Chicken Housing

I have done pictures about the chickens since we brought home the little fluffy chicks back in 2009 - but a couple of blog friends were asking about housing - walk in coop versus reach in - that kind of thing so I'm posting a variety of picture of what DH designed and built. The Coop Mahal has served us very well - housing 8 full grown hens and being relatively easy to clean and access the egg boxes. Egg boxes are the little extension on back - has a flap door which can be opened - get eggs or clean out boxes and closed up tight. Front is covered in some pictures to stay warmer but coop is built on fresh air principles with front section (red painted wood) being a hinged area able to open fully for cleaning. Coop Mahal also has a window on east end to maintain good air circulation during warm weather. We have an enclosed run for protection from predators - although we allow cluckers out for a while most days - they can dust bathe and scratch and eat food scraps in the run with fewer dangers.

Not a fascinating blog post but might give some folks ideas about housing. We like the raised off the ground thing - better air circulation - gives a nice shade area underneath and lessens the attacks from snakes. It is great to go out and gather your own fresh eggs - worth some effort and trouble. It is good on Buhlaland to have steady food source to share with friends!

Adventures Galore Repeat

Sorry I didn't get a picture of the lights flashing and ambulance here on Buhlaland - another adventure in the life of two old folks doing whatever God puts in front of 'em. My Beloved had a stroke on Monday morning - long story short - prayer and a way which was prepared for us long before we had the need made things work out as if there is a Plan in our lives. We are already home - all testing done - some medications changed up and minimal lingering damage to speech and mobility. Both quite exhausted and happy to be in own spot on Buhlaland. New slogan for me - Fear Not. Being anxious about anything may steal away moments given to bless us not allow us to imagine bad event - each day will have enough troubles for that day but also - the strength for that day will be given. Happy to be home - thanks for visiting me on Buhlaland. Just a few pictures 'cause it is still our blessed spot of life 'til the Lord declares otherwise.

Hmmm - just signed on blogger after not being able to sign on blogger and most recent post had disappeared - will post again and hope for the best. We continue to feel better (both of us) each day but still very tired (both of us). Rest and enjoying the scenery - that's the way it is on Buhlaland.

It is autumn on Buhlaland

Tap Tap Tap -- pecking on screen to get attention? anybody in there???

yes we are around - little going on other than day to day life. Cluckers continue to provide 6-8 eggs a day but DH beginning to grumble about the work involved (putting them up at night and now we put a load of sand in the run because they are digging to China in there!) so I'll enjoy them while I can.

On a totally different note - this song has been playing in my head for several days - in my head I sound just like Selah does singing it -- too bad in the physical world I sound more like one of my silly cluckers! Sit back a minute and revel in the wonderful merciful Savior.

All the beauty of the created world and heaven is promised too! It is good on Buhlaland and we are continually amazed by the mercy of our Savior.

Tart and tangy and uses lots of eggs!

Pie glorious pie - it deserves much more adulation than it usually gets. Most people think pie = homey dessert but nothing to get worked up over like tiramisu or creme brulee. Lemon Meringue Pie is pie perfection - tangy, tart with the sweet airiness of meringue answered by a good buttery flakey crust. For Labor Day (I know I know - I am irreparably far behind in blogging - work with me people) we had a couple of dear friends over for ribs and salads and quiche. We have had an absolute GLUT of fresh eggs. The cluckers have been busy producing deliciousness daily. We get 8 eggs every day - unfortunately a couple of the hens have decided to stand UP when dropping an egg - dropped eggs -even fresh well cushioned nesting box eggs - will have a tendency to crack when they hit a hard surface. So some days it is 6 eggs and other days I find a surprise egg hiding under the rail which leads to the nesting boxes (somebody in too much of a hurry - waiting her turn and blam - too late).

It is fun having fresh eggs to share with people. End of September and the days are getting shorter,this week unseasonably cool for Texas --we are thinking about when to start leaving on the coop light. 2009 is our first year as chicken keepers is the term chicken tenders? - (no that is what I order at the joint on Main St with extra gravy) or chicken wranglers? (mental picture of chickens strutting around in blue jeans?!) I guess the right term for us -- people who have 8 egg laying chickens in the Coop Mahal. Returning from the rabbity trail down which I just led you dear reader--the goal was to illustrate how we have plenty of eggs and when I want to be extravagant with egg whites it is perfectly fine. Used 6 egg whites for the meringue and 4 yolks in the lemon pie filling. It was tasty - yep - tasty indeed. My photos don't do the pie justice but you'll have to take my word on it - it was GOOD on Buhlaland on Labor Day (and pie the next morning for breakfast wasn't a bad thing!).

Picture of my hand holding regular sized Buhlaland egg and one whopper (turned out to be a double yolker) comparing with credit card sized donor card - an attempt at educational photography.

Ah the cluckers - they seem to conspire and murmur cluckity thoughts when I am out with the camera - I can no longer wear crocs in the chicken run - they peck through the holes at my feet! It is good to have eggs, chickens, pie and holidays here on Buhlaland.

I think it is possible that in addition to angel food cake and manna - we'll have lemon meringue pie in heaven.

Ain't Big Enuf for Both Us!

Showdown time in the Coop Mahal - Buhlaland style western movie!

We are easily amused here - and grateful for the bounty of lovely brown eggs the Cluckers are providing -we do wish the silly boids would learn to use one of the other boxes - there are three which is more than enough for 8 cluckers.

Ah - always the same - bird or human - what someone else has looks so much more attractive or tasty or comfortable than our own portion no matter how generous or small our portion might be.

James 4 (New International Version)
Submit Yourselves to God

1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

So whether a Clucker or a Texan or anything in between - we need to spend our energy on things other than quarreling and fighting. We should be enjoying our nest boxes and eggs and the love of our Lord. It is good and well blessed here on Buhlaland - hope it is for you also.

This week on Buhlaland (sounds dramatic - it isn't)

Found a very nice oleander at the Depot this week - we've been looking for oleanders to plant around a little memorial stone we're going to put up for DH's sweet little mom. Over a year since she passed - embarrassed to admit I haven't sent off all her things to be shared around with her granddaughters and nieces. Just been too much free floating stress around here this year!


White flower is a Maid of Orleans Jasmine - wish I had smellovision for you - intoxicating fragrance!












Dear Hubs on the trusty tractor scraping the -- how to say it delicately? - the goat poo out of their big shelter. We've learned it works best to scrape out into the open area of the pen - when we get rain ( a faith statement 'cause I believe we WILL get rain again) the natural effects of water on dry poo makes for a good pen - lots of lush grass for the goatzees to lounge upon and eat.










Our vegetable/container garden didn't work out very well this summer - but the Brown Turkey fig planted near the Coop Mahal (chicken run) actually is making figs! I'm so excited - the plant smells wonderful and we might get a harvest of 4 or 5 real figs!









The chickens have kicked it into gear at long last - this morning the east nest box (preferred spot for depositing one's cackleberries) had five when I was out with camera.











The chicks still have serious "attitude" - chickatude is not an attractive quality in an animal who tastes good fried or stewed! we'll see how things go. Steadily getting seven eggs a day - who the one slacker is I haven't figured out yet.





DH has his next doctor's appointment next week - he is slightly better. We are leaning heavily on the Lord - not knowing is one of those valleys nobody enjoys -ignorance is NOT bliss it is the lack of information. His timing is perfect so we are remembering to stay in prayer and read the Word.
"Ephesians 3:14-21 (The Message paraphrase)
My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. Glory to God in the church! Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus! Glory down all the generations! "
Only rational response is --Amen!
- we find the Word trustworthy and life is good here on Buhlaland. We pray you are finding the same in your part of God's world.

Eggs, glorious eggs

We don't know which of the chickens actually got busy and did her job. This morning we found our first lovely little brown egg in the egg nesting boxes. It is shown next to an extra large eggland's best just to show size. Picture is one of the more aggressive hens - they seem to think it is a good idea to peck at us - a lot.

So we are in da egg bidness at long last (really only 4 months!) here on Buhlaland and that is good.

I don't think they really heard me say the words "chicken casserole if somebody doesn't get busy with the egg part" - but within 24 hours we had an egg. Hmmmm

Playing Catch up!

No bright ideas about what to say - here we go with a list of what the pictures are.
Camouflaged bird is a real roadrunner (they don't say beep beep) - actually are fast runners, good at killing snakes and lizards.









The representation-in-fruit-of-a-flag cake is the dessert we took to BFF's for Independence Day meal and fireworks fun. It was actually a WW recipe so quite legal for our weight loss plan.

The courthouse in our little town likes for people to notice national patriotic holidays - there are flags all around the town square and the courthouse grounds.

Tincan Garden - lots of green - not many vegetables. VERY hot weather.

Chickens getting big - eating a LOT no eggs yet.

Been bizzy as a bee with not so much to show as accomplishments - it is good and hot on Buhlaland and we are grateful for chickens, gardens, bees and air conditioning!

Keeping an eye on things

I haven't been blogging much - actually have had real life to do. Chickens continue to grow and are developing real "chickatude" - pecking at my feet or the dogs!

We had guests on Sunday - made a "lemonade" cake and dadgum it was good. Several activities at the end of a school year, even with no children of our own we can rejoice with the children in our extended family-by-choice.

When I get down about not having a family of our own - I am blessed by contact with the family of our hearts - thanking the Lord for those we love.

"Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the other person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained."C. S. Lewis

Still busy - didn't want you to think I'd forgotten y'all - there is a time to reap and a time to sow - this is the time we are sowing whether it is a cake or hospitality or tending chickens and it is good on Buhlaland!

Zip-A-Dee = Cockadoodle?

Mister Bluebird's on my shoulder

It's the truth , it's actual -

everything is satisfactual

zip-a-dee-doo-dah,zip-a-dee-ay

Wonderful feeling, wonderful day!

Definitely not a bluebird and not even a rooster - but she roosted on my shoulder today!

Goofy birds on Buhlaland - but it says a lot about me that I bothered to take a picture of it!

They grow up so fast

I apologize for the weird spacing on this - I'm too tired (will tell the story tomorrow or soon) and Blogger has that moves stuff around issue I don't want to fight. SORRY!

Day one, hour one saga of the chicks of Buhlaland. Riding home in a box - looking so fluffy and chickie - Date March 27 - all at least 48 hours old.

Just three days later getting feathers on our wings and wanting to explore outside this weird nest.

Yes now they are getting feathers and chickatude - look at that face and tell me she isn't thinking she'd like to peck my camera!

Then the big day comes when they can go out in the big wide world (at least the part of it enclosed by wire and a cover over the entire run). Is this where the term chicken describing a coward comes from? All eight of them huddled at the top of the ramp to freedom for quite a long time.

Then one chicken boldly goes where no chicken has gone before - she is on the ground! They readily go up and down the ramp now - their water and feeder is in their coop -

This picture is the harassment our sweet soon to be egg laying chickens must endure on a daily basis - two mouthy terriers trying to get IN that fence.

It is fun having chickens on Buhlaland !

Again with the miscellany

Saturday morning --Comment moderation has been taken off now!

Sorry friends and occasional readers - I've enabled comment moderation for this post to avoid unnecessary malarkey from those who have nothing better to do than attack free speech along with all our other freedoms. Will change the comments back to normal soon - sorry for the inconvenience. First shot is the tulips I posted for Easter - they are really full and nice now- will be fun to see how they do when I put them outside for next year.

We attended (along with several thousand of our neighbors) a rally downtown to express our disappointment in the direction our government(at ALL levels) is headed. The little girl in a stroller is the child of a friend from church, the crowd was really mixed as far as ages and lifestyles.

I'm not expert with this macro setting - somehow the picture of an iris is out of focus and the honeysuckle was dead on.

Yesterday we tried to let the chicks out for some quality time in their run. They had great hesitation about even trying their ramp. One brave chick made a dash for it ----with Zoe raising cain outside the chicken run. Unfortunately we overestimated the size of the chicks because they walked out on the ground, pecked enthusiastically and then walked right through the chain link surrounding their run. Grateful for hubby remembering we'd kept the huge pole net purchased when we had guinea hens! All safely rounded up and moved back into the coop for more growing time.

OK it is busy time on Buhlaland - DH is removing siding from east end of house so we can rough in the new addition. I need to take truck for safety inspection and a few more errands (which includes buying eggs - come ON chickens!). Life is good and it is definitely springtime - ACHOO!




Almost forgot the original reason I wanted to post! click and enjoy!
If you are among the few hundred who haven't seen this youtube video yet - grab a box of kleenex and set aside 8 minutes - it is well worth it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA sorry I couldn't embed the youtube video player --it is disabled (probably for copyright issues).
GetReligion.org has a very good posting about Susan Boyle--- here is her Backstory .

What it looks like on a Sunday in March

Welcome my friends to Buhlaland - a small bit of Texas and on days like this a preview of how heaven would be (for me at least). The wildflower is called a breadroot - apparently used by native peoples as a food source. The steers are in one of the pastures adjoining our property. The pansy basket is flowering with plants from last fall - enjoying the cold morning we had!

First rose of 2009 in our yard - a tiny blossom of our Jacob's Coat climber rose. Our silly Ellie goat - stuck in the fence - the goats do that a lot during the spring, things just look so tasty on the other side of a fence.

You didn't think I'd fail to put up some peeps pics - the one I'm holding already has wing feathers showing up - ah the babies grow up quickly. The peeps are out in their coop and I'm SOOOO glad. It was a good day on Buhlaland - fine worship at church today, delicious pancakes and sausage, some work completed around here and a very quiet day.