Stayin' up

[Chick_a_dee]

I moved the hens to the old goat shed today and the goats to the old hen house because the hens don't need so much space, and the goats need more space!

Well the old goat shed has vents at the top of it, some larger ones, and a few smaller ones but they don't have hardware cloth on them and I wasn't able to get anything up on it today because it got dark too quickly. We haven't had any problems with predators before, but I am concerned so I'm stayin' up! Sitting in the living room, watchin' out the window to make sure nothing like a raccoon comes up to see the chickens.

I've got all the lights that face the coop on, and its in some light, plus the two loudest dogs are staying up tonight. Kitty barks at everything that moves and doesn't move outside. And I'm going outside every half hour-45 minutes to actually check on them, and shining the flashlight out the window every 10 minutes. I know its probably overkill, since my neighbours chickens free range and don't get locked up and they haven't had a fatality in over a year, and the house on the next road's barn is wide open with their chickens roosting on the stanchions.

I'm just paranoid because I saw a raccoon on the road this evening.

SO heres to hoping the chickens make it through the night! I'll be getting the building completely predator proof tomorrow morning, so we only need to make it through TONIGHT.

 

[sfw2]

Good luck!

 

[mamawolf544]

Bless your heart, mine free range and I know I'm up everytime my GP barks.

 

[Chick_a_dee]

lol I'm so paranoid. It's funny too because more than once there has been a miscommunication and the chickens have been left unlocked at night, or the ducks and nothing has every happened. On Christmas day I woke up to find one of our EE hens sitting, sopping wet, on the mitre saw on the front porch. Brother had missed her when he locked up the night before, and she'd been out all night. Not a scratch on her!

 

[Olive Hill]

If you're up anyway why not just take some light out there and go to work on it now and then go to bed once you're finished?

 

[Chick_a_dee]

lol I don't think my neighbours would be happy with me using the saw at 11:10pm...

Some of it does require using a saw for a few pieces of wood, its cold, I'd have to go and actually *find* the hardware cloth or detach some off the old chicken run to use. It's not exactly practical to do this late at night and the only light I have is a flashlight. I can't hold a flashlight, and do it at the same time by myself.

Not to mention my injured arm from this morning when I slipped on the ice, I can hardly move it, and I chopped half my friggen thumb-tip off when I fell on the ice on something.


I had a pretty bad/pretty okay day -_-

 

[ibpboo]

Here's to hoping mr. sandman does not visit you tonite!!

Oh man, hope the arm and thumb heal quickly. Doesn't sound like I would want to be out there tonite building a pen either!

 

[Chick_a_dee]

lol it was a nasty fall. I came walking out the front door of the goat shed, hit the ice with the water on it, and went down on my left elbow. I was holding a metal joist hanger at the time which sliced off some of my thumb tip, I have ... ice rash on my hand, my elbow is all swollen. I have to be careful, because in November I broke my ring finger on that hand and so far its feeling like I might have done something more than just a strain or bang.

I might be more open to working on putting up hardware cloth this time at night if we had a moon... lol... but It's like pitch black out! On really bright moony nights I can see my big mare in the field, tonight I can't!

 

[Olive Hill]

Those are all EXCELLENT reasons.

 

[Chick_a_dee]

Quote:

I only have to stay up for 7 hours. My mum is up at 5:50am-6:00am to get my brother up for the bus, she'll be checking on the chickens at that time. Maybe I'll see whats on PPV movies, I got the crazy cat for company, and the barn kitties are outside protectin' my hens lol. Spottycat was sitting on top of the backtire on our truck. In about an hour all the mancats will be doing their mancat meowing.

I have to go down to the pasture around 2am anyway to throw more hay to the pony since I only had enough time earlier to throw her a little bit, not the whole lump she gets for the night.

Maybe I'll make some bread... hmmm...


Or I could start some seeds... hmmm...