Some people garden as a form of relaxation. It’s a lovely thought.

This perennial bed is 10 years old. The peonies and other flowers are well-established. If I put an hour of weeding and care into it now, at the beginning of the summer, it will require little maintenance for the rest of the season.

Because the plants are sturdy, I invite the hens to help. While I use my favorite hoe, the Girls dig up bugs that have overwintered in the earth. There is the low murmur of delighted clucking. I hear birdsong. Yes, this is peaceful.

The goats’ meadow has been grazed too low. It needs a rest and reseeding. For the next few weeks the goats are regulated to their paddock, which is bare of growing things for them to eat, but the lawn can handle some grazing, and so I let them out while I garden. There’s lots of lovely green grass for them. They should be no trouble at all….

Picture perfect.

Not.

Goats have amazing superpowers. One moment they are in one place and the next they are all the way across the lawn, eating delicate herbs.

With much dramatic shooing,

I convince Pip to head over to the water celery by the pond, and am able to finish weeding the last section of the perennial garden.

I might as well put the goats to work. The invasive mulitflora rose has made it’s way into the wildflower meadow. Goats love brambles more than they love grass (or even the herbs by the house.) I call Pip over.

Pip is an excellent gardener.

Curious who took the photos? Steve was working in his home office, noticed the bucolic scene, and decided to take a break and join us. This was not staged; it was a typical small drama in the backyard. I do a lecture for garden clubs about integrating chickens into a beautiful home landscape. I also mention goats.

Last week I visited my good friend, Lauren Scheuer. You might know her through her blog, or her book. She is creative, funny and artistic. All of these traits can be seen in her coop.

Lauren is also handy with power tools. Actually, handy is a mild word for it. She’s a whiz, and she’s told me that the most romantic present her husband ever gave her was early in their courtship, when he presented her with a power saw. Lauren has had chickens for years, and they were due for a new coop. She had grand images, but like most artists, didn’t have the funds to have them built for her. So, she purchased a prefab shed from Home Depot and went to work.

These buildings don’t have enough windows, so that power saw was plugged in. In the winter, plexiglas covers the screens.

The inside has both storage and a cozy roosting area. It’s designed for easy of cleaning.

The flock is Lauren’s muse. She built a seat so she could hang out with them in comfort and sketch.

Being an artist, Lauren had IDEAS about what the coop should look like. Big iron hinges. Fancy moldings. Being an artist, Lauren couldn’t afford them. Being creative and a doer, Lauren came up with a solution. Trompe l’oeil!

Doesn’t her hen look grand framed in the window?

Lauren has two dogs, Marky and Angel.

In his youth, Marky could keep the predators at bay, but these days, he’s more into finding shade. Red Tail Hawks nest in the woods, but Lauren didn’t want to keep her hens enclosed because of them. So, Lauren built this chicken tractor to shelter her girls while out on the lawn. Note – this is NOT a coop. It’s for daytime use only. (Read my FAQ on Coop Criteria to learn why this is not suitable housing.)

The hawks are also why Lauren has a covered run, and also a play area with plants that the hens can run under for protection.

These doted on hens are happy, indeed.

Like Lauren’s art? Take a look at her book, Once Upon a Flock.

I thought that you might like to see what Scooter does all day.

Steve and I get up at 6:30 am, at which time we get Scooter to go outside to do his business. After that, the little dog jumps onto the warm bed. He stays there awhile.

Eventually he joins Lily and I in my office. He claims the softest place and goes back to sleep.

Sometimes he helps Lily with her work.

But, that’s so exhausting that he goes onto the couch in the living room where his nap isn’t interrupted.

Then it’s time to follow the sun. From here:

To here:

Of course, there are potty breaks, kibble to eat, a walk on a leash up the street with Lily, and now that it’s warm out, there might be another nap outside. All of that leads to the best part of the day – bedtime! – on his very own chair, with his very own blanket, in the bedroom. Sweet dreams, Scooter.

PS Scooter does play. See this video of him having the zoomies with Lily. The video is already four years old, but the dynamic and enthusiasm hasn’t changed at all. Maybe it’s all of that napping that keeps him young?

The danger of freezing pipes has finally passed. That means I now have running water that comes out of spigots by the barns. (After last winter, this basic convenience still makes me smile!) It also means that the chickens get one of their favorite things – outside waterers.

The chickens have been drinking just fine all winter from the dispenser inside of their coop. But now, in the morning, they wait until their pop-doors are opened, when they rush out and make a bee-line for the outside waterer. They do this whether the dispensers are plastic or

I have no idea why my hens prefer drinking water outside, but I know that they do. I have a few theories. In the summer, the hens don’t like to cross the hot pen to go inside. They’d rather have their water in the shade where they are. But that doesn’t explain their preference now. Perhaps,even in my coops with big windows, there’s something about seeing water in unfiltered sunshine that makes it more appealing. Who knows? I’m happy to accommodate their quirks. Each hen needs to drink at least a cup of water a day, more when it is hot. Providing access to water where and how they like it is essential to their well-being.

Each time the waterer is filled, it is also scrubbed. If you have problems with algae bloom, put a couple of tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in the water.

Despite the girls’ preference for water outside, I still keep the dispenser inside freshly filled. They’ll appreciate it on bad-weather days, and, once in awhile, a hen will remember it is there and take a sip.