Busy Saturday...

Wow! was yesterday ever busy! We've been trying to figure out a better, safer spot for the chicken house. We built a nice stout "chicken tractor" , so named because it is on wheels, and in theory, you move it to a new patch of grass every day or so. The problem was, we built it too big and heavy to move easily, so it sat in one place all the time. We let the chickens out during the day to free range, and locked them up at night, for their safety, but dogs came and killed 25 or more of them, during the day, when no one was home, so that wasn't exactly safe.

We were left with a whole bunch of trees in pots over by the big metal barn when we bought the farm. Most of them had grown through the bottom of the pots, so couldn't be moved, so were just sitting there in the way...The area was set up for a potting area, and is fenced on 3 sides. The chickens love to hang out there during the day, so we decided to move the chicken tractor over there and finish fencing around it. We left a couple of the trees for shade, transplanted 2 live oaks to our front yard, and chopped out several more. There are several more to be removed, but for now...

You should have seen us moving the tractor! First, we had to chase all the birds out of it, and close the door. They were not happy about that. Then we had to push said tractor with the big blue tractor, around the back of the barn, make a U turn, and wiggle it through a side gate. Because the wheels were just bolted to the frame, turning is not easy. We used a pry bar to lift/push over, line up, push straight, stop, lift, turn, push ahead, stop. adjust, turn, measure distance debate, will it fit?, move forward or back, but we did it!!! Thanks to the help of our friends Jim and Linda, we now have the chicken coop in a safer location, more sheltered from weather, where they can have a safe yard. They will still get to free range during daylight, but with the yard, they should be able to avoid dogs, and the coyotes can't get into the yard at night.

Watching the guineas find the relocated coop was funny, too. They got so excited! They jumped on top. and guarded it from us in case we tried to steal it away again.

The coyotes seemed to prefer the ducks. We are down to 5 Muscovy, from a total of 30 babies.

Prior to moving the coop, we bought a propane weed burner, to clear the grass and weeds away from under the electric fence. If too much grass grows up, and touches the fence, it grounds, and stops working. For $60.00, we now have a magic wand of flame.Great for fire ants, too, as well as nasty weeds, or anything else you don't want growing where ever...We also finally bought the rest of the T posts, and the wire to fence the garden. Maybe I'll get to have some home grown something this year, besides the ducks set aside for Thanksgiving.

I had a dizzy spell yesterday afternoon. It was my first ever when I wasn't pregnant, or a small child, spinning in circles... I think my blood sugar was low, as it had been hours since lunch, which wasn't very much, and too high in carbs. I went inside, had a snack, lay down for a while, and was fine by dinner.

Yesterday was my first full day on twice a day steroids, instead of 3 times. I slept a little better.