Chicken update

The chickens are doing fine, I think. We lost two more to dogs or something (one was definitely lost to a neighbor's dog). They flew out of their yard I had created for them next to their coop. I have now clipped to left wing of each bird in the hopes of keeping them in this time, and am trying to fix the perimeter fences a bit better to keep out dogs. They appear to be sneaking under the fence.

I am also experimenting with "chicken tractors." This is a device that is sort of a moving pen, so they can be placed in an area where there is sufficient food, that is also in need of work and fertilizing. The chickens receive nutrients, the area cleared of bugs and excess vegetation, and the chickens' droppings fertilize the area. Since we are expanding our garden to at least four more beds this spring, the ground where we plan to place them is an ideal area for them to work.

There was already a cage that had been modified with chicken wire we found on the "back 40" (actually the back one and a half) that we have been using since they were chicks, but it is hard to move great distances without the use of a truck, and it is too small for our growing chickens.

There are many used items about the property. My wife thinks much of it is junk and wants to haul it off, but I have been finding uses for enough items that I have been able to justify holding on to the bulk of it until we are sure we won't need it. One item I found a use for is one of those circular hay feeders for horses. I took one of these and attached my remaining chicken wire from the previously mentioned fencing and it makes a wonderful chicken tractor. I have a two sided ladder for climbing over it to place the chickens in it, and it is easily moved from one part of the property to another. I just upend it on its side and roll it to where I want to go!