Vern's friends

We finally built the chickens a coop. For all of you non-chicken lovers out there: a coop is a place where the chickens can run around, and a coop encloses the hen house, of which I have talked on and on about ;) For now, the coop is just a fenced-in, non-used area of our yard where the chickens can run around pecking bugs (seriously, I saw Miss Penny eat a roach last week- yuck!) and pooping and hello, hopefully someday laying eggs!!

Well, Vern has been living with the chickens in the yard with him up until we finished the coop this weekend. He never acted like he cared much, just lounging around, wishing he was still an inside dog mostly. We-he-ellll, he CARED! As soon as the chickens were gone, he would go drop his ball in their coop and hope that somehow his chicken buddies would retrieve it for him or at least come to the fence for a chat... No such luck. I don't think they like him that much?

Yesterday, I heard Vern barking, so I went out to check. Somehow he had jumped into the chicken coop, WITH his ball, I might add, and tried to fraternize with his old buddies who just aren't that fond of him. Unfortunately, out of sheer terror, the chickens immediately jumped out of the coop and cowered behind a tree- clucking and watching him, and I think laughing a little. Who knows with these ladies?

And I guess Vern forgot how to get back out of the pen. I think he only had that one jump in him with those four year old hips, that he just whined and barked until Dan had to go get him out. Poor guy.

This has created a new problem though. The chickens now know how to jump out of their coop- NOT good. Our mulch and flowers are suffering volumes because of them. I guess they just need a place to roost because they go immediately for our bench, after some mulch-rousing and flower-eating and lay out for the afternoon. They are pretty smart- a little smarter than us (and Vern) at the moment.

See King Tutu and Esmerelda chatting over there and Madame Cluck always separating herself and leading the flock in the middle, and good ole' Miss Penny just sweetly sitting there waiting to see me. She's the only one who likes me...

Project this weekend: higher fence for the coop!