Jan. 31st, 2012

Edwin arrived right on time.  Daisy welcomed him warmly.

He seems nice. I wonder if he has grapes.

The two of us wrangled the girls into their old brooder cage for the trip.  Most factory farm layers have about this much space their whole lives.

It turns out, Edwin’s truck bed was too small, so I called two heroes to help this damsel in distress.  G.T. and Gary are master builders in our neighborhood and they both dropped what they were doing to transport the coop to Hampstead.

I love these guys!!!

We convoyed down Hwy 85 with three vehicles, 4 humans, a chicken coop and 3 chickens.  We arrived safely and I snapped a photo of the girls’ new neighborhood as we drove in.

Beautiful!

After two hugs and heartfelt “thanks” to my two new boyfriends, Edwin and I settled the coop and put everything back together.

They are building a fence all along the field which will be a huge chicken run when completed.  There are garden beds filled with vegetation and clover between the coop and the barn.

Notice the similarity between the coop and barn. Sweet!

We got the girls settled inside and gave them some water and food.  I showed Edwin how I remove the roof and clean the coop.  Also how the little doors fit in the windows and where to place the water, food and dustbath.  He indulged me kindly even though the man has raised chickens for years and I was acting like he was a newbie.  I think he sensed how sad and nervous I was about their first night in a new place.

Proud Papa!

It was about an hour before sundown, and Mr. Marty left me alone with my babies to blubber like an idiot.  If anyone had driven by they would have seen a near 50-year-old woman sitting on the ground next to a funny red house talking to three chickens.

We like it here so far!

As the sun was going down I figured no one would arrest me for pulling up a few handfuls of lettuce and clover to give to the girls before bed.  There’s probably an HOA regulation against it, but I was feeling brave.

Thanks Mom! Can we have this every night?

The ladies went through their nightly routine of taking a short dust bath & getting a drink before bed.

Then…one by one…they climbed up to bed…

Good night Violet.

Good night Rosie.

Good...

...night, my sweet Daisy.

Thank you for going on this adventure with me.  Please join me tomorrow for the final post.

Not anymore.

Jan. 31st, 2012

The girls are going to live at Hampstead Farm in East Montgomery about 10 miles from my house.  Hampstead is a neighborhood that promotes a “green” and sustainable lifestyle.

http://hampsteadinstitute.org/

This cool neighborhood is also the home of the Montessori School at Hampstead.  Rosie, Daisy & Violet will provide the students with their first experience of caring for farm animals.  The children will get some entrepreneurial experience by “selling” the girls’ eggs to the Hampstead CSA.  Eventually the school will add more chickens to the flock, but until then, Rosie, Daisy & Violet will “rule the roost”.

You got that right!

After tomorrow you can now go to the school’s farm blog to keep up with Rosie, Daisy & Violet:  http://montessorifarmers.blogspot.com/  It may take a few days for the ladies to show up on the site, but keep checking if you want to see how they are adjusting.  Although we are very sad to lose them, we will be able to visit whenever we wish.  They will continue to be spoiled rotten and I’ll make sure they get a few grapes once in a while.  Later today, Mr. Edwin Marty, the executive director of the Hampstead institute will arrive with a truck to transport the coop to the farm.  They ladies will ride in Old Blue (my 13-year-old car) enclosed in the bunny cage they lived in for the first 6 weeks of life.  I think it will be a bit more crowded now, but they’ll only have a short journey.  I shall document the relocation project and return to the chicken diary this evening for a full report.

Jan. 30th, 21012

Some of my chicken posse gathered in the backyard for the last night of “Chicken Time”.  I can’t thank these lovely people enough for all their encouragement and support.  I love you guys!

Mike brought grapes! He's their favorite.

Dennis & Tama, my excellent friends and chicken sitters.

Mike, Hannah & Cuppie

Hannah & Sue

Jill and Susan, trying to look cool. Keep tryin' ladies!

Skeeter & Hudson

Right before Violet spilled wine all over Jill's pants...

...and right after!

The handsome Norris family--Will, Michelle, Catherine & Nathan

Ron, Renay and their new baby "Lexie"

More people trying hard to look cool--Allen, Mark & Cindy

Kim and her Krew

It was a great evening and I only cried a tiny bit.

Goodnight girls. You will be missed.

Jan. 29th, 2012

Cleaning the coop is never a fun job, but it is even less so in January after a week of rain.  It will go with the girls as a temporary home until a proper coop can be built at their new address.  Of course I wanted to make a good impression on their new chicken wranglers, so I spiffed up the avian domicile to the best of my ability.  I washed it inside and out with a bleach mixture and then dried it with an old towel and let it sit in the sun with the roof off for a while.

I hosed off all the plastic liners is use to keep the upstairs clean and I put new pine straw in the nest boxes.  It looks as good as the day Jim built it. (The House that Jim Built, May 31st)  While I was cleaning, Rosie was acting upset because she REALLY wanted to lay an egg, so I rigged up a temporary nest box with an old cardboard box and some straw.

At first she fussed when I put her in it, but then she settled down and VOILA!

I realized that I won’t have the girl’s eggs for much longer and I had wanted to repay Brenda’s kindness with an eggy treat.  She is the friend who made the beautiful decoupaged box for me. (A Meaningful Gift, Jan. 24th)  I made a small spinach Quiche and an egg custard pie with the fruits of my girls’ labor.

These are personal pan-sized and they fit into a pretty box I use to store Christmas ornaments.

I thought giving the Brenda this nice box as well as the food added a bit of symmetry to the gift-giving.

Skeeter is bringing the present to her mom today.  Brenda lives in the country and I still haven’t travelled to her farm to meet her.  Thanks Skeeter, please don’t eat them on the way!

Tomorrow I will disclose the girl’s new home.  Today they are enjoying a gorgeous day in their spotless coop under the Alabama sunshine.

Jan. 27th, 2012

It has stopped raining for a while and the weekend is supposed to be sunny.  I’m glad the girls will get to dry off and prance around the yard on their last weekend home.  Their winter garden will be in full bloom just about the time they have to vacate the premises.  I guess the humans will have to eat the kale, spinach and collards.

The wire is just big enough for their heads so they can peck through the fence and snag some roughage.

I think on the day they depart, I’ll just tear down the fence and let them go to town on it.  I’m keeping the lid on their new home because I don’t want to jinx it.  It’s a great situation and one that will allow us to visit them every day if we wish.  We’re still ironing out the details.

I couldn’t close this chickendiary without including a picture of Rowdy and Sammy enjoying their unique new kitty bed.

I dragged my guitar out of the mothballs after 20 years to learn a request for a friend.  The kittens enjoyed lounging in the case for most of the day.  Silly kittens!