Clean Coop

It's needed it for a few weeks now, but who wants to clean out a chicken coop when it's 95˚ outside?  The weather was a little cooler today with cloud coverage and some sprinkles of rain, so we decided to go for it.  We shoveled out the run as well as the hen house.  It's the first time I've done the hen house because we use the deep litter method in there.  Honestly, even in the heat we've been having, the smell was not coming from the hen house.  The run was gross.  We bought fresh pine shavings for the hen house and a bale of fresh straw for the run.  I tried letting them have just dirt in the run, but that started to stink very quickly.  Having a bedding of some kind really keeps the oder down, and it give them something to do.

The chicks are all living at my parents' house right now because we had gone away for a few weeks on vacation.  They are almost ready to be integrated into the rest of our flock now.  They have a nice set up with my parents.  My dad built them a nice run in addition to the run that goes with the coop.  They have more space there than they would in our little coop.  When they are ready to hold their own with the big girls, we will bring our three of the six back home.  They are about 11 weeks old now.  We'll give them a few more weeks before making the change.

So close...

We made a ton of progress on the coop again today.  We installed the floor boards, the insulation, and the floating walls, and we put the chicken wire on the main access door.  Here are a few pictures to display our progress.

Here is the insulation.  Notice, too, that the floor boards were painted white.

A view of the egg door from the human access door inside the coop.  Walls are complete and floor are painted.

Pretty sure this will be the only time he is ever allowed to play inside the coop.  He drew all over the walls and floors.

Looking good.

So here's the to do list...

1.  Add handles both human access doors and main door

2.  Add secure latches to both human access doors, the egg door, and the main coop door

3.  Build and secure the ramp

4.  Construct and install nest boxes

5.  Install roosts inside the coop

6.  Install roosts in the run

7.  Pulley system for the chicken access door

8.  Hang the waterer

9.  Fit boards on roof over hen house (just for winter)

10.  Add some gravel around the coop to help with water drainage

Security Breach

We had our first attempted break-in last night.  When I went down this morning to let the big girls out, I found a small hole that was dug down to the hardware cloth we had buried when putting in the coop.  I'm really glad we took the time to do that.  The girls are safe, and the hole is now filled in.

The big girls are doing great.  We are still getting a dozen eggs a week even though days are short.  The chicks are not really  chicks any more.  They are awkward adolescents.  They are doing well in the garage and have come to enjoy scratch.  They will be eight weeks old on Wednesday.  We will leave them in the garage in the dog crate until the new coop is ready.

The Beginnings of the Coop

We began construction of our coop this week since we were off for Thanksgiving.  We are using The Garden Coop plans that are available online, but we are modifying by adding an extra section of enclosed coop so that it will readily accommodate 10 chickens with the suggested 6 square feet of run and 3 square feet of enclosed space per bird.  We have it all framed, but the next step is the hardest.  Now we get to dig.  We will need to dig to place the cinder blocks and then dig a foot deep trench all the way around to bury the hardware cloth and predator-proof the run.  We are going to try to get that taken care of tomorrow and Sunday.  No matter what, it needs to be done before the ground freezes.

Today was a very nice day in Colorado Springs, so we took our two buff orpington chicks outside for the very first time.  They are a little over four weeks old now, and they thoroughly enjoyed pecking at the dirt.  The field trip only lasted about five minutes before we returned them to their warm brooder inside.

16 Days Old

Our chicks are 16 days old now and growing feathers quickly.  I can't believe how fast they change.  They are eating their chick chow well and drinking plenty of water every day.  They are not nearly as hard to care of as I thought they would be.  We've been making it a point to pick them up and pet them for a while every evening and most mornings.  One of them really seems to enjoy this time, but the other isn't as comfortable with it.  They are very attached though.  When we take one out of the brooder, the other cries this pitiful chirp that clearly indicates concern.

We are going to start building our new coop this weekend.  See, we already have the three lovely ladies, but that little coop we bought from mypetchicken.com is no where near large enough for five hens.  Considering how fast these chicks are growing, I think we'd better get going on a new place to house them.  We have decided on building The Garden Coop along the back fence in our yard.  We are going to lengthen it by an extra section to make sure there is room for ten hens.  Ten is the Colorado Springs limit, so we figure we might as well have room for as many as we're allowed in case we ever decide to add on to our flock.  We plan to do most of the construction over Thanksgiving Break and move these girls in right around Christmas.

As for the other girls, they are doing very well.  We are still getting about a dozen eggs a week, which is excellent.  The eggs have started to get darker the past couple days, but I have no idea why.  They are beautiful, large brown eggs with thick orange yolks.  Yum!

All three big girls are becoming less skittish around us though they still want nothing to do with us.  Yadi has even started to come towards me when I bring down a treat for them.  She keeps her distance until I leave, but she has figured out that I mean something good is about to happen.  Basically, they no longer run in fear, but they are no where near letting us pet them.  I'll have to take some more pictures of the big girls this weekend.

Here are a few pictures I took tonight with my cell phone.  The quality isn't that great, but you can see how much they have grown.  The one facing the camera is Lola, and she is definitely the head chick.  Omelette is the other girl, and she is the one who enjoys being held.  

Our dog Cooper is very interested is these two new creatures living in her house.

Two Dozen and Counting!

The hens have been clucking around for two weeks now, and the wonder of it all has yet to wear off.  Are getting approximately a dozen eggs a week from our three ladies, and they are delicious eggs!  Seriously, I have never been much of an egg fan, but I made scrambled eggs for my son and myself midweek while Derek had conferences, and they were amazing.  I have never liked scrambled eggs, but I knew Owen would eat them, so I decided to go with it.  I was SHOCKED at how yummy they were.  I went back for seconds!  The difference between store bought eggs and backyard eggs is unbelievable.  Too bad we haven't had any spares to share with friends yet...  (It's not looking like we will anytime soon.  They're just too darn good.)

We did have a bit of a scare on Friday.  Derek thought that Layla (the Australorp) went missing.  The two Wyandottes were together, but Layla was no where to be seen.  Poor guy searched the yard and peeked into all the neighbors' yards looking for her.  Turns out she had just found a great spot in a bush to take a nap.  She was fine.  Totally safe and sound.  Owen is now calling her a "Nawny Ninnen"  which toddler translates to "Naughty Chicken."  It was great to see how much Derek likes the hens though.  He was so upset when he thought she was gone.  He's already planning on adding to our flock next spring.

By the way, our girls have names now.  Layla is the Black Australorp, and she is definitly at the top of the pecking order.  Atilla the Hen (Tilly) is the larger of the two Golden-Laced Wyandottes, and Yadi (in honor of Yadier Molina) is the smaller of the Wyandottes.  Yadi is fiesty and probably the number two bird.  Surprisingly, Tilly is at the bottom of the pecking order even though she is the largest bird.  Not to worry though.  There have yet to be any squabbles, and they all get plenty of top notch food.  They love eating rinsed egg shells and apple cores.

We are thinking about starting construction on a new, larger coop soon.  I think I like the looks of The Garden Coop.  What do you think?  We'll put the nest boxes on the outside and move the door to the side so that there is room for ten hens.  Should be plenty of room especially since we let them free range for a few hours every day during the school week and all day long on the weekends.

From left to right:  Tilly, Yadi, Layla

Almost There

Our coops will be delivered on Wednesday, and we are going to a ranch on Saturday to pick out two already laying hens.  We will be able to choose between Easter Eggers, Black Australorps, and Golden-Laced Wyandottes.  Tomorrow I will be running around Colorado Springs to find all the things we need to outfit the coop.  We decided to start with two adult hens and then buy the four chicks we picked out in the spring.  That way we'll have eggs right away and our coop won't sit empty all winter.  I can't even describe how excited I am!

Trench with Hardware Cloth

Filled in and ready for a coop!