Our chicken field pen (also know by names like “chicken tractor”) is a few years old.  We use it to raise meat chickens on grass and raise chicks until they are old enough to move into the big chicken house. And now we use it for the ducks too.

We just added a plastic pan (which is cut down from a mineral block tub) that holds about 6 inches of water for the ducks to splash around in. There’s a separate waterer, but the ducks seem to prefer drinking in the water they swim in, go figure. {shrug}

The chicks and ducklings seem to get along just fine.

But as I was saying…the pen is a few years old. Mr. Fix-It patches it up every spring when we go to use it. (You might notice the wire and zip ties!) But we haven’t gone in for a complete renovation yet. I think he has plans to just start from scratch, but as they say, “if it ain’t broke, there’s always something else that needs to be worked on.”

Ok, I just made that up, but it’s certainly true!

As usual, it’s the feisty little laying hens that start all the trouble!

It holds the meat chickens fine because they get huge and ungainly and lazy pretty quick. But those layers…oh those layers! One reason I love our laying chickens is because they have unique and quirky little personalities and are so fun. But they’re also pretty smart (for a chicken) and get into trouble a lot. And they grow much slower, so they’re small much longer. It’s a recipe for disaster.

Penny helped me catch this one. Thankfully I was right there to appropriate her–sometimes Penny get a little too enthusiastic.

And this year we have the ducklings.

Turns out those little guys (or girls, I’m not quite sure yet) are quite the little adventurers as well. {sigh} They’re pretty smart too! Usually they slip out and then slip right back in the same hole when it’s feeding time. You start to feel like your eyes are playing tricks on you!

Sunday morning the whole flock greeted us at the garage door.

Sunday morning the whole flock (minus the meat chickens) greeted us at the garage door!

In between our fruitless search for a new car, and our very productive efforts weeding and mulching the garden, this weekend the Ladybug and Speedracer and I patched the entire front of the chicken pen with fresh chicken wire.

And one red layer (I’m betting it was the same one!) promptly squeezed through the right-hand side. Right in front of me–no shame at all!

{Sigh}

So we’ll be out there again this week when the rain stops, to patch up both sides too. We don’t want to lose anyone. Honestly, it’s hard for me to even be mad when I heard those ducks quacking–sometimes it almost sounds like their laughing at me!

How was your weekend? Mine was sneeze-y and headache-y but fairly productive.

See where I’m sharing today…