Prime Real Estate

Over the past few months, I have developed an interest in the what, where and how of the food we eat. The responsibility of feeding a new life certainly fed my curiosity. I started with a garden, but while waiting for the fruit of my labor I couldn't stop thinking about, well, chickens. I started researching urban chicken-keeping, chicken tractors, the care and feeding of chickens, chicken breeds and where the heck one would go to buy a chicken (the clucking, foraging type...Fresh Market is a misnomer. They only have the silent, featherless type). I was amazed by all of the benefits of fresh eggs (they have about "25% more vitamin E, 75% more beta carotene, and as much as twenty times the amount of Omega-3 fatty acids, and only about half as much cholesterol as factory farmed eggs*"). And using a chicken tractor would not only keep away the stink, but allow the chickens to fertilize the lawn, eat the bugs and take care of the grass. And maybe it's just me, but there are some sexy chickens out there!

So when Danny said he wanted to get me a fancy new camera for my birthday, I politely declined and told him, "I really just want chickens."

Try as he might, he could not find time to get this project started. My dad came to the rescue (he's good at that kind of thing) and helped me build a home for the girls.



We had a blast! And Danny was still able to pick up and finish where we left off. Next weekend we pick up the ladies, and I couldn't be more excited (and a little nervous, I'm not going to lie. You should have seen me at the Tractor Supply store). But for now I am just stoked that I have the most beautiful chicken tractor I could ever wish for.

there's still some detail painting to do on the shutters,
but you get the idea.

this is the door we will use to collect the eggs each day.

Happy Father's Day, Baby! Now get back to work.

inside the coop, the nesting box is to the left with a water station on top.
the roost is made from a branch we cut off our crape myrtle this winter.

to the left, to the left

to the right, to the right

the girls' door to the yard

i guess we should have been weeding the patio
instead of building a chicken tractor.

And for those of you who really just wanted to see the little guy, here he is greeting Daddy with a "Happy Father's Day" this morning.

*one of the many places you can find these stats.