Naughty Chickens!

We have had three successful nights in a row of the girls going into their coop and going to bed where they are supposed to.  However, one naughty chicken has decided that its a great idea to lay her eggs under the ramp.  I put a log under the ramp so whoever it is can't nestle down under there, so we'll se if it stops the next couple of days.

Egg under ramp

I've read that feeding the girls pumpkin can help prevent worms, so here's a picture of the babes eating some canned pumpkin.

Omelette and Maple

Owen feeding the hens.

The Eggs Keep Coming!

It's been cold here.  Very cold.  The last couple weeks have been miserable.  Today, however, was beautiful!  We got into the 50's with little wind and LOTS of sunshine.  My family and I went to the local zoo, and the chickens enjoyed basking in the sun.  I even let them out to "free-range" for a while this afternoon!  They were thrilled!

Even with the crazy cold, we have been getting at least one egg a day.  It appears that each of the older girls is laying every other day.  In the cold we've been having that is IMPRESSIVE.

The "babies" are 16 weeks old now.  Supposedly Buff Orpingtons start laying anywhere from 18 weeks to 24 weeks.  I'm guessing it'll be closer to the 24 week mark for our babes because it is winter time.  That should put us right around Easter!

Maple

Layla, Yadi, Tilly

Omelette (with the big girls in the background)

Derek and O with Omelette

Derek and O at the zoo!

Coop Additions

In response to the bitter cold we had this past week, I changed a few things for the coop.  I took the heat lamp out as soon as it got above freezing during the day, but I plan to put it back whenever it stays below freezing for more than a day.  Chicken wuss, sure.  But they're my pets.

I also added some straw to the nest boxes and an entire bale of straw to the run to give them something to do and keep the run from getting so muddy.  Within 30 seconds of putting the bale in the coop, all five hens were investigating the situation.  Layla even played king of the hay bale for a few minutes squaking around on top of the thing.  Silly chickens.

I wrapped a good portion of the run to give the girls a place to get out of the wind when they are outside.
I picked this side to wrap since it would also help protect their food from getting wet.  

I used a canvas painting drop cloth to wrap the run.  It was 4 ft by 15 ft.

I also wrapped a plastic painting drop cloth under the canvas to help keep that section of the run dry.

The old girls.

Hay Bale

Some hay added to the nest boxes.

Chicken fun!

COLD!

It's currently -40˚F here with windchill.  The wind is so bad that all the schools in the area had to close.  I have been worried about my chickens all day.  I didn't let them out of their coop today, and I started the day by heating bricks in our oven and placing them in the coop for the girls to cuddle next to.  I put a bowl of water in the hen house since the electric waterer only works down to 20˚.  I would fill it with HOT water and it would be frozen within an hour.

So I caved.  I added our heat lamp to the coop.  It's only going to raise the temp about ten degrees, but it makes me feel better about them being out there.  I already have frozen chicken in the freezer--I don't want it in my backyard.

Heat lamp.

Getting Comfortable

The girls have been in their new digs for a week now, and things are going well.  The older three used the nest boxes perfectly the very first time, but they don't really understand the roosts.  They are both laying eggs and sleeping in the boxes.  Silly birds.  The two babies are slowly acclimating to the older three.  The BOs and the GLWs hang out separately, but Layla mingles with both pairs pretty well.  There haven't been any squabbles, but the older three have yet to let the babes cuddle at night in the nesting boxes.

We are expecting a few days with very cold temperature here, so I made sure to wrap a portion of the run so they would have a wind free area outside.  The high on Tuesday will be 0˚F!  I may be putting some hot water bottles in the hen house the next couple nights!

A view of Pikes Peak from our backyard coop.

Happy chickens!

It's finished!!!

I can't believe it.  We FINALLY finished the big coop.  It took way longer than I expected, but it is wonderful.  And it's DONE!  It's not perfect, but this was our first ever construction project.  (I never even had wood shop in school.)  I think it is beautiful, and it will serve it's purpose well.  We've decided to name the coop "The Squatting Chicken."

The Squatting Chicken

The latch and spring for the main door.  Notice the string for the 

pulley system the opens the chicken access door.

Handle on the inside so humans can get out of the coop and the chicken access hatch.  

Check out the cool ramp Derek put together!

Interior of the coop complete with nest boxes and roosts.  Omelette and Maple seem like their new digs.

Our BOs are getting used to their new home.  No more garage for these babies!

The Original Three (Layla, Yadi, and Tilly).  They seem to like the new coop, but they aren't too fond of the two additional chickens that came with it.  I've never heard them so noisy as when they "discovered" Omelette and Maple in the hen house.

I forget how pretty Layla is (left).  Her feathers have a green shimmer in the sunlight.  

On the right is a nice shot of Omelette through the hardware cloth.

So that's that.  We now have our very own coop that we built ourselves.  It's so cool to look down there in the yard and see something we built together.  I'm so glad it's finished!

(Okay, so there are a couple things I still want to do to it....  paint, gravel, ect.)

They'll move in tomorrow night!

We got a lot finished again today.  In fact, it looks like we will be ready to move the ladies in tomorrow at bed time.  I'm hoping the feed store is open tomorrow because we could use some more pine shavings and straw.

List Update

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 (in spring)