Eggs last week (through Saturday): 20

The comic highlight of the week was going to let the chickens out on Thursday morning and being followed by the barn cat. Cleo is half the size of the chickens, and she learned long ago that you don't mess with them. And the chickens let Cleo know she's not welcome, bending over and putting their wings out like an F-16, then charging her at full speed.

So on Thursday, she followed me into the barnyard and I let all the chickens out, then turned around in time to see one very nervous, freaked out cat... suddenly surrounded by chickens. She did that twitchy "what do I do now?" thing that cats do, and then took the path of least resistance and got out of there, pursued by a Red Sex Link.

Saturday between early Father's Day celebrations I finally got the floor put into the chicken coop. there was a floor in the first quarter and back quarter, but there was no floor in the middle half, save for a couple of old boards that had collapsed. It made for a large gap that was a magnet for straw. Over the last couple of weeks, I worked on cutting three cross-pieces that would support the floor planks from beneath, and then the planks themselves. Started in only to find that the deck screws I bought months ago for this effort were too short - emergency trip to Lowe's for some longer ones. It gave me a real feeling of accomplishment putting that in, especially since I don't consider myself mechanically adept at all.

Finished it all off by using leftover bits of chicken wire to make sure the gaps were covered up - come raccoons have been spotted in the vicinity, although I haven't had a problem with them yet. I'm wondering if they're spooked by the looming figures of the goats.

Next week's project: starting a new manure pile from all the straw I shoveled out on Saturday.