chicken condos

Last Monday we got home after dark and I headed out back to put the chickens to bed. I had them all tucked in and was headed for bed myself when I heard a lonesome "peep peep peep", I'd counted the babies and they were all in their pen so I couldn't figure out what was up. The peepin' was hard to locate. I finally tracked it down to the Costa Rican pen. I looked all over and still couldn't find the source. Finally I noticed a white mushroom blooming in the middle of the pen. I stared at it for a while and it finally moved. It was a new baby Costa Rican chick. They're as small as a bonbon. I couldn't figure out where it came from. I got in the pen and picked it up. I then heard another peep and saw a little black chick pop out of a small hole in the ground. I picked it up and then heard something above my head. The mother had hidden herself in the wire under the pen. I ended up finding 4 babies. We took them in the house and in the morning I started on a new pen. I moved the last batch of babies in with the adult CR chickens and moved the junior members into the nursery. They need a space by themselves as the moms are very protective.

For the past week I've been building a deluxe new house for the adult Costa Ricans. It'll be done tomorrow. It has 7 nesting boxes and 7 sleeping boxes. The new house is built to last. I loved building tree houses and forts when I was a kid and apply those skills to my chicken houses. I make them places I'd like to stay. The chickens climbed all over me while I was trying to work. They are completely at home with me.

We have a hurricane headed this way so we're expecting some wind and waves.

Well, time to hit the hay. Got lots to do tomorrow, including painting the stairs. A pretty good trick with all the traffic we get during the day. It'll mean they'll be closed until we eat at 1. I try to get it done early so the smell doesn't linger into the evening.