 'chica-kahn'. (HA!)

sadly, we lost adrianne last week. i don't know what happened except she was teeny tiny and i don't have a CLUE as to what i'm doing with these birds! but i am learning. that was a hard day. but it's all part of raising animals, i guess. and now that i know better i can do better.

i think ken was worried about us getting too attached - naming them. but in my mind, how can i not name them? they are living beings. they will eventually gift me with their eggs. how can i not?

and let me just say, if he didn't care about them too, he wouldn't be talking the time to build a perfect coop.

we're almost done! tonight is the first night they'll actually sleep inside.
today, the coop got painted. tomorrow, i'll start on the trim. you just wouldn't believe the craftsmanship that has gone in to this little coop!  it's all trimmed out in rough-hewn cedar. the window is a totally custom casement window. and both side doors have hinges, latches and screens for ventilation. that window! i think it's my favorite part. ken took four 12 x 12 panes of glass and built a perfect window. it's insulated, and the nesting boxes come out the back with hinged lids. ken says his brother is going to call these 'city chickens'. that is fine by me.

someone is pretty pleased with himself. and nine little somethings are clucking happily tonight.

wednesday webshare

i found the most adorable patterns for dishcloths ever! kris patay, of kris knits has designed some serious cute. i bought one set and went back the next day and bought four more! i mentioned it to a friend and she said she just couldn't pay for dishcloth patterns. the next day i got a text that read, "i just spent eight dollars on dishcloth patterns!" serious cute.

with inexpensive cotton and just a few hours you can easily create a whole set of cloths to keep for yourself, or gift to someone special.

i made all of these in the last week or so, all available in her free pattern section:

picture courtesy of kris knits.

this is the first one i did as a blanket square. it ended up a little small, but with some tweaking, i think many of her patterns would be usable for blanket squares.
this is the one i did in blue for the schuyler blanket project:

 

they knit up in a jiffy. go on and buy yourself some cute.

kentucky unfried chickens

ken went down to kentucky this weekend to do some work for his parents. he stopped by his brother's small farm on the way home. when he told me where he'd been and said, "i have a surprise for you." my first question was, "is is alive?" i know my husband. he's the sort that will come in the house with something cupped in his hands - toads, snakes, bunnies and once, even a baby raccoon! i was pleased to see my surprise was only a box of chickens. i'd been talking all year about wanting some laying hens. well, now i have nine. and one little banty rooster. today, we need to build a home for them.

pics to follow!