This Imperfect Plot

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September 13th, 2012

I feel like I’m always in a hurry to get things done, but some projects just take their good old time. My chicken tractor, for instance. I started this in early June. It was going to take me a week to build it, and then I was going to get some chickens.

A work in progress.

And then it was July. The coop was sort of finished. Like 75% done. But still no chickens.

Then it was August. The coop was about 95% complete. Just needed a little more cage wire, a door, and some kind of ladder to let the bird get in and out of coop.  Oh, and wheels. And, of course, chickens.

There it sat in the yard. A daily reminder of every other half finished project in my life. If only some chickens would fall out of the sky. If only i had the motivation and time to finish the coop. I was tempted to tarp the whole thing and start over with peeps in the spring.

The weeds are growing tall.

But then last week, my wife got a message from her friend Ruthie, asking if we wanted a few chickens, that they were down sizing their flock and would be willing to give us a few birds.

Chickens!

It was super short notice and exactly what I needed to finish the chicken tractor. So last Sunday, my daughter and I got to work. And just when we had the cage wire and door in place, Ruthie and her family pulled down the driveway. Her husband Jeremy handed me a burlap sack containing 4 hens: one Leghorn and 3 Golden Comets.

What amazed me Sunday evening was when the chickens put themselves to bed. One by one, they hopped up the little ladder I made, right into the coop. I went out and closed the door, and learned first hand that chickens do indeed go home to roost. It’s not just a figure of speech.

When in doubt, use your boot to open the latch.

We’re still waiting for our first egg. The birds are probably a little stressed by the move. And our dog is not helping the situation. He’s so excited about the new family members that he runs laps around the coop. My kids are pretty excited too. My 4 year old is very keen on feeding them and really wants to hold a chicken. She’s still working on the names. Two of her early name choices were Leafy & Rainbow, but she’s since withdrawn those and is working on new names. Stay tuned.

Tags: chicken tractor, chickens