When my husband and I got chickens, we bought a
pre-manufactured coop that we just had to assemble. I named the 4 areas the chickens used in the
coop:
“Inside”: the enclosed area of the coop that provides
protection from the weather
“Nesting Box”: the part that sticks out the side where my
chickens don’t nest…
“Front Yard”: the open area still enclosed by wire
“Attic”: the area designed to be storage, but we only left
the floor/ceiling on half of it, so we can peek in from above.
 |
| freshly assembled coop |
The chickens love to nest down in the sand we put on the
floor of the coop, but they insist on kicking everything out of the nesting
boxes. I’ve tried straw, shavings,
pellets, and even grass! Nothing seems
to please them. No biggie, though. It’s their home and they can keep it however
they like, I guess.
 |
| ...they were so tiny... |
When they started laying, I found a couple eggs on the floor
“inside”, but I found the majority of the eggs in the “attic”. I’m fine with that, too. That just means I don’t have to bend over to
gather the eggs!
 |
| How do they get there? |
Now, I wasn't sure if they were laying in the attic and on the floor... or if they were all laying in the attic, and some were rolling to the floor...
So, I made an attempt to find out...
Before the verdict was in, the sky fell!
At least, I'm sure that's what the chickens thought...
I went out to gather eggs, and the attic floor had fallen down into the "inside". None of the chickens would go "inside", even after I removed the pieces. Suddenly, it was chicken chaos.
They were laying under the deck... They were laying in one of the rain barrels... I was finding a single egg each day in the coop. I'm sure several each day were getting trampled, broken, and consumed...
They would settle down for the night in the "front yard". When they did go "inside", they were obviously looking for the attic to fly up to, but it wasn't there. They voiced their concerns and distress.
 |
| Can we come in? The sky is falling!! |
Finally, we decided we needed to help them figure things out again. The chickens were just going to have to go without yard privileges for a few days until they realized that the sky was no longer falling.
After day 1, we had 4 eggs in the nesting box!
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The wheels are bound to come off sooner or later. Something will inevitably throw a wrench into your routine and knock you off of your groove. A holiday weekend might have involved more processed foods than healthy foods... Sickness, injury, or just plain life may have prevented you from getting your workouts in for a few days... or a few months... or even a few years?
What can you do to reset your system and tame the chaos?
Sometimes, we just need to take our world back to the bare minimum to get everything back on track.
Maybe that's a week of strict nutrition. I'm not saying "Never eat cake again!" I'm just saying maybe it would be helpful to stick to strictly whole foods. No cake or cookies for that week... Then you can return to the occasional indulgence!
Perhaps a fitness challenge or boot camp would help you out. 30 days. Working out 6 days a week.
Or maybe even just ensuring you are getting 8 hours of sleep for 2 weeks straight!
Is the sky falling in on you?
Can I help you put it back in place?
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