Sunday, February 9, 2014

Busy Week

The Marine had labs and doctors appointment at Navy base this past Monday.  Of course the post office called about 30 minutes before it was time for us to leave and tell us our baby chicks had arrived.  When I ordered them my deliver date was the week of February 3rd.  I did not know they would be here on the 3rd.  Mom had spent the weekend in town so I called and asked her to rescue the chicks until I got home.

The Marine's appointments are an all day affair for us.  Labs are at 10:45 and then his doctors appointment is at 2:PM.  Since we are a little over an hours drive from the base, there is not enough time to come back home and go back.  I called daughter and asked her and SO to meet us for lunch at Red Lobster.  Lobster Fest is going on for the next 10 weeks and we had a craving for some lobster.  We had a nice leisurely lunch before we made the second appointment.  All is well with the Marine.  It was just a check-up.  We did find out that sometimes during the year the VA is opening a home health service for severely disabled vets such as the Marine.  The doctor will actually make house calls if needed and they will send nurses out to draw blood for the labs.  We can also have a nurses aide several times a week to give his bath.  I am trying not to get my hopes up too high for this as we all know the government is cutting out as much as they can from the Military.  Any disabled vet and their caregivers post 9/11 get all kinds of fringe benefits that my Marine doesn't.  It's simply not right to treat one generation of veterans differently from others. But don't get me started!

When we got back home Mom had already opened the box of chicks and gave them all a drink of water.  I put them into a temporary cage under the shed with a heat lamp.  I used to put new chicks in the sun room in a kiddie wading pool but Papa Bear gave the pool to the piggies last year when they were babies and I have not purchased another.,  Besides that the Marines Rat Terrier "Baby"  may have thought they were little rats and needed taken care of so no chicks in the house. Look at those cute little Rhode Island Reds who is going to start our new flock.  I am still trying to find a Barred Rock rooster for my 4 remaining girls that made it through the massacre.





The weekend before the Marines appointment Papa Bear and I had started building a new baby chick house/brooder.  I had an idea in mind what I wanted and we kind of made it up as we went along.  The only thing I had to buy to make the new chickie/ brooder house was a small box of roofing nails.  We already had bits and pieces of everything already here.  My new blogger friend Izzy over at The Compound calls all of the piled up stuff, resource inventory and all of this time I have been calling it JUNK.  Sometimes junk resource inventory comes in handy. Would you believe the shingles are from leftovers when we built our house almost 20 years ago.  That man (Papa Bear) doesn't throw anything away.




It has sliding doors on both ends so I can reach in and clean it out, fill the feeder and waters without having to stand on my head!














Since it's still a little cold and breezy, we stapled strips of cardboard around the bottom to keep the air off of them.
















So far, so good.  I have since put a long feeder in there since they all want to crowd around one like this although there were two feeders in the brooder box like this.














Look...the chickie/brooder house is next to some blueberry bushes and they are beginning to bud out.  Surely spring is aound the corner!

18 comments:

  1. Wow, chicks and bushes budding, I am glad to see that even if it is a few hundred miles south. Good luck on the chicks, they grow so fast.

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    1. Buds and chicks a sure sign of spring! Of course when I ordered the chicks some time ago I did not know about the Polar Vortex that was going to hit our area. Heat lamp and cardboard is working well so far.

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  2. I hope they do allow the funding for your Son's care. The Military is the only funding our Federal Government should be worried about all the rest of their spending is not suppose to be within their sphere of influence.

    So you just made the chick house with screen and block it up when it's cold? Hmmmmm That's a good idea but I bet I could get away with just making it solid with some screened in vent/window type things.

    Interesting that gives me some ideas Thanks ;)

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    1. I hope the VA comes through too Preppy. Our government is so whacked up now so who knows?

      I started to use a solid wall about a foot all the way around the bottom but didn't. I think it would have been better to keep the wind off but the temporary cardboard is a good fix We drilled a hole in the top back to run a cord for the heat lamp. I did not show that in any of the pictures. Eventually this will be moved into the pole barn or right up against it. It is 8.3 x 3 ft wide. It will give the chicks plenty of room to grow before they go to a permanent pen and is a good height for me to do what I need to do. I am all about convenience! Now..go build one and get you some chickens! Man cannot live on lamb alone....hahahaha

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    2. I am still preparing myself mentally for the bloodbath that will follow us getting chickens. I remember taking the body counts daily when I was a kid.

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  3. It's far from spring here, but best of luck with the chicks. It sounds like your mom knew the drill!

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    1. My Mom is pretty good that way GS....We usually get some spring teaser days in February and some at the beginning of March. Towards the of March we are usually safe although we have had some late spring frost in April but not enough to hurt. Once when I had my plant nursery we had a frost on May 8th...Now that was strange for sure. Must have been some of that global warming stuff.

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  4. Just me, but I think the VA sucks. They recently told me no too. Said I made too much money. Our city recently passed an ordinance 'giving us permission' to own four or five chickens, no roosters. Get it, gave us permission....I'll think it over. Fresh eggs have appeal.

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    1. I have a love/hate relationship with the VA. It should not be anything about what money your family may or may not have but YOUR service. We signed for our son to go into the service and they promised to take care of him and I am going to do everything I can to see that they do! Sometimes it is like pulling teeth to get them to move on anything.

      So you got permission to put a few chickens on your property??? Thank God I live in the country. We are on the northern end of the county and the powers that be pretty much leave us alone. The only time we hear a squeak from them if it is an an election year....hahaha

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  5. I.want.some.chickens. That brooder house looks great. Hope the VA home health care comes through, I'll cross fingers, legs, toes & eyes for you.

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    1. Thanks DFW...I am crossing everything too! Are you waiting to move to the country home before you get your chickens? How long now, less than a year? Nothing like gathering and having your own fresh eggs. Store bought eggs are just about tasteless once you have fresh!

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  6. Mamma Bear,

    Our military Veteran's (ALL) should be given the medical help they need. I get so frustrated with promises of help, and yet our government continues to take away from our military's benefits, pay, ect....... Keeping the Marine close to my heart on getting the medical assistance he needs. It surely would be nice to have doctors and nurses come to the house so you don't have the commute to the base for checkup's and blood work. Along with having an aide come several times a week to help with bathing and any other care needed. This would also give you a little break during the day.

    How cute, little baby chicks!!! Nice work on the brooder house.

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  7. Thank you Sandy... It will be great to have some form of home health care. I swear almost every time the marine has an appointment it is pouring down rain! Our vets deserve way better than what they are getting.

    love my new baby chicks and the brooder Papa Bear helped me build!

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  8. Cute chicks!!! I just put 30 eggs in the incubator. Two dozen are Marans and the others are Americauna/Marans (cool green eggs). Love your new brooder. I have used all my chicken brooders as rabbit hutches and coops so I plan on shoving my new babies under a broody hen. Hopefully it works :)

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    1. Kelly...I wish I had eggs to put in the incubator! Good luck with yours! I am loving my new brooder. Cleaned it out today in no time flat. Much easier than the deep one I made a couple of years ago.

      PS....I could see rabbits in one of these..What am I saying..no more critters...no more critters...no more

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  9. Holy cow good job on that brooder! May have to copy that design one day.
    And I love me some Lobster Fest...Senior is not to excited about Red Lobster, but I could go and munch on some of those cheesy biscuits....

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    1. Love the new brooder Glock Mom.... Red Lobster was our only choice for lobster. All of the seafood restaurants are closed until spring break...Us local folks don't count!...hahaha

      Did you know Sams Club sells the Red Lobster cheese biscuit mix? I don't go near it! I would need to lose even more weight than I already do!

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  10. nice chick house. We are still (Saskatchewan southern half) at least 2 and a half months until the buds come out!

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