A few of todays helpers...

[DawnH]

Life is so hard here...


Cali - one of our rescue kitties. Adopted from Animal Control 5 years ago. (She likes to supervise.)




Kaiser - adopted 4 years ago. (They suspected he was 6-8 years old at the time of adoption - this is him supervising while I was enjoying coffee outside early this morning.)




The girls. Also supervising.

 

[Yvonne G]

You're right! Life is hard!!!

 

[dmmj]

Cats don't help, only hinder.

 

[mike taylor]

I miss my chickens . They are so fun to watch .

 

[DawnH]

I wish I was one of my pets...lol

Mike, ours have no idea they are chickens. They think they are dogs. They even come when you call them. It's absurd.

(And I forgot to post my biggest helper, our Great Dane Zoe - watching over her kingdom.)

 

[Levi the Leopard]

...thank you... I was waiting for the Dane... Lol

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Quite a nice zoo there Dawn!
And everyone looks very healthy.

 

[stojanovski92113]

My husband has brought up quite a few times about getting chickens. Are they full of personality?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

My husband has brought up quite a few times about getting chickens. Are they full of personality?

....And parasites?
Sorry. Couldn't resist. Some chickens are entertaining.. Some not so much.

 

[DawnH]

...thank you... I was waiting for the Dane... Lol

I thought I added her the first go round! *gasp* I was shocked to not see her mug. For goodness sake, don't tell her!

 

[DawnH]

My husband has brought up quite a few times about getting chickens. Are they full of personality?

YES! Oh goodness, yes. They have been with us since 1 day old. Raised inside for the first 6 months. They think they are dogs. I will find them by the back door wanting to come inside or (if the door is open) walking through the house...lol. Since we live in the "city" we went with Bantam chickens. They are very quiet and quite beautiful to look at. Our girls were featured in "VIP" magazine (here they are reading their article) on backyard chickens.






Emma with Big Bertha (Bertha follows Emma everywhere.)



Jilly with her hen "Squishy." This was taken two years ago. This hen loves this child carting her around and even now they can be found swinging softly in the back yard. Squishy sound asleep on her lap. It's absurd...lol

 

[DawnH]

....And parasites?
Sorry. Couldn't resist. Some chickens are entertaining.. Some not so much.

Not once. I run a tight ship and you will see me advocating for Diatomaceous Earth like I have stock in the place. We built our coop so it would be the easy to clean (I use sand as substrate, just scoop with a litter box scoop and toss in the yard) and keep everyone healthy. I actually painted it INSIDE (and will be doing the same with Tuleo's night box) because few people realize how painting plywood/wood seals against moisture and parasites and is a great barrier against poop and urine. I can pressure wash it (on low) and it looks brand new. I use latex exterior and have yet to have an issue. We built the coop five years ago and it still looks new!


(Photos below are from this years springs clean out. Pressure washed, fresh sand added, DE spread and we are ready for another year.)

 

[DawnH]

Quite a nice zoo there Dawn!
And everyone looks very healthy.

Thanks. We have three dogs, two cats, 1 ferret, 1 cockatiel, the worlds best Betta fish (he likes to be petted, it's crazy) named Indigo Von Sushi, 1 Sulcata and the chickens. Oh, and our five kids (two of those have flown the coop) as well as our two foster kiddos.

Sanity is over rated.

 

[Yvonne G]

Not once. I run a tight ship and you will see me advocating for Diatomaceous Earth like I have stock in the place. We built our coop so it would be the easy to clean (I use sand as substrate, just scoop with a litter box scoop and toss in the yard) and keep everyone healthy. I actually painted it INSIDE (and will be doing the same with Tuleo's night box) because few people realize how painting plywood/wood seals against moisture and parasites and is a great barrier against poop and urine. I can pressure wash it (on low) and it looks brand new. I use latex exterior and have yet to have an issue. We built the coop five years ago and it still looks new!


(Photos below are from this years springs clean out. Pressure washed, fresh sand added, DE spread and we are ready for another year.)


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Wow! Very nice. Kitty sure enjoys it.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

The chickens I had/have in South Carolina came with the property and sleep in trees. Is that odd?
They have had no socialization and I'm sure that has made all of the difference.

 

[stojanovski92113]

Great pics! Thanks for sharing and giving us more info about chicks

 

[DawnH]

The chickens I had/have in South Carolina came with the property and sleep in trees. Is that odd?
They have had no socialization and I'm sure that has made all of the difference.

Pretty normal if they don't have a place to roost. They head for the trees to be safer from night predators. The socialization is huge. Our hens have been to the kids schools to talk about chickens/eggs/husbandry, etc. so they are handled quite a bit.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Pretty normal if they don't have a place to roost. They head for the trees to be safer from night predators. The socialization is huge. Our hens have been to the kids schools to talk about chickens/eggs/husbandry, etc. so they are handled quite a bit.

Cool. I didn't even know that they could actually fly until not long ago.
I've been told mine are escapees from a **** fighting ring long ago.
They aren't exactly cute.