So, how did that chicken coop project we started yesterday come out?
Well, while I was crackling the doors, Chris finished the roof and ventilation area.
Little coop.
Of course, it needed steps up to the roosting and nesting area.
We need stairs!
I got busy using up the extra white paint to cover most of the wood surfaces. I left a little paint free to look rustic. I may paint it later. Maybe red!
The nest box is painted well, since water will drip on it.
While I painted, the ramp got built, so I painted that last. It’s just got to dry then we can set it up.
Happy hen house.
Next thing I knew, Chris was working with PVC pipe. I looked up and, boom, he’d made chicken feeders he’d seen on Pinterest.
Quick and easy project!
We took them over and set them up on one of the few walls that aren’t moving soon. I put food in them (and the dispenser worked!).
This is interesting! Clarence is more interested in the bug-filled dirt where the old feeder was.
Next, we herded all the chickens into the feeding area. They found the water holder then noticed the food dish had moved. It only took a minute or two for Steen to figure out the feeder. Others joined in!
There’s food in there!
Good news at last: Fancy Pants MAY be getting les broody. We are seeing her out more and more. Sigh. Just in time for fertilized eggs. Ha!
Suna used white glue to crackle paint her desk made of old doors.
For my new desk, I wanted a rustic look to go with the rest of the office. Yesterday I showed you how I painted the doors that will be part of the desk a very bright red. To remind you, it’s this color:
I used leftover paint to revitalize this concrete cardinal.
Today the fun began. I made crackle paint and did the doors. How? First, you splatter white craft glue all over and then brush it on, leaving thick and thin parts.
Doesn’t that look festive?
You let the glue just start to dry, then slop your top color on. In this case, it’s the trim color at the Ross house. You have to go fast and resist the urge to go back over it, or you get this.
Just painted. Looks like a crappy paint job!
Then you wait. As the glue dries, cracks show up. There are little cracks where the glue is thin, and bigger ones where it is thick.
Drying. Cracks have appeared.
The really thick parts take a long time to dry. I may have over-done it on the first door, which still has wet spots as I write this. I’m sure I’ll be able to sand this evening, though.
My desk top, all crackled.
And since I had a little red left over, I painted some trim on the old chicken house. That may protect its paint a little. And it looks more rustic now!
Red matches the ranch theme!
Now I’m painting other things. That’s for the next blog!
Chris and Suna create desktops and chicken coops from scraps and leftovers.
One thing’s for sure, the hermits of Hermits’ Rest sure know how to celebrate without leaving the property. I’m proud of us.
Most of the day, Chris and I worked on two projects, a second hen house and nest box, and my new desk.
My project was the desk. First I spent a couple of hours sanding the doors, one of which is the desk top and one the “modesty panel.” I’m so modest, you see. I just wanted to rough them up a bit.
The modesty panel door.
By the way, the doors came from the Pope Residence, and were a bathroom and closet door, so smaller than standard.
Here it is with a coat of red paint.
The desk top was painted white. It’s paint was peeling and hard to sand, so it took a while. I forgot to take a “before” picture. I’ll blame the heat. I did really well not overheating today!
The desk top looks much brighter, since it’s base was white.
No doubt you notice the doors don’t match. It’s okay. This interesting shade of coral red (made by mixing my bathroom tomato red with the red from our Christmas float) will be an undercoat.
Two coats on. Red enough.
Both doors look nice and “rustic” so I’m happy. Tomorrow the MAGIC will happen, so come back for Day 2 of the door desk paint project!
Meanwhile, Chris was finishing the nest boxes he started, which are nicely hinged now.
Hinged box.
Then he got to work turning a shipping crate that held the tile for our house 5 years ago into a chicken coop. He added a roosting shelf, and attached the nest boxes.
Roosting shelf.
The outside he covered in more of the tin we used in the Pope Residence.
He just improvises. But measures carefully.
By the time we called it quits, he’d measured the roof and got the supports up. The hardware cloth (wire mesh) is ready for the ventilation openings. This should also get done tomorrow!
Roof supports are up. The triangles will be air vents. Hens need them.
We also hope to get more shade cover for the birds and to enlarge the pens, like I mentioned earlier. That will keep us busy at home for another day!
Did I mention that these projects only cost us labor? All materials are scraps or leftover stuff from other projects. Fun doesn’t have to be expensive! It does help to have a creative and talented team lead, though. Go team!
I hope all of you who celebrate Independence Day in The US have a safe and fun holiday. And now for the news update.
Guinea Drama Part 2
I went out to feed the birds yesterday, and lo and behold, there were only five guinea keats. I fed them and was confused. So when Chris got home, I asked if we weren’t supposed to have seven. He said yep. Crap.
I then looked more carefully at their cage. Since it got put in the chicken pen, it’s been on grass. That made what WERE small holes into bigger holes. Two of the little dickenses had escaped.
The five remaining ones, nicely arranged.
About that time, Alfred skipped by looking very happy. Well, there was one keat. We still haven’t found the other.
Henhouse Happiness
As we were standing around lamenting the loss of the guinea fowl, Lee asked when we could combine the two chicken groups. I said now, I guess. So everyone is together now.
We’re taking over!
The older ones definitely are the bosses, but they aren’t attacking or anything, other than Clarence, showing what a manly rooster he is. He and Bruce are okay.
Gracie wanted to help Bertie and Ginger eat grass.
This means we can add our new nesting boxes and expand the run some more. We’re working on that, and more shade, today.
The new hens clustered for a while but it’s better now.
How’s Apache, You Ask?
I’ve been walking him a little bit every day. Today Chris came over to observe his gait, and we are pleased to report he’s walking pretty normally.
Grass! Yay!
So we let him and Fiona enjoy some green grass and loving for a while. They’re so good, just relaxing with us.
Happy to be out of that pen.
And you can sure tell Apache has lost weight. That’s one fine butt with no belly showing through!
His best side?
And of course we need to end with the cutest thing ever.
Ah, ranching. It’s never dull. So, a couple of nights ago, something got into the guinea pen and did away with two light ones and one dark one. Damn.
It’s a real murder mystery, because whatever it was got into the pen somehow and broke their necks. One’s head was out of the chicken wire, but the rest weren’t. It’s as if something got them but couldn’t get them out!
They were way off the ground!
Whatever it was either had to climb up high to get in, or fly, because they were on a shipping crate. And the holes in their cage were small.
In any case, they gave up, but left a scent that the dogs all smelled, especially Gracie that morning.
We like the new water fountain!
The panicked flock is now well inside the chicken run, where Bruce is guarding them, along with his gals. They are happy to have grass and bugs to enjoy, and they can bond with the chickens.
Thanks for our new digs!
Those are all fine. Clarence is very happy now, and filling out nicely. His green tail feathers are so pretty.
Clarence the cockerel
The old ones do seem okay with their dude now.
We want to go out and chase grasshoppers. Even that big new interloper.
The new ones are getting more and more accustomed to us feeding and coming in. They run around after bugs and away from Bruce.
Bruce corralling his gals.
They don’t eat out of my hand like the other three hens, but Patty is especially friendly. She’s also very beautiful, even though she’s still the smallest.
Pretty and friendly Patty.
We hope to finish their nest boxes soon, since they are maturing, and to join the two runs. Next is another expansion. Chicken World will be glorious.
You just want to paint those nails! Pandemic activity!
No, this is not a report about a book I read in high school that’s eerily reminiscent of today. I’m just updating on the ranch animals.
How’s Apache?
We continue to monitor the heck out of him. He’s walking fairly normally, so we will slowly start exercising him. Yesterday Sara and I walked him around for about ten minutes. And yes, he stuffed as much green grass in himself as he could.
Still eating hay.
He’s on a different feed, new supplements and the Buteless herbs. And he gets his coronal band painted most days. Pampered!
As for Fiona, she loathes sunscreen. Sigh.
Today we’re going to get a lot of straw that we can leave out for them to chomp during the day, since Apache and Fiona are in the dry lot a while longer.
The Other Horses
Today I tried a real ride on Lakota, the dreamy palomino. It was interesting to ride such a well trained horse. He sure backed up well, and he trotted over obstacles!
The ride was helpful for me, because I was able to convince him eating grass was not on the agenda. And my use of the reins got better, thanks to Sara’s help. Making strides!
Spice is getting fungus medication and it’s making her look worse, so far. But that may be appropriate. She and Lakota are now eating down the grass in the small paddock, so it will be bad enough for poor Apache, eventually. Ugh.
And Birds?
The guinea keats are growing like crazy and starting to lose hair on their necks, as you can see here.
We think we’re cute.
They’re still pretty ugly, but will be beautiful adults.
No more fairy eggs! The ones on the left are from yesterday.
Clarence the rooster has finally been accepted by Bertie and Ginger. He’s usually out with them now. I just hope he starts fertilizing them soon. Poor Fancy Pants keeps brooding.
At least we’re in the same general vicinity.
The others are developing personalities. Hedy seems to be the boss. I see her eating oyster shells, so I hope that means she’s a hen. Her tail is suspiciously attractive.
Pretty Hedy
And Bruce never ceases to amuse me. He’s bossing like a boss and fluffing his crazy feather variety all the time. And trying to crow (no luck yet from either rooster).
Really, I do understand why people are being cautious these days. The rate of coronavirus infections in Milam County has skyrocketed. I have been limiting where I go, and even wearing my mask to cross the street. I ordered a lot of new masks today, too, since I’m wearing them more and getting them dirty.
This question mark butterfly is stunningly beautiful, and was right outside my office door.
My family and the companies I am affiliated with are all being very careful. There have been two people die who work for my Austin employer, though I do not know what caused it. Sure makes you pause and want to hug your loved ones, though you can’t.
For the past three nights, Carlton has been lying on top of me until I get to sleep. Dogs are so loving.
What I can do is tell you some fun/mildly interesting stories about animals and share some pictures! Okay!
Mama Finch says she likes it on THIS side.
First, all the birds around our Cameron offices have been continuing their festival of babies. The mockingbirds finally left their parents this week. I miss them, but Lee says now we have a carport squirrel. The swallows are down to two babies who are about ready to fledge. And the every-valiant house finches re-built their nest on the OTHER side of the garage and are sitting on eggs.
I love that nature just keeps plugging along. Some things just don’t change.
One thing that doesn’t change is Alfred and his abundance of hair. We had him pretty well cleaned out, but yesterday we noticed Harvey was getting lots of hair out of him. So, Kathleen sat and patiently removed hair for about ten minutes, before Alfred ran out of patience.
I’m not sure I like this…
The rest of the night, if Kathleen even LOOKED like she was heading toward him, he ran away. Not much makes him run. We laughed a lot, and laughing is good. I hope some day we can work on his other side!
Just chillin in the pasture.
I got a new animal sighting today, too! I saw my first jackrabbit in Milam County, right on the ranch. Someone had said they saw a really big bunny, so I think this was the one. Those are some big ears, but I felt a lot better with my ID when a couple of local friends confirmed my sighting. I am happy to see them and hope their population grows.
In horse news, Apache is walking close to normally, for which we are all very grateful. He, Fiona, and Big Red the chicken are all getting tired of living in the tiny pen not sure why Big Red is always there, but maybe she thinks shes part of the herd.
Good morning. We would like to eat now.
I did not ask for a husband.
And in bird news, the guinea fowl are growing like crazy, and the new chickens are, too. The ladies are growing in their combs. Clarence, the newest rooster, has not won over Ginger and Bertie Lee yet, but its getting better every day. Thank goodness!
We think Bruce is about to get his crow going, which will be fun. At the moment he makes some funny sounds we cannot really identify.
So, that is the non-COVID news from around here. Office update soon!
I was a little worried that we are pampering the chickens and guineas. For example, I wandered out into the woods today to make more perches and shade for the chickens.
Hedy and Hedley are on the new perch.
And Chris made a new shelf and perch for the guineas. They have really grown since we got them!
The perch in front and the shelf in back. They still haven’t figured them out.
I feel much better now, though. I got two books of chicken projects at Tractor Supply, and they had some of the most indulgent yet cute projects imaginable. One has 40 projects; one has 50. I guess their editors had the same idea.
Keeping Chickens
Chicken Keeping
Very similar titles, both full of helpful ideas. Not the greatest or the worst.
One of the authors, Lisa Steele, who is apparently a big chicken blogger,* puts curtains on all her hens’ nest boxes, because some are shy. Lordy. And she makes them salves and feeds them herbs. And builds many adorable hen swings.
We only got to have our shelf because Chris added chicken wire to the top of our cage so we can’t get out.
I did enjoy the projects in both books (Janet Garman is a little more serious but also obviously LOVES chickens) and got some good ideas, like making a low perch for the Jersey Giants. Right now Hedy loves it the most, followed by Henley and Bruce. The young hens do love all the new things. They still like to play.
We love our new perch, say Hedy and Henley.
Oh! I forgot to share that last night I let Ginger and Bertie run around and chase grasshoppers for a while. Lee and I were mighty entertained. Those gals are good! Even Clarence came out and caught some. I got them all back in pretty easily once they had their fill.
You go this way. I’ll go that way.
Going after the same bug
I got a moth.
Free ranging
I hope we can let them out more often. As long as the big dogs are inside, they’re fine. Vlassic and Gracie just watch like we do!
Nope. Our chickens aren’t pampered. Just fun.
*Like I can talk. I’m a not-big sort of ranching sort of venting blogger.
The good news, for sure, is that Apache is walking a lot better. The bad news is that between the vet yesterday and the farrier today, plus new medicine, he is one expensive pet. But, I knew going in that horses are not for the penniless.
Apache declares’s he’s worth it. That’s me, watching him on FaceTime.
This is NOT dignified.
Yesterday, while I was at the closing on the Ross house and helping stick colored glass in the floors at the Pope house, Dr. Amy came to the ranch to float teeth on all the equines and give them their shots. I was so sad to miss that, since I’ve never been there when their teeth were floated (that is when the veterinarian takes some sort of giant buzzing raspy thing and makes their teeth even, so they can chew more easily and won’t hurt their tongues on sharp teeth.
She ended up doing all of them, even poor Fiona. Of course, they said what a great donkey she is, etc. I felt sorry for her with the giant mouth-opening appliance in her. The good news is that they do sedate the animals for this undignified procedure.
I’m smiling, really, Fiona says.
Since I could not be there, Sara was kind enough to FaceTime me, so that I could see everything. That’s why my head is in most of the photos.
Apache was very good for his floating. I am sure it was easier to keep him still, because he wasn’t wanting to walk very much.
He made Dr. Amy laugh.
No fun for anyone.
He also showed that his feet weren’t TOO bad by picking each of them up so that Mark (Sara’s friend who used to train thoroughbreds) could paint some goop on his hooves. I think he thinks Apache is gonna croak at any moment, but we think he is already getting better.
Dr. Amy prescribed some powdered Bute, which I went and bought for $45. Of course, he hates it. ARGH. We agreed he needs to eat empty calories, and she prescribed some food that fits the bill (though his current beet pulp does, too), as well as a supplement with a lot of turmeric in it. I take it, and it helps ME!
I haven’t seen the bill for that yet, but I feel a lot better having him with all his shots up to date and with an actual doctor looking at him.
Today, Trixie came by to do the long-awaited adjustments on Spice that she’d been holding off on until she got her teeth floated. As always, that was fun to watch. She also did Lakota, but I missed that part, because I was at the other work. Anyway, she said Spice is incredibly stiff. She’s coming back in a few weeks to work on her again. On the other hand, Lakota is in such great shape she could not believe he is in his late twenties. She kept gushing about his conformation and how great shape all his joints are in.
Lakota is Mr. Popularity.
Fiona was declared fine, so she didn’t get any farrier work. YAY!
But, Trixie was fascinated by Apache’s feet. Like I’d noticed before, his hooves do not feel hot to the touch (usual for laminitis, which is his current diagnosis). She also said his hooves looked pretty normal, not like the hooves of a foundering horse. Hmm, that’s what I thought, too. Maybe we’ve caught the issue in time to get him better.
Your feet are fascinating, Patchy.
What she DID see was that the bony area in the middle of his foot, around the “frog” area was longer than the hoof. Now, that’s like walking on your nail bed. It would hurt like the dickens. She trimmed him all up (and again, he stood on three legs just about as well as he normally does), and we are waiting to see how he does. It’s a short trim (someone was concerned, so I am adding this), but will be fine and allow healthy hoof material to get to the end of his foot faster.
Being a good boy and holding his foot up.
I’m sure none of the horses feel all that great, with all those shots, scary dental appliances, and hoof trimming. To be kind, we have delayed worming, which would be a final indignity, until two weeks from now. Lucky guys.
Our friends the Lands had a crowded chicken pen and one too many roosters. So, this evening I headed over to their amazing Victorian house, which they are renovating one room at a time.
Clarence! The Big Man
I was sort of unprepared, because I thought our chicken transportation box was in the garage, but it had been taken to the dumpster. Sara suggested I take one of the feed buckets and cover it (by the way, Apache seemed a little better today).
Once I got there I realized the bucket was not going to work. Luckily, Kris had a moving box, so he set about to catching the rooster. There were a lot of chickens in the same size coop as our white one and they all hid in the back. So I stomped around and scared them to the front. In the box the Rhode Island Red went, and I drove him home.
Rooster box
We wanted to separate the rooster (Clarence) but our piece of fence had been used in the new pen. So, we tried putting him in with the young chickens.
Dude, who are you?
That did not work well. Bruce was not happy. The pullets kept getting jumped on. Not good.
Come over here, says Bertie Lee.
So Chris just picked Clarence up and put him in with the older chickens. That went way better. He ate some and said hi to the hens. Soon Ginger let him know that she is Boss Chicken.
I’m in charge here, bud.
All the big chickens then proceeded to chase Gracie. They did teamwork! A bonding moment.
See Clarence, we chase this.
By the time we left, Clarence had discovered he can fly, and was happily on the roost branch.
The Hermits' Rest 