The chicken yard is finished...

The sun was shining again so after work today the boy's Poppy once again started work on the soon to be enlarged chicken pen. It is 4 cattle panels long and 1 cattle panel wide so it should be plenty big enough to hold whatever I can find to put in it. Hopefully nothing will fly over the top. I would like geese, banty chickens, maybe a turkey, swans ??? and a peacock. And maybe guineas. And I need a rooster.

After the cattle panels were up and fastened to the posts he  then added chicken wire around the whole thing so hopefully the chickens can't get out but also nothing can get in too. I lock the chickens up at night anyway after the first batch of chickens were killed by something when we forgot to shut the chicken door one night. Don't want that to happen again!

Think you can see the chicken wire along with the cattle panel. The ducks went right through the cattle panel before the chicken wire was put up.

The chickens did not like the ducks being in their space one bit. Guess they'll have to learn to get along won't they?

So tonight we locked the ducks up in the chicken house for the first time so they could get familiar with going inside the building. And tomorrow morning Poppy can let them out into the large pen. Those chickens especially will think they woke up in heaven won't they? They had their little pen down to bare soil and will love the green grass to scratch around in!

My pen is actually large enough that I could put a bottle calf in there too, but I think I'll wait on that. Too much work.

Isn't this an adorable little setup for my animals? Now, does anyone know where I can find geese, peacocks, guineas, turkeys, and maybe swans, and some kind of exotic roosters? And I keep hearing how awful peacocks sound but they are so beautiful!

And in case times really get tough, I already have a space big enough to raise chickens to put in the freezer. I now have my own eggs which taste much better than the ones you get in the store and I am sure home grown chickens taste better too.

Now my daughter keeps reminding me I couldn't eat something I raised, but she forgets I was raised on a farm and we butchered 100 chickens every year. I chopped their heads off and dressed them and froze them and ate them and didn't blink an eye while doing so. Ha. Ha.

Here's the chickens checking out their new pen the next day.
And the same for the ducks.

This is the ducks "swimming pool" aka my grandkids sled. Gotta find a different pool cause the sled must go back home without being tore up.

And they recognize their feeding bowl. Now the question is how do I keep the chickens from eating the duck food or can they all eat the same stuff?

Ah, the good life down on the farm. Can't beat it!