First day in the big pen!

Yes, more chickens. Our life has been revolving around these guys lately. People who come to visit say watching the chickens is better than tv. (I don't know how to compare as we haven't watched tv, other than dvd/vhs movies, in so long I can't remember what that's like -- tho I know when we're at a store with a wall of tvs playing we all turn away as the jumping video seems to hurt our eyes. . .)

We bought electric poultry netting from Premier1Supplies and tho neither DH nor I had any experience with electric fences, we managed to get it up and running without problem. We went with a solar battery energizer and one section of the longer-length netting at 164-ft. This makes a good size pen for these little guys but we may need to add another section when they're full-grown. Premier says the charger can handle up to three (3) sections, so we'll see how it goes.

For now, DS likes it and I think I will, too, as we can walk around and sit with the chickens (note lawn chairs) instead of having to stay outside the pen or hunker down under the overhead netting of the dog pen. The netting is set up in the same area of the front yard. Lots of nice shade and close by so we can just look out the window to keep an eye on them when we're kept inside by work. I can even see them as I type as they're only 15-ft away from the window by my desk. Here's what the view looks like:



To give them plenty of air, we're letting the nestboxes door hang open but DH stapled the landscape netting across the inside nest openings to keep them in and other animals out at night. First chick to hit the fence was Quirrell but as s/he's* an escape artist it was probably for the best.

*Quirrell has ear tufts and the beginnings of a beard so probably a green egg layer (Aruacana/Ameraucana mix) but as we ordered those straight-run we're not sure yet which ones are pullets and which are cockerels.