Hello, Chickens!

Last Sunday Logan came to lay down with me...

...and promptly fell asleep.😂

Sweet boy still naps probably every-other day a good 2-3 hours. Yes, bedtime is a train wreck on those days, and no, waking him up doesn't do anything. He just gets super grumpy and yells, "I want to SLEEP!!" and puts himself back down. 😂 

Monday we had a deluge of rain which was very much needed. Dad's grain wasn't up yet and we prayed the rain would help it along. Sure enough, it sprouted this week. Today we fasted as a stake for water for the farmers. We said a special prayer with the boys praying for Gramps crops and that he and the other farmers would have enough water. I remember praying often while growing up for Dad's crops to have enough water, to be protected from the hail, etc. It built my faith watching those blessings unfold. I'm grateful to teach the same to my boys, and pray it will grow their faith too. 

I was able to get out that morning before the rain started to paint the coop, walk two miles with Mom, water everything, and pick up after Teddy. Emmett and Logan each get their poop shovels and help me pick up after him. It's a big job so they always get a dollar afterwards, and we do it at least every-other day. As much as I hate picking up after the dog myself, I love giving the boys work to do. We also played at the park with Chelsie and Lacy's kids.

Tuesday we hosted the track meet for the week. I did have to zip over to see the midwife in I.F. in the morning. Nothing but good news there. For track, I dissolved the boys 4X400 and we stuck our 4X400 girls in the 4X200 that day, so I had an easy meet and only had to be there until the 400 open was over. Score! I hurried home to work on painting the final touches on the coop. We also put more decorative granite down around the back porch.

feelin' big pregs over here

Wrinkly hands and feet after his bath!

Wednesday we picked up bark from Diers for the rest of the flower beds. Whatever is left after the flower beds are done will go in the chicken run around the coop. After track practice, I planted one of the flower beds with new pansies and shrubs. It looks really nice with the bark down.

getting close - water box in the back, roosts on the left, nesting boxes on the right.

The kids came to track practice with me and loved showing off their fence climbing skills to the girls 😂

Emmett was a big helper during planting😍

The rock will continue along the back.

Thursday was another beautiful day. I used the sunshine to clear out another flowerbed. After a quick track practice, we planted the flowerbed and laid down bark, planted strawberries, and then added pine shavings to the inside of the coop. We also redid our handprints on the coop. When baby comes I'll add his/her hand print💓

Walking to Granny's - you can see Dad's sprouted grain over the fence. 

This flower bed is especially rocky. I spent a lot of time throwing out as many as I could stand.

We decided to lay a tarp down before the shavings to protect the floor from breaking down. We'll be using the deep-litter method and only clean this out twice a year.

planting strawberries

Friday I did research on how to prevent hawk attacks. One method is to zigzag string across the run which prevents the hawk from swooping down because they can't see clear space to fly down/up into/out of. I decided to go ahead and try that; let's hope it works. I put some cardboard linings down in the nest boxes and fluffed those. We also borrowed a dog kennel to use to bring our chickens home the next day. 

I need Justin to move the front 4X2 up a little to prevent the shavings from getting kicked out easily.

Friday's napping position😂 I adjusted him after taking the pic so he was more comfy 😂

I bought the one butterfly net Diers had and Granny let us use hers. The boys have been chasing butterflies constantly. We may need to start a bug collection.

Two dog kennels for the chickens. 

Saturday we got up early to head to Idaho Falls. Trisha's youngest, McCoy, was getting baptized. I was excited to have our kids get to see that. We hit Home Depot before heading up to Rigby to avoid the crowds. McCoy's baptism was so nice - Hailey got to join in over zoom from her mission in CA. Trisha fed everyone brunch afterward. She connected me with someone who was looking to sell her chickens that hatched last September (perfect!), so after brunch we headed to pick out our girls. I picked up my Walmart grocery order on the way home and warned the gal there were chickens in the back and not to be alarmed. 😂

crazy chicken lady vibes

I definitely could have fit all five in the one kennel we had, but I wanted to make sure they had plenty of room and wouldn't peck at each other. Both sets hunkered down together on the drive home. I thought for sure they'd be super noisy and crazy but they were very chill. Overall I'm very pleased with their demeanor and look forward to getting to know each of their personalities.

I had to add a hasp to the water box...I was too nervous a racoon would get up there and open it up.

The main chicken door also got loose so we'll be adjusting that ASAP. When you move chickens, it's recommended to keep them inside their new coop for 5-7 days so they know this is their new home and that it's safe. (Once you let them out after that, they go to bed at sundown on their own, and they'll free range without going too far.) So thankfully they won't need this part of their coop until after they've been fully acclimated to their new home. In the meantime I had Justin drill the door to the wall to keep them safe. I am hyper-sensitive about predators because I know our run won't keep anything out, so it's critical the coop is secure.

My NORA tea - right hand is freshly brewed. The left has just been strained after steeping for several hours. The longer the better to extract all those vitamins/minerals out of the leaves like calcium, iron, and vitamin C. I drink a quart a day and will try to do so every day until baby comes. It's great for post partum too!

Justin hard at work for his family's "superhero themed" family reunion this summer.  I hope they appreciate it!

Justin getting the kids in on the project with the painting.

The first egg of the day!

After church there were three more. We'll see if all five lay today. Justin didn't think they would, but I couldn't find a reason why they wouldn't. 😍 We've enjoyed going out to give them scrap and say hello several times already. These chickens will be so loved! 

It's also worth noting that Logan got his head stuck in his chair during primary singing time today and it was soooo funny. We were in the middle of singing a song and I see him get stuck and try to pull himself out with no luck...I busted up laughing but we kept going! I have read several stories of kids getting their heads stuck in church chairs and the fire department had to be called to get them out. Justin was able to fanagle him out thank goodness!

Books from March/April:

Birthing From Within

Strong Mothers, Strong Sons

How to Talk to Strangers

Anxious People

The Power of Habit