Scratching the surface ...

Although Hamby Home(in)stead is based on 5 acres, they are certainly not fox-proof and neither do we have a Maremma guard dog to watch over our new acquisitions.

The girls will need to adjust to living on a smaller scale. We already had a townhouse-style chook pen (used as cat accommodation while we were living in the apartment) but wanted to provide a courtyard as roaming area.

Some late-afternoon improvisation was therefore necessary.  We found all that we needed at Bunnings - a 10m roll of chicken wire, four star pickets, a gadget for driving the pickets and some wire clips (with specialised pliers).  Once home again, all helped to create a small fenced area for the girls to scratch about in.  Both it and the chook-house can be moved fairly easily, though further modifications are already being discussed.  

Our chooks enjoyed a few hours of supervised exploration within their courtyard before they were locked in the upstairs section of their townhouse overnight.  Vaughan let them out as his first mission of the day and fed them a few crickets before heading off to school.  One of the girls escaped twice this morning but the bottom edge of the wire is now pegged into place and she hasn't managed any further Houdini stunts!