The Hens got a Pen

As much as I love having yard birds they are causing damage to the garden and frustrating that sweet HuBby of mine.  And we just cannot have that - he's too sweet and the food he grows is too good to give it all to the chickens.

So, the Hens got a Pen.

It seems every time we turn our backs to those lovely feathered ladies they are back in the garden chowing down on everything good.

Who can blame them really?  With all the freshly turned earth and the leaf mulch that covers the ground with all those yummy bugs in there or the fresh hay he put on the freshly planted grass seed?  Not to mention those delicious seeds that Jason's hidden in the soil.  

I'm no chicken, but I definitely understand the temptation that draws them into the garden.

The girls digging up the second round of cucumber starts was the straw that broke the camels back. 

The chickens do not like the pen one bit.  They've been fussing all day. Thankfully, hens forget quickly.  It won't be long until they accept it and I won't have to hear Jason screaming fowl (pun!) language from the backyard over them messing up his hard work any longer.

How do I feel about the pen?  

Well... It's going to take some getting used to visually.  It's not the prettiest thing in the world, but J's planted some gourds to grow up the fence and we can plant other things around it to kind of camouflage it.  I'll miss the girls and their clucking close to the house, but I won't miss Fred, the rooster, chasing the kids around the yard and I certainly won't miss chicken poop on the front porch.  

I'm embracing it as a step forward in our chicken raising and a step forward in our food raising. 

Now, I'm ready for those cucumbers and tomatoes to start bearing good fruit for us to eat!  Once those veggies start rolling in, I will LOVE the hen pen!

And for those of you interested in the quilt... I haven't picked it up in 2 weeks.   So much for working a couple of hours a week on it. But, rather than giving myself a hard time over it, I see Spring is here, we are all trying to get outside and enjoy the weather before the heat and humidity move in.  I'm spending lots of time with the kids and we FINALLY have no plans this weekend, so I will be getting back to it in the next couple of days.