Power washing the house leaves paint chips in the run

Today was day #1 of the house painting project.  To be clear, by "project" I mean "paying someone to pain the house." They guy came to power wash and I moved the hens to a temporary pen out by the garage.  They seem happy and unconcerned.

I, on the other hand, am now a little p.o.'d about all the paint chips in the chicken run.  I don't know for sure if there's lead in our paint, but seems safe to assume there is.  I asked the power-washer to tarp the chicken run and he did, but not that well.  It's pretty well covered in 3-molecule pieces of paint.

So now what?  I haven't moved the hens back to the run yet.  Andrew's on his way home from work.  Maybe we'll just swap out all the mulch from the run and start from scratch (no pun intended).  Ugh.  What a pain in the butt.  But I've just spent 20 minutes scaring myself by googling "chickens + eggs + lead paint."  It's probably worth it if we don't want our future offspring to have lead poisoning, to say nothing of the poor chickens.

I also read here about getting eggs tested for lead levels.  That could be an interesting science experiment.  I may start bothering the extension office for information on getting eggs tested in Columbus.  If I find anything, I'll post.  If anyone else knows, please share.

Chickens survived the heat-wave

It's finally under 100 in the chicken coop & the chickens are back to their normal business.  They rode out the heat wave under the hydrangea in the side yard with occasional hose showers. 

This morning, because it's not so stinkin' hot today, we decided not to let them out in the side yard (they poop on the breezeway and it makes letting out Moses (the dog) logistically difficult, so the side-yard is not normally chicken-territory).  They protested loudly for a few hours, but they seem to have forgotten by now.

We picked our chickens because they're pretty cold hardy breeds & I'm not sure what that means about their heat tolerance, but I'm glad to see them relaxed, not-panting, and seemingly happy.

Neighbor chickens met their chicken maker

I'm so sad to report that several neighboring Bexley Chickens died today in the heat. We were really worried about our girls yesterday, too. It seems now like we weren't overreacting to their panting & labored breathing.
Poor neighbor chickens. They really do hate the heat. :(
For now our three girls seem to be staying cool enough by hiding under the hydrangeas - fingers crossed that the heat breaks soon because the next step is boxing them up for an afternoon in the basement (inside a box) and that doesn't sound pleasant for anyone.

Chickens go free range!

Our ladies have been suffering through the recent heatwave (multiple days in the 90s) and we thought that giving them some more room to roam, and an opportunity to find some shade might help them cool down a bit. So this morning, in a bit of patriotic fervor, Andrew freed the hens to forage in the grassy strip just outside their run. The ladies didn't waste a minute and were happy to have some grass to eat and some more land to explore. The new territory promises the opportunity to enjoy a slight breeze and get out of the sun. It means a little more hassle to keep the dog away from them, and some chicken poop to hose down, but if it helps Peggy, Joan, and Sally stay cool, it's well worth it.