Why, hello!
Did you know there are people who buy cottages just for the purpose of having something else to decorate. It’s true. I am not one of those people. I can’t afford the cottage or what it would take to decorate it. Or the drive to the cottage. A coop, though? THAT I can afford. And mainly I walk there.
I had no idea when I got my little chickens or built their coop that I’d have a whole other house to accessorize and decorate. In the words of Sheldon Cooper … huzzah.
So when I saw this vintage, cloth poultry feed sack at the Christie Antique Show & Sale I had to buy it. Also it was only $10, so that pretty much sealed the deal. $10? Chicken scratch. Sign me up! Wait. I think it was $15. No matter. I can still afford it.
Now you, like the girls here, might be thinking …
HEY! Look at this slightly decrepit looking bag FULL of 50 year old chicken feed! What an awesome, awesome find.
As soon as I’m done pecking through my own poop, I’m totally getting INTO that.
But you would be wrong. That isn’t a full bag of chicken feed but rather a couple of pillows shoved into a feed sack.
In case of rain, I encased the pillows in plastic garbage bags so they wouldn’t get soaked through and develop that gross wet feather smell. Anyone who’s washed a duvet, a pillow or a down on their luck Vegas showgirl knows that scent well.
Don’t have a vintage, cloth feed sack? Not a problem. Use a regular feed sack.
Don’t have a chicken coop? More of a problem. But not insurmountable. Here’s what you’ve gotta do ..
.
First … get yourself one of these …
… make a fried egg and start building.
So… on one side of your hour, you have a chicken run complete with bails of hay and decorator feed bags. Is that the message? Do you always have that straw out, because it’s awfully clean looking straw for chicken scratch area….
Straw is always out. I rake it up and cover it with a tarp if there’s going to be rain. The straw gets completely cleaned out once a month and put in the compost bin. More on *that* next week. Then a few new flakes from the bales are pulled out and strewn bout. The end. ~ karen!
I love that you have accessories for your coop! Is the straw on paving or concrete? Or is it dirt?
The straw is over slate. ~ karen!
Hallo Ms. Karen;
I was wondering how amenable you are to chicken visitors? I’m not sure if TL mentioned it to you, but we are moving to the wilds of Calgary, and my step-father is building a coop and chickens around the corner from our place. Apparently my kids are going to supplement their meagre college fund with local egg selling.
Seriously.
I also wouldn’t want to put your girls in a tizzy with a bunch of crazy kids, so if they wouldn’t like it, maybe I could just come and check out your chicken pad. As with everything, I’m sure it’s going to be up to me to figure out how to teach them to look after the chickens, gather eggs, etc. Not really in my current repetoire.
Let me know if you have some time before the end of July, which is our departure date!
Thanks!
Jenn B.
Down on her luck Vegas Showgirl????????????
(I’m ROLLING here!!!) You are such a hoot!
Your chicken (sorry chickie, I don’t know which one you are) is might photogenic. Ever consider getting them an agent and some tv work. We all know them perform very well on tv, already. I bet you, and them would all be great on CityLine…I dream of the day when I would get see you there as a guest, Karen :0)
Guest, LOL! I was on the list to be a host. 🙂 ~ karen
I never thought I’d like to be a chicken, but dang I’d love to live at your house
“down-on-their-luck-Vegas-showgirl.”. Excellent.
Hey, where do you get your hay/straw? I need some for my potatoes. Or will there be more on that next week?
Jody – The straw comes from any feed store. There’s one in Freelton, TSC in Brantford or Quick Feeds in Copetown. ~ karen!
My chicken coop is decorated with metal signs. Either original vintage or repo. Right now I only have 2 but am on the lookout for more all the time.
My coop is nowhere as fancy as yours but the 12 chickens love it!
But I have several small gardens around our property and I love finding junk and repurposing it to go out into the garden. I took an old chicken feeder and planted succulents in it. I have a very old sewing machine placed in a planting along with a newer decorative dress form. Lots of other stuff and always looking for more.
Your chickens are so gorgeous, Karen. I just want to pet them…which would really piss off the cats.
I am really thinking about building a babysitting chicken coop. This is my first step back into chickens. It will be small as I will only be babysitting five at a time. Yes a daycare for chickens. So if you need your girls looked after, I’m the one!! Do they get air sick?
The girls are so pretty..they deserve some nice decor in their home for all of the eggs they deliver..and I know that you like to sit out their with them sometimes..Did you check out that article..are you going to try it..that would make a cool video..
Not a comment about chickens … but about sheets! My husband bought us a set of ROUGH LINEN sheets and i want to thank you for letting us know about them. I just couldn’t bring myself to spend the big bucks for sheets but he could!!! They are awesome.
Aren’t they great! You’ll have to put the duvet cover on the wish list now. I even prefer it to the sheets! (I have the white smooth linen sheets and the rough linen duvet cover) ~ karen!
Hosts of the show only read from a prompter, you are far too intelligent and have way too many great ideas to only host Karen. But the guests…the good ones stay around for the show over many hosts, and they get to *wow the world*. That’s entirely YOu Karen.
LOL! Well, I’m a different kind of host. 🙂 I’m not one for prompters. ~ karen!
Your chickens look so clean and fluffy. Do you give them baths? I always thought that birds have lice.Anyhow, I’m sure that they love the new decorator piece.Gives them something to ponder.
Everyone thinks I’m crazy because I’ve been talking about getting chickens for about the past year or so. My husband and I are closing on our first home at the end of next week (yay!) and I think next spring will be the time… I love your posts about keeping chicken. I actually requested Ashley English’s Keeping Chickens book ast Christmas at your recommendation and absolutely love it! I’ve been meaning to pick up her other books as well.
I love seeing and hearing about the girls!
……DANG I miss fried eggs….why’d you have to mention fried eggs!!
Well they missed out BIG TIIME. Too bad for us.
🙂 Thanks Dagmar. ~ karen
I love the little bench boards on the straw bales. That is a must for me.
I just got my peepers this year (thanks to you!). I love my girls and will be moving them into the coop in a few weeks. However, it’s CLEAR I have a lot of catch-up to do in the decorating field! 😉
Your girls look great, Karen! Very pretty, extremely healthy!
Hmmmmm…I’ll think of something!
This isn’t very original/eloquent, but damn, girl! You gots gorgeous poultry.
Seemed eloquent enough for me ~ karen!
Hilarious! And your cottage / coop has its own lake too.. or the girls can’t see the water from their porch?
I have a cottage, but I didn’t get it to decorate it. I got it I could sit and enjoy the view of the lake, to listen to the loons, to fish, to swim, to garden, to swat mosquitos and black flies, to spend time with my family and relax away from the noise and hassles of the city….decorating a cottage just happened to be a bonus thrown in 😛
I SO have a crush on you!
I hate it that I don’t know if you’re talking about me or one of the chickens. Either way it’s kind of understandable. ~ karen
I SO have a crush on you.
I have chickens, too. They live the life, although perhaps not so creatively. I was wondering what Ikea handles you got for $2. They must have been discontinued, because I don’t see them on their website.