We have new girls!

A local friend of mine gave us 7 hens & pullets today! Well, total of 12, but I was picking up some for yet another local friend, so we kept 7 for ourselves. Since we had the bloody massacre here in September, it is nice to have more chickens around. We were down to just one American Barred Holland pullet and two babies that we hatched from Trader Joe's "fertile eggs". We are about 99% sure they are white Leghorns. BUT it seems one is male and one is female. Way to go! (I have a trio of Seramas in the house...babies, though)

We had to do some creative rigging on the barn, since it is set up for horses (previous owner of this place) and I wanted to keep the new ones secure for a few days while they learn where their home is now.

Anyone that knows what the wind is like in the Texas panhandle knows that the plastic won't stay stapled up there like that for long.  After doing that, I changed directions and used an old "heavy duty" (and I mean HEAVY DUTY) shower curtain liner that I got for the kids bathroom, but quickly hated and removed, and stapled it around the lattice. This worked perfectly. So later this week, I will get 1.5 more pieces of the latice and two more of those shower curtain liners and create three of those panels and take down that awful looking other stuff. They will work perfectly for shelter from the wind, rain and snow.

Looks awful, but only temporary for a few days. Most importantly, the girls are secure and protected from the elements. Heat lamps keep it nice and noticeably warmer in there.