What We Did This Weekend

The new coop is underway!  We have walls, and windows, and trusses!

This is the first of three segments that will eventually make a larger chicken coop, a shop, and a larger alpaca shed. 

The coop will house all 37 chickens and 5 ducks, and will have a rain barrel for fresh water, storage for feed, and a multitude of nesting boxes.  My prediction is that no matter how many nesting boxes we make, all 36 hens will try to use 3. 

The shop will be powered by a solar panel, and will have overhead storage for hay and alpaca feed.  This will become Jerry's home away from home, and will house all of his tools.  It will be off-limits to everyone, so that he can go completely OCD and fastidiously organize all of his wrenches, sockets, hammers, nails, hinges, and all of the other things a farm needs to keep going.  I suspect he will install pegboard on the walls, and will draw outlines of the tools hanging on the pegboard.  This way, he will be able to see in an instant if one is missing.  The outline will act like a chalk outline at a homicide scene, and will alert Jerry to pilfered items immediately.  I wouldn't be surprised if he installed an alarm system, too.  You don't want to get between a man and his tools.  It doesn't end well for anyone.

The alpaca shed will be double the size we have right now, and will attach at a right angle to the shop area, so that the entire "complex" will open to a half-courtyard area, which will be covered in gravel, and have a large duck pond in the middle.

The boys are enthusiastic about this new arrangement, because it gets them closer to the fresh pasture.

Mmmm, yummy pasture.

I am enthusiastic about all aspects of this project, but am especially excited about any idea that DOESN'T end with "....and then we'll come in every night and borrow your bathtub...."

I don't recall this being part of Jeff Foxworthy's routine, but he's welcome to borrow it: "You might be a redneck if you have ducklings swimming in your bathtub...."

New Kids on the Block

We have some new residents at Dunwill Farm.  29 new residents in all, to be exact.  27 new chicks, and 2 new alpacas.

The chicks are of several varieties--Americaunas, Welsummers, and Australorps.  They will lay copious eggs, I hope.  It's pretty amazing, you can get just about anything online.  That's where we got the chickens.  Did you know that the US Postal Service delivers live poultry?  I didn't either.  The hatchery ships day-old chicks, and they arrive safe and sound (if somewhat crowded) in a cardboard box with air holes in the lid.  Weird.

The chicks will stay indoors until the new coop is built.  The new coop will be a poultry palace.  We're going to repurpose the lumber from the current alpaca shelter and use it in the new, improved, much larger shelter.  This shelter will adjoin the coop in an L-shape, with a storage room at the angle attaching the two sides.

We have two new alpacas, as well.  I am pleased to introduce Whiteout and Edgefield.

This is Whiteout.  He's approximately three years old.  He's about the same size as Mizzie.

This is Edgefield.  He's about 7 months old, and is just being weaned.  He's by far the smallest of the bunch. 

The boys have integrated into the herd nicely.  It was touch and go for a few minutes, because Mizzie felt very threatened by Whiteout, but everyone is getting along now.  No one has felt threatened by Edgefield, since he's so small. 

We picked up the two new alpacas in Washington, and the ride home was fairly uneventful.  However, it is apparent that Edgefield is missing his mom, because he keeps wandering the pastures, humming and looking for her.  He and Whiteout have attached themselves to Atticus, who, though he is the leader of the herd, isn't sure he wants to be followed THAT closely. 

I've been my usual OCD self, sneaking out to the pasture to spy on the boys, making sure that the new kids are getting enough to eat, and are not being picked on.  So far so good.  Atticus is a calm, confident alpha, and Goldie is a friendly ambassador for the new guys.

Poor Harry and the girls--they have no idea what awaits them in a month or so.  They will be completely outnumbered.  Look at them, obliviously ranging around the pasture:

Poor Harry--he can barely keep track of the flock he has.  He's going to have a fit when he sees how many new hens he'll have to herd around.

Bridgie has informed me that those new girls had better watch their step--SHE rules the coop (unbeknownst to Harry), and she'll whip them into shape!