Chickens at The Shoe

 Please meet Violet (in the background), and her friend Daisy. This is our chicken flock.  My husband has been dreaming and planning for chickens for a couple of years now.  He spent the winter designing a coop that he thought would be a unique and ingenious creation, able to be easily moved throughout our yard!  With  the help of our son-in-law, Jason, the coop was made over a period of several months.  While the coop was being built, little chicks were growing in a box in our garage...23 to be exact. Unfortunately, the chickens got ready to be moved before the coop did, so we installed them outside,  inside of an electric poultry fence.  They did fine the first night, but the second morning brought disaster!!  When I went to check on them, only one chicken was left in the fence! Several were lying dead  outside the fence and the rest were gone! While Allen was burying the victims, we saw a big, red fox come to look for the chickens. We figured out that the fox must have scared the chickens so that they escaped through the small holes in the netting and were electrocuted as a result. We were so sad...all of us. Now we had one lonely chicken whom we promptly named Violet. Violet became very attached to Sophie, following her everywhere! We were sad for her, knowing that she needed a buddy!  Imagine our joy when our neighbors found one more lonely chicken wandering around in their bushes! Daisy and Violet are now inseparable.  They are Survivors, to be sure.

 We are hoping to get some more soon to add to the flock. I will  keep you posted as we grow into this new endeavor!  We hope to have fun with the chickens and perhaps add a few turkeys and ducks to the group. This has been a very hot and dry summer so far, so hopefully we will be able to get the girls through.

Life certainly throws us some unexpected curves, and we learned about being prepared!

Have a happy and thoughtful 4th of July tomorrow, being thankful for the freedoms we have enjoyed in this good country of ours!

Diana