The Banty Shanty

10 days ago, while picking up a sack of chicken feed at Tractor Supply with Georgie, I purchased a dozen Cornish Rocks. Cornish Rocks are the type of chicken that grow to full size in a matter of weeks, truly serving a single purpose. Nuggets. I explained this to Georgie before we even left the store. We live in the country, I hunt, fish and grow a garden, he understands where his food (some of it, at least) comes from (watch the Willis family Thanksgiving 2012 video on Youtube for further evidence). Everything was fine for a week or so, the little fuzzballs were metamorphosing at a seriously freaky rate in our backroom, then in a wooden box I constructed in the backyard when Georgie said, "Dad, maybe these chickies we shouldn't kill to eat them...". "We have to Georgie, these chickies get big and fat and don't run around like the egg chickens, they're just for eating". He took it pretty well, despite the fact that he had begun training them to sit on his shoulder, in addition to enrolling them in his rigorous "flight training" program.

Recognizing an opportunity to instill a little responsibility in our 4-year-old feral child, Brinn and I decided Georgie might be ready for some chicks of his own. We got on the hatchery website and poked around. Apparently Georgie's criteria for pet chickens is that some distant relative of his future friend had its picture taken at some point, because he wanted everything we looked at. I talked him into picking out some Bantams (which are basically pigeon-sized chickens), before the shipping cost talked me out of it. Luckily, Brinn was able to pick up the last 3 at Tractor Supply while she was out shopping today. Nobody knew they were coming, so we had some excitement this afternoon.

I had planned to spend today catching up on correspondences, cleaning up the building rubble in the yard and staging for my next project, a roomy coop with a sweet handmade fence. Instead of all that boring stuff, Georgie and I spent the afternoon building the Banty Shanty, a handmade mobile home (single wide) for his ping-pong-ball-sized Bantam chicks, Wire, Twinkle Think and Skunkie. To wrap it all up, we spent family night at the Subway / Sweetfrog / 7-11 for dinner and dessert. I may not have a salary, a 401K, health insurance or a clue about how everything is going to work out, but I built a Banty Shanty today with my boy. Worth it.

They don't stay cute like this for long... either of them. This is one of the meat birds, they have quadrupled in size in the week since this shot was taken, not exaggerating.

Georgie's about to give that little 'peep' some "hands-on" flight training. He's just so helpful!

The Banty Shanty! Obviously a work in progress, but that isn't stopping Georgie from taking a few test rides. Brinn nabbed that wagon from the "dump", which is the cluster of public dumpster bins up the road. Out here you haul your own trash, in your own truck and bring home your own treasures.

This little guy's got feathers all the way down his legs.

That's right.

Today was the first cut-offs, no shoes day of the year. Yesterday was the last real jeans, shoes day until October. Yeah, that's an ice scraper / snow brush combo automobile accessory laying in the yard-y driveway area... it's for sawdust, we aren't THAT redneck.

Up next, Froe Fest 2013.

-F.W.