Thursday night we worked on cleaning out our chicken coop. After spending years on the farm, I never even realized it's full capabilities. It's always just been another shed to pile stuff in that's not being used. According to our photographer, David Hatfield, it would have been good for that TV show Hoarders. After the first 10 minutes of pulling out random things, we all agreed wholeheartedly.
So after about an hour and a half, we successfully moved everything from the shed to the yard, which is where it sits to this day because we haven't felt like looking at it since. The ground inside had been torn to pieces by groundhogs so me, Brent, and Clint shoveled some dirt around for another 30 minutes just to get the floor somewhat level again. It turns out that shed has wiring, thermostatically controlled brooder boxes with removable dropping catch pans, heated waterers, cages for different birds, and light sockets for all the lighting you could ask for. Of course it all has to be looked at and mostly redone, but it's still there to be utilized.
Saturday we spent the whole day working in the snow. When I say we, I mean me and Brent. Clint and Katie were only around a couple of hours before they went off on a little errand which I'm getting to. We cut out problem trees that morning and flung them on our ever growing bonfire pile. With a dull chainsaw that would hardly cut butter, and an old cross-cut saw that was hanging in the storage building, it was slow going. The chain was beyond sharpening, and who wants to drive all the way into town for a new one when there is snow flying and plenty of work to be done with too little time to do it? Certainly not me, and no one else was volunteering, so we cut with a dull saw.
The rest of the day, while Katie and Clint were away, Brent and I moved some old shelving and railroad bridge timbers in the barnyard. The shelving we used as a sort of second fence to the existing one. It covered an area about 50x3x3. It won't keep any goats from getting out, but it will sure keep a hog from rooting under. We only moved six of the railroad timbers before we were played out, so we finally called it a day and went inside to have a cup of something warm to drink, and sit on the couch.
Katie and Clint came back with trouble. Times two. They brought in two of the ugliest mongrels I have ever laid eyes on.
Okay. So maybe ugly mongrel was a bit extreme, but aren't they painful to look at? To quote Agnes from Despicable Me, they're "so fluffy I could die!" Anyway, this is Juneau, and Kintla. Juneau is on the left.... I think. They are the new guard dogs for our future chicken flock. Right now they're not much more than bottomless stomachs and bundles of fur that disappear every time they get in the snow.
And that brings you back up to date. There's not been a whole lot done around here because of the cold temps and the snow, but it's pulling together. Maybe one day, maybe, it will start shaping up into something we can use. Until then we're trying not to freeze, and working as hard as we can on as many projects as possible to whip it back into shape.
They are cute! Aaron, they may be extremely fluffy, but YOU still have more hair than them. :)
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