Making Chicken Tractor March 26, 2016

Making a Chicken Tractor 

March 26, 2016

After two months of minor migraines, I had three days of major migraines and being laid up in bed.  Dh and Dd kept themselves very busy making the chicken tractor together.  They spent hours and hours getting it all done, and learning a lot.  I figure we will make another one or two like this one, so we can keep our chickens outside and move-able around our property.  

They came up with this plan together.

They got the plastic netting, instead of the metal kind.

Dd got to do a lot of the work.

They put up the netting on two sides, and left the top and bottom empty.  I'm not sure what the plans are - for their time in the garage they get a cardboard bottom and top--especially to keep the heat in.  It is still very cold here, and they have the two heat lamps on all the time.

I think this is the only picture I took without the cardboard on the cage to help hold in the heat.

The chicks get a warm side and a cool side, so they can go where they feel most comfortable.

They put a cardboard door on each end, that can fold down for us to reach in.  We put cardboard on the tops and sides to help hold in the heat.

You can see the food trough fairly well in this picture.  They are eating the "Chick Starter Food" still, plus I am putting in lettuce, spinach, celery, and any other odd veg I have.  This week I have been cutting up Kombucha SCOBY for them, and they LOVE it!  I was amazed at how they ate that right up each time I offered it.

Here is bowl of cut up (like thick spaghetti) SCOBY from my Kombucha jug.

Can you see the metal feeder trough? it is on the right side of the picture, with a chicken eating out of it.  It works really well.  I like how it can feed all the chicks at the same time.  If I put it in the middle of the cage then they can all fit around it.

See the two clear glass BALL jar water dispensers?  Giz and Grampy brought about four or five of them from the family farm for us to use on our new little flock.  We had bought a plastic one to use before they got here.  The biggest difference between these ol' timey BALL jars and the ones we buy now-a-days is that the old jars are thick and heavier.

Giz and Grampy brought this old chicken cage.  They use to sell off their two year old chickens, and they would put all their flock in these wooden cages and they would stack them up in a truck to travel.  I don't know that we need this, but it is nice to have.  I know appreciate having our chickens use the old family items.

This is another item G&G brought----it is a feeder.  I can see how it would be nice that the chickens can't stand in the food and poop in it.  We haven't used it yet, as we have been using the long metal trough, it fits better in their cage.

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Core G Book List, HISTORY BOOKS ONLY, SL and Add-In's

Core G: History book list; what we read and added in.

Creation Through 1600's
Ancient History
Middle Ages
Medieval History
Renaissance

If you need a list of some book options to slip into your Sonlight Core G, broken down by scheduled week, here is a list I am working on.  Some times SL will schedule a book that you know won't fit into your lessons, and you want to find a replacement---this list may help.  I know my Dd gets tired of so many male main characters, and wants a few female main characters---or perhaps they don't clip with a specific book and really want to drop it.  Hope this list may help someone; I know I love book lists like this!!! This is only the "history" books we read with this core, week by week, I didn't include literature, bible, or fun books.

Favorite Spine books:
 (books that we will be reading off and on through the whole core, or most of the core):

Story of the World: Ancients & Middle Ages, SOTW: Activity Book, SOTW Test Book
Mystery of History: Vol.1: Creation Through Resurrection
Mystery of History: Vol II The Early Church and the Middle Ages by Linda Lacour Hobar
BiblioPlan: Ancients Companion, BP:Ancient Maps,
will be using BP Medieval History Companion & Maps
Invitation to the Classics, A Guide to Books You've Always Wanted to Read
The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia
History Lives Series by Mindy and Brandon Withrow:
First we read, Peril and Peace, then Monks and Mystics, (Courage and Conviction...Hearts and Hands)
Trial and Truimph by Richard Hannula
The Kingdom Strikes Back by Dr. Ralph Winter
Kingfisher History Encyclopedia
YouTube, history video's
Khan Academy, history video's and information

Memoria Press:
The Book of the Ancient World by Dorothy Mills (Reader, Teacher, and Student books)

Sonlight Book of Time with Homeschool in the Woods, Historical Timeline Figures: Creation To Christ and Resurrection to Revolution

Lesser Used Spine Books:
One Million Things: Ancient History DK PUblishing
Usborne Introduction to Archaeology by Abigail Wheatley
Usborne Encyclopedia of World Hisoty by Jane Bingham
The Usborne Internet-linked Encyclopedia of World History 
The Usborne Encyclopedia of the Roman World
The Atlas of Ancient Worlds
Holman Bible Atlas


PB:Picture Book
GN: Graphic Novel

*It needs to be stated that I spent a few weeks doing each week, so there are numerous resources that we used.

Week 1: spent two weeks on it
The Sumerians by Elaine Landau
The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Heroes in Mythology by Jim Weiss
The Kingdom Strikes Back by Dr. Winter and John Holmann
Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
DVD:
The History Channel Egypt Collection Box Set, The Daily Life of Ancient Egyptians...
Ancient Egypt Unearthed (2009)
Cleopatra by Diane Stanley (PB)
Khan Academy: Law Code of Hammurabi, The Babylonian Mind....various video's.
Pharaoh and Foot Soldiers by Kristen Butcher
Story of the Nile by Anne Millard

Week 2: spent five weeks on it
The Pharaoh's of Ancient Egypt (Landmark) by Elizabeth Payne
Gilgamesh, The Hero by Geraldine McCaughrean
You Wouldn't Want to Be Tutankhamen! by David Stewart
You Wouldn't Want to Be an Egyptian Mummy!  by David Stewart
10 Kings and Queens Who Changed the World by Clive Gifford
Miram by Beatrice Gomley
Tirzah by Travis Lucille
Ancient Egypt by Daniel Cohen
Ancient Wonders by Tim Wood
Ancient Egypt -Eyewitness-by George Hart

Week 3: three weeks on it

DVD: In Search of Myths and Heroes by Michael Wood PBS Home Video
Cleopatra by Adele Geras
Hittite Warrior by Joanne Williamson
The Usborne Internet-linked Encyclopedia of World History

Khan Academy: Ishtar Gate, Towers of Babel, The Cradle of Civilizations, The Sumerians and Mesopotamia's, Sumerian Art, ....

Week 4: one week on it

Ancient China (Eyewitness Books) 2005
God King

Week 5: one week on it
Greek Myths by Olivia Coolidge

Week 6: two weeks on it
Lamps, Scrolls & Goatskin Bottles by Julia Hans
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths
The Trojan War by Olivia Coolidge
Pyramid by David Macaulay

Week 7: five weeks on it
Black Ships Before Troy by Rosemary Sutcliff
Within the Palace Gates by Anna Siviter
Famous Men of Greece by Memoria Press
The Wanderings of Odysseus by Rosemary Sutcliff
Theras and His Town by Caroline Dale Snedeker
Glaudia, the Greek Slave by Emma Leslie (Lamplighter book)
Youtube: Who Were the Greeks, Episode 1
Percy Jackson's Greek God's by Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
DVD: Clash of the Titans (1981)
Graphic Novels: 
Hades: Lord of the Dead by George O'Connor
Hera: The Goddess and her Glory by George O'Connor
Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess by George O'Connor
Perseus and Medusa by Blake A. Hoena

Week 8: eight weeks on it
Galen and the Gateway to Medicine by Jeanne Bendick
Tools of the Ancient Greeks; a Kids Guide to the History & Science of Life in Ancient Greece by Kris Bordessa
Audio CD: Galileo and the Stargazers by Jim Weiss
Youtube: The Aeneid: The animated short,
Socrates, and the Socratic Method
Archimedes the Greatest Mathematician
 DVD: The Greeks; Crucible of Civilization, PBS

Week 9: three weeks on it
Beyond the Desert Gate by Mary Ray
The Art of the Etruscans by Shirley Glubok
Khan Academy has a lot under :"Etruscans"
Alexander the Great (DK) by Peter Chrisp
Alexander the Great (World in the Time of...)by Fiona MacDonald
Khan Academy: Ancient Near East, The Cyrus Cylinder, Ancient Persia, Ancient Rome, Royal Tombs of Ur, Afghanistan: The Ancient Thebes with it's Necropolis, OLMEC mask.., Lasting Legacy of Alexander the Great...
The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff
DVD: In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great 2010
You Wouldn't Want to Be in Alexander the Great's Army! Jacqueline Morley
Mystery of the Roman Ransom by Henry Winterfield
Tools of the Ancient Romans by Rachel Dickenson
Youtube:
Hoplite Spartan Phalanx: historical real tactics (with historical Greek music in background)
DVD:
PBS Roman City by David Macaulay (very good!!!)
National Geographic, Alexander the Great, the Man Behind the Legend 2004


Week 10: six weeks on it

You Wouldn't Want to Be a Roman Gladiator by John Malam
Tools of the Ancient Romans by Rachel Dickinson
Vinegar Boy by Alberta Hawse
Augustus Caesar's World by Genevieve Foster
Invitation to the Classics by Louis Cowan

YouTube:
Alexander Sarcophagus by SmartHistory
Hannibal: The Man, The Myth, The Mystery by Goddess Mohamed
Dipylon Amphora by SmartHistory
Ezekiah, Attic Black Figure Amphora
Hannibal Verses Rome by Lupi
Exekia, Dionysus Kylix
Hannibal Barca by Twodeez (Parts 1, 2, and 3) very good!
The Great Conspiracy Against Julius Caesar
The Roman Empire or Republic, or which was it? Crash Course, World History, #10 by Crash Course (we are not huge fans of "Crash Course" episodes...there are some issues with these productions, and should be previewed ahead of time)
Julius Caesar Part 1, 2, 3 by Twodeez
Battle of Actium-Antony vs Octavian-by Great Military Battles
Antony and Cleopatra-Ancient Civilizations by Impineusa
A Glimpse of Teenage Life in Ancient Rome-Ray Laurence-
Ted Ed
The History of the Second Triumvirate by Richard Keogh



History DVD's:
Nat'l Geographic: When Rome Ruled: Disc 2:Doomsday Pompeii & Killing Caesar
National Geographic: When Rome Ruled, Disc Two, Doomsday Pompeii, Killing Caesar
History Classics: Ancient Greece: Gods And Battles: Disc 1: Gods and Goddesses
I, Caesar: The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire (Kultur) Disc 1: Julius Caesar, Augustus, Nero 
Rome and Pompeii 2002 by Questar

Week 11: two weeks

The Aeneid For Boys and Girls by Alfred J. Church
Roman Warriors-Age of Conquerors
Clothes and Crafts in Roman Times
Hostage Lands by Douglas Bond

Youtube: Killer Queens-1-Boudicca Part 1 Xixe Tu with Rory McGrath
Killer Queens-2-Boudicca by Xixe Tu

Week 12: two weeks

Victory On The Walls: Story of Nehemiah-Frieda Clark Hyman
Famous Men of Rome
Adara by Beatrice Gomley

Week 13: seven weeks

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Shaw
The White Stag by Kate Seredy
Ides of April by Mary Ray
Flame Over Tara

Week 14: four weeks

The Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff
Peril and Peace-Vol 1-Chronicles of the Ancient Church
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (audio)

Week 15: three weeks
Beowulf: A New Telling by Robert Nye
Youtube:
Polycarp by Randall Niles
Polycarp of Smyrna by Post-Apostolic Church
Beuwulf (1998) TV movie Lupo Canis
Beowulf Characters Part 1 by 60 Second Recap Series
Beowulf Characters Part 2 by 60 Second Recap Series
Beowulf The Plot Part 1 by 60 Second Recap Series
Beowulf The Plot Part 2 by 60 Second Recap Series
Beowulf Summary/Overview by 60 Second Recap Series


Week 16: three weeks
Trial and Triumph by Richard M. Hannula
Drive Through History Vol.3 Bethlehem to Caesarea, Miracles, Messiah, and the Roman Empire
The Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle (audio)
Anna of Byzantium by Tracy Barrett
Youtube: Britain AD Episode 1
Mystery of History: Middle Ages: Lessons 17-24
Story of the World: Middle Ages: Ch. 2
Black Horses For the King by Anne McCaffrey
Peril and Peace


Week 17: four weeks
Black Horses for the Kind by Anne McCaffrey 
Story of the World: Middle Ages: Ch. 3-5
The Hidden Treasure of Gaston by Eleanor Jewett
BiblioPlan Middle Ages Ch. 3
YouTube: lots of history video's, esp. on the History of the Nicene Creed
DVD: Ancient Roads from Christ to Constantine
DVD: Drive Thru History: Holy Lands, Bethlehem to Caesarea, Miracles, Messiah, and the Roman Empire
Week 18: two weeks
Augustine Came to Kent by Barbara Willard
Trial and Triumph by Richard Hannula
Peril and Peace by Mindy and Brandon Withrow
Mystery of History: Middle Ages: lessons 17-24


Weeks 19: one week
BiblioPlan: Middle Ages: Ch. 4
(don't forget we add in BP's Advanced Medieval Maps for each week)


Weeks 20: three weeks
BiblioPlan: Medieval: Ch. 4, 5, 6, 7
Son of Charlemagne by Barbara Willard
Archers, Alchemists, and 98 Other Medieval Jobs You Might Have Loved or Loathed


Weeks 21: three weeks
Archers, Alchemists, and 98 Other Medieval Jobs You Might Have Loved or Loathed
Monks and Mystics
Trial and Triumph
Otto of the Silver Hand
Catherine, Called Birdy
Khan Academy - many history video's, especially on Medieval Book Making, Charlemagne....etc.
The Great and Terrible Quest
The Kingdom Strikes Back
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies, Voices from a Medieval Village


Week 22: One Week
Archers, Alchemists, and 98 Other Medieval Jobs You Might Have Loved or Loathed
DVD: CASTLE by David Macaulay
DVD: Engineering the Impossible
Geoffrey Chaucer Canterbury Tales by Barbara Cohen
BiblioPlan: Medieval: Ch. 8: Vikings
YouTube video's on VIKINGS


Week 23: Three Weeks
Archers, Alchemists, and 98 Other Medieval Jobs You Might Have Loved or Loathed by Priscilla Galloway
The Real Vikings by Melvin and Gilda Berger
The Saga of Erik the Viking
The Second Mrs. Gioconda by E.L. Konigsburg
BiblioPlan Companion (Medieval), Chapter 9
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare by Edith Nesbit (Chapter on Macbeth)

Week 24: One Week
Monks & Mystics: (What were the Crusades, Bernard of Clairvaus) by Mindy Withrow
Trial & Triumph (Peter Waldo & Alfred the Great) by Richard M. Hannula
YouTube: The Crusades-Pilgrimage or Holy War
Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray

Week 25: One Week
Trial & Triumph (Anselm/Bernard Clairvaux/Francis of Assissi) by Richard M. Hannula
Monks & Mystics: Francis Assisi
Macbeth: Movie from library
YouTube: The Siege of Jerusalem

Week 26: Four Weeks
Mystery of History (audio) (lessons 56-69)
The Way of the Warrior  by Chris Bradford (samurai reader)
Monks & Mystics (How the University was Born, Thomas Aquinas, We Called Him the Dumb Ox)
Story of the World, Vol.2, (Chapters 1-10)
Mystery of History (Disc 9 & 10)
Hawksmaid, The Untold Story of Robin Hood and Maid Marion by Kathryn Lasky
The Way of the Sword, Young Samurai, book 2, by Chris Bradford
Magna Charta by James Daugherty

Week 27: Four Weeks
The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood
Saladin by Diane Stanley
The Samurai's Tale by Eric Christian Haugaard
BiblioPlan Companion: Medieval: Ch. 16

Week 28: Two Weeks
continued to finish previous books

Week 29: One Week
Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska

Week 30: One Week
I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Barton De Trevino

Week 31: Two Weeks
Leonardo da Vinci by Emily Hahn
A Glorious Age in Africa by Daniel Chu
Story of the World, Vol. 2, Ch. 33-34

Week 32: Two Weeks
Mystery of History, Vol 2, Lessons 80-84
Ink on His Fingers by Lousie A. Vernon (on Gutenberg)
Morning Star of the Reformation by Andy Thomson
Famous Men of Renaissance and Reformation (Petrarch, Giotto, Filippo Brunelleshi and Donatello) by Robert G. Shearer
The Monk Who Shook the World by Cyril J. Davey
The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman
Morning Star of the Reformation by Andy Thomson
BiblioPlan Companion: Ch. 19, Mongol Empire
Famouse Men of the Renaissance & Reformation by Robert Shearer (Lorenzo Valla)
Monks & Mystics (Thomas Aquinas) by Mindy Withrow
Trial & Triumph by Richard M. Hannula (Francis of Assisi, Elizabeth of Hungary)

Week 33: One Week
Mary, Bloody Mary by Carolyn Meyer
Monks & Mystics (John Wyclif) by Mindy Withrow

Week 34-36: Five Weeks 
BiblioPlan Companion, Medieval, Ch. 20-26
Mystery of History, Vol III, lessons 1-4: War of the Roses, Cosimo de Medici & Italian Renaissance, Isabella and the Spanish Inquisition, Ivan the Great...
Master Cornhill by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Renaissance Artists Who Inspired the World by Gregory Blanch
The Life of Leonardo da Vinci (3 VHS tapes)
Rats, Bulls, and Flying Machines by Deborah M. Prum

Chicks Days 19-24 Moved out to Garage

Chicks Days 19-24 

Moved out to Garage

The chicks have moved to the garage, on Monday.  We had to go back to the Tractor Supply Store and buy a second Heater Lamp to keep the chicks warm in the garage.  Giz and Grampy brought some of the old chicken things---water jars and two feeders.  It is so great to be able to use the old family chicken things, that have been in this family for generations.  

Look at all those feathers!  The downy hair is being replaced by feathers.

They all still look a bit strange and gangly.

They still like it when I lay them back and pet on them!

Dd has named this one Aphrodite! 

They have been eating out of Dd's hands this week, and she really likes that a lot.

Agnes is still just as loved and spoiled!!!

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Sonlight Core G Week 23 "B" Middle Ages March 14-20, 2016 SICK

Sonlight Core G Week 23 "B" 

Middle Ages 

March 14-20, 2016 

SICK

Hello Friends!  Glad we homeschool on a week like this one, and we could cut way back on our expectations.  Sunday, Dh and Dd had said they weren't feeling good, and Dd was up half the night with a 102 degree fever.  She was not in much of a state to get much done.  She ran a really high fever all Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday. The most unfortunate part is that Giz and Grampy were to arrive on Friday---and they didn't need to be exposed to sickie bugs.  I finally succumed to sickness on Friday.  We didn't get a lot done this week, and will have Giz and Grampy with us for part of next week too---lots of music, cooking, planting type things will happen, but probably not a lot of book-stuff, while they are visiting.  Spring is almost here!!

Our updates:
GERD/Heartburn for me---Really bad, all week.  I don't know what has changed and why things are getting worse each week.  I haven't added anything new to my diet.  Of course, getting sick and coughing like crazy isn't helping....

Chickens:

They are all doing great.  On Thursday I moved the Brooder House out to the garage, as the "chicken dust" was getting up into the loft area, which is Dd's bedroom.  She was convinced the chicken dust is what made her sick and I didn't want to argue.  I miss seeing them and hearing them all the time, but what can you do.  

Truck:

Dh is still working on it...prayers appreciated.

Band/Choir:

Wednesday morning, to my great surprise, Dd woke up without a fever and wanted to go to band so desperately---so I took her.  She ran out of energy during choir.  When we got home, she went right up to her bedroom and slept for 4-5 hours!  She wiped herself out.  At Band, Mrs. March said she could fit Dd in for a private lesson on Thursday, so I said, 'yes,' but found out only later that she had taken a turn back for the worse and wasn't feeling well.  We still went to her private lesson on Thursday, but Dd wasn't great.  

Private Lesson:

Mrs March gave Dd some piano and sax music to work on this week.  They had a great session---51 minutes!  What a lot of time and effort she puts in.

Link Co-op:

This was to be our last week, and it was a make-up week for a snow week we had had, but the church had some problem and had to cancel our classes--now our "last week" will be next week.  Golly this "10 week" class is taking 13 weeks to do.

On Friday, Dd and I cleaned ALL day, until Giz and Grampy arrived at 2 PM.  I woke up totally sick, but needed to clean off all our books and lessons off the kitchen island and dining room table, plus get their bedroom ready, vacuum.....

Our lessons:

Veritas Bible Gospels Homeschool Kit

Bible: Veritas Press Gospels

Card 109: completed

Jesus Calls Andrew and Simon Peter AD 27

(We read each of the Gospel's accounts of Jesus calling Andrew and Simon Peter and compare...this is really interesting to examine this way.)

Matthew 4: 18-22

read with Bible and Believer's Bible Commentary

Mark 1: 16-20

read with Bible and Believer's Bible Commentary

Luke 5: 1-11

read with Bible and Believer's Bible Commentary

Card 110: In Process

Jesus Turns Water Into Wine, The First Miracle AD 27

(We read each of the Gospel's accounts of Jesus calling Andrew and Simon Peter and compare...this is really interesting to examine this way.)

John 2: 1-12

read with Bible and Believer's Bible Commentary

Dd's Independent/FUN books:
She chose to read these on her own.

How to Stay Christian in High School, Revised Edition
How To Stay Christian In High School


Facing Your Giants Study Guide

Max Lucado

Facing Your Giants by Max Lucado





100 Best Bible Verses For Teens

The 100 Most Important Verses for Teens

Nov 8, 2005

by Joy Wilt

Math:

No Math, too sick

Reader:

The Saga of Erik the Viking

Aug 1, 2013

by Terry Jones and Michael Foreman

The Saga of Erik the Viking by Terry Jones

*she honestly probably only read once or twice last week, she was too under the weather and her brain wasn't working.

Read Aloud:

The Real Vikings : Craftsmen, Traders, and Fearsome Raiders

Oct 1, 2003

by Gilda Berger

The Real Vikings by Melvin and Gilda Berger: Completed

Science:

Exploring Creation w/ General Science SETItem #: GENSET

Apologia General Science

Module Six: Completed

Text Book: 150-155

Student Notebook: 110-117

Study Guide: Completed

Test: Completed (missed one question)

Music:

Piano, Sax, and Choir:

off on Monday and Tuesday, but had classes on Wednesday, and practiced Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun

That was it.  We made it through, but didn't get a lot accomplished.  We kept our goals at getting bible done a little each day, and to finish up our Science module.  We also had to prepare for Giz and Grampy's arrival.

..................

Chicks 14-16 Days Old Feathers Coming In

Chicks 14-16 Days Old Feathers Coming In

I have to admit, I got super tired of washing towels and decided that we had used the towels long enough---they were not going to get the bendy leg problem at this point.  Monday I switched to wood shavings that I only have to scoop up every two days.

The chicks LOVED scratching the shavings!!!

The other thing I added this week was a roosting bar.  They actually haven't loved it as much as I thought they would.  Usually it is only one bird up there at a time, so far.

Wednesday- Sixteen days old:
Boy, there have been some big changes in their feathers this week!  A lot of decorative feathers have come in, and they look like two birds combined---some birds more than others.

.................