Another whirlwind work session

     When our eldest son was here week before last, we didn't finish everything that was planned, so he and our nearly 8 year old grandson rode the MegaBus from Northern Virginia to here on Friday night and we hit the list hard yesterday morning.
     First on our list was to level the chicken coop.  Our farm slopes from the road at the top to the property line at the bottom with an elevation change of about 200 feet, so there is not a naturally level place on the entire property.  Hubby and I did the best we could when we put it in place, but it wasn't level and it was sitting directly on the ground.  Two car jacks and a 6 foot prybar, a stack of cinder blocks of various thickness and the coop is now level and sitting off the ground with all 4 legs sitting on one or more cinder blocks.
     Next up was to finish the chicken ark/tractor.  Son calls it a chicken palace.  What it is, is a portable coop that can be moved every few days to provide fresh grass and bugs to the birds until their harvest date.

Fastening flashing over the roof peak

Applying Linseed Oil in the dark

Riviting a piece of split garden hose along the sharp edge of the side that lifts for access.  He doesn't want me to cut my face or scalp.
 

     The chicks in their new, more secure and moveable pen.  The girls are still in the coop and they have two new playmates.  I found a local supply of Buff Orpingtons, a heritage breed and the chicks are 10 weeks old, only a couple of weeks younger than the other pullets.

     The Chicken Palace completion took the rest of yesterday and part of this morning.  Before working on it this morning, we racked the beer from the Brew Day for it's second ferment.  It is a beautiful clear dark brown beer.  Son says it will finish into a very dark Porter and during lunch today we played with naming it.  The name is not to be revealed until it is ready to serve up at our big double summer celebration of my Dad's 90th birthday and the baptism of our daughter's two children.

     Removing two bins of the 6 making up the compost bins, barn roof repair in the rain and an approaching thunder storm and putting a switch box extender on a light switch completed our allotted time.  The rest of the jobs will have to be finished when they return in July.  Son and grandson were put on a 3:30 Megabus home and we drove to an adjoining county to pick up the two chicks.  Now it is time to rest and read or knit.