We live in the Central California coast off the Highway 41 canyon in between Atascadero and Morro Bay. When we first moved here in 1999 we were one of two houses this high on the mountain and the mountain backs up to part of the Los Padres National Forest. Our mountain is part of the Santa Lucia Coastal Mountain Range. We own a knoll that comes off of Frog Pond Mountain. We call our little knoll Bobcat Ridge because when we first moved here we saw bobcats daily along with a variety of other wildlife. The bobcat would take naps on the hillside next to the house and bring their babies to drink out of the birdbath.
Well now it is many years later and we have more neighbors and there are more houses on Frog Pond Mountain - not all that many as most are on 10 to 20 acres and there is only 5 houses up this high on the mountain. We also have changed and now have a child, a dog, 2 cats and 5 chickens. The dog herds anything and views the chickens, cats, and people as all part of her family. We see less wildlife probably because of the dog but we love her anyway.
Our house is the one with the red roof
I got 6 baby chicks from the local feed store on Aug 11 of 2010. They are named Flutter, Goldie, Hazel, Siena, Sasha, and Speckles. We thought we were going to build a really nice coop but when the chicks got too big for the spare bathroom, I converted my daughter old plastic playhouse into a chicken coop and used the snap together baby gates to construct a run. We lost one of our chickens (Siena) not certain what just found her dead in the run. At any rate, the chickens are still in the playhouse coop and baby gate run, although I do let them free range in the evenings when I am home. Maybe someday I will get a real coop and run!
Our chicken coop and run
Daughter Amelia with our first eggs right after Christmas 2010
Our cat Smoky with a chicken
Our dog Whimsy with a chicken
Chickens in the backyard
Well now it is many years later and we have more neighbors and there are more houses on Frog Pond Mountain - not all that many as most are on 10 to 20 acres and there is only 5 houses up this high on the mountain. We also have changed and now have a child, a dog, 2 cats and 5 chickens. The dog herds anything and views the chickens, cats, and people as all part of her family. We see less wildlife probably because of the dog but we love her anyway.
Our house is the one with the red roof
I got 6 baby chicks from the local feed store on Aug 11 of 2010. They are named Flutter, Goldie, Hazel, Siena, Sasha, and Speckles. We thought we were going to build a really nice coop but when the chicks got too big for the spare bathroom, I converted my daughter old plastic playhouse into a chicken coop and used the snap together baby gates to construct a run. We lost one of our chickens (Siena) not certain what just found her dead in the run. At any rate, the chickens are still in the playhouse coop and baby gate run, although I do let them free range in the evenings when I am home. Maybe someday I will get a real coop and run!
Our chicken coop and run
Daughter Amelia with our first eggs right after Christmas 2010
Our cat Smoky with a chicken
Our dog Whimsy with a chicken
Chickens in the backyard