On the road again

It looks so sad and lonely . . .

I know it is for the best. But I miss them.

The Mastons called today - Jane Doe laid an egg while sitting on one of the girls' lap. LOL

Sir Cadbury meets Waldo the Hamster

He also tried to cuddle up to Ivan the housecat - who ran away and hid in our bedroom.

Changes

The hens are going to a new home on Tuesday.

In a surprising turn of life, I have received a transfer to Sheridan, CO. The transfer is not a surprise, Hubby and I decided it was time for a new place to call home over the winter. But the speed of it all is the surprise. We have 2, maybe 3 weeks before we make the 15 hour drive to a city where we know not a soul. It is both exciting and scary.

And I just paid this year's poultry permit fee.

This does not mean Urban Chicks Farm is dead - but it may be only a cherry tomato plant on the deck of an apartment this year. To paraphrase Jenna Woginrich from the first post of her blog , Urban Chicks Farm is not a place but an idea. And ideas can move with you.

So we are packing up the family, the bunny (who will now be an inside pet) and the cats (we are going to have faith that we will find a house that allows cats) and move to a new life.

The henlets will be moving to Milaca, a new addition for a friends and their 3 daughters. They have agreed to keep us updated.

Stay with us - we will be starting from (chicken) scratch once again.

That was bad - none of you deserve such pun-ishment.

Rabbit Update

Sir Cadbury, Duke of Hossenfeffer is doing well. Hubby made a hutch with a re-purposed wood bin and a combo of leftover chicken wire and hardware cloth. His left eye is completely open now and he seems happy and healthy. Better sight has made him more energetic, so all of us have scratches on our hands, but he is still a welcome addition

No photos - dead battery in the camera.

the easter bunny

Every family get together we leave with more than we brought. Today was no different.

My uncle gave me 2 bags of feed for the hens and my cousin gave the girls art supplies and dress up clothes.

But now we also have a rabbit. Meet Sir Cadbury (bock bock bock) He is the runt of a litter and has been a little mangled by others on the farm he is from. We don't even know how old he is or what kind.

I had intended to get a rabbit this year, but I was more thinking of going to the Shepherd's Festival in May and getting an angora. But Sir Cadbury is free and my daughters are ecstatic.

After they are in bed, Hubby and I will clean his left eye (currently matted shut) and see if he needs vet attention. Tomorrow there will be a trip to Fleet Farm to get a water bottle and pellets while Hubby builds a hutch.

At least I don't need another permit for him. The hutch will also live inside the hen yard so the pellets can fall through and mix with the straw. Using this compost should repel wild rabbits. Bonus!

On a different note - I don't remember this kind of weather during Easter weekend during the last 7 years. Usually it is cold and nothing green is coming up. There were even tomato starts at home depot! Mostly in early April here in MN the only plant options are forced flower bulbs.

The girls and I plan to plant lettuce and peas this week.

12 angry hens

Okay only 5.

The girls are still limited to their yard. They protest this.

Loudly.

And often.

The only time they were distracted from this was when a mouse nest full of baby mice was uncovered during their constant scratching around.

It was a brutal buffet. They swallow them whole like a snake would. Gross I know, but in those moments I saw the link between reptiles and birds.

When they were done, they all crowded around the closed door to their pen to protest their containment.

Loudly.