*a cackling good time

This is one of our two Buff Leghorns, they are the runts in the bunch.  She will grow to about 4 lbs, while some of our  breeds  will be 8 to 10 lbs.

Here is Henry and Susan, the only Giant White we have.  She is the same age as the little Leghorn above. This particular chicken will likely  grow to 8 to 10 lbs full size.

The mostly white and black chickens to the left are Brahmas, some of my favorite coloring in a chicken.  The mostly black and white you see to the right are one of our three Barred Rocks.

Our chickens have been set free!  Every day since Eric has been "home" the chickens have been free ranged and they are loving it!  In the mornings, provided we are not going shopping in town, the chickens are allowed to roam the land as they please til dusk at feeding time.  It is great fun to watch them scratch, search for bugs, flop around in the dirt cleaning themselves, and chasing each other from time to time.  We have gotten so friendly with them that they will follow me around- they know where their bread is buttered. I often will get a handful of scratch and let them eat from my hands.  Yes, sometimes it does hurt a bit when they get so zealous in their pecking for the feed, but I endure because that is just what momma's do.

I know Eric feels so blessed to have both his boys helping him in the barn on this day.  Many hands make work light!  Today we had many hands. While the boys were in the barn working, I was in the garden picking pole beans, summer squash and zucchini squash.  We later snapped the beans, blanched them and put 8 quart bags into the freezer.

Eric has been so busy with too many task for me to list, but his most recent project has been the chicken coop.  It is coming along nicely and the chicks are close by throughout the day to check on the progress.  He has even had to run them out of the area a few times as not to step on them.   Today while he was working on the coop, both of our boys were in the barn helping.  Greatest gift a mother could ask for.

The coop should been nearly complete by the weekend, I look forward to updating you soon!