Coming Home to Roost

The thought of adding chickens to the homestead has been with us since we moved here. We've waited so long because we knew that this addition would pretty much put the kibosh on future vacations and would seriously tie us to the property. That had finally become okay with us.

Using mostly materials we already had, The Big Guy did a lot of work in the chilly rain. Some months, if we waited for better weather to get things done, things simply would not get done.

Possum would like to know when there might be chicken.

Zuli played our stand-in chicken while we figured out how to rig the ramp door.

I spent endless hours on this website, pouring over different coop designs, making note of any and all nifty features people had used for their coops. This is the sandbox underneath the roost. It's accessible from the outside for easier pooper-scoopin', and the chickens can't get through it when the door's open.

Everyone, and by everyone I mean a lot of anonymous people on the interwebs, recommended linoleum for the coop floor. The Big Guy got a stack of cheap-o squares, and I made a jigsaw puzzle of them. I painted the interiors of the nest boxes with the dark gray because rumor had it chickens dig the darkness for the laying of the eggs.

See? It didn't really matter if the linoleum matched anything since it gets covered with pine shavings. There were enough squares that I put the on top of the next boxes, too, because you just know the chickens will get up there and do messy things.

This nifty-swify idea is the feeder box.

Filled with Purina's "Layena" chicken crumbles. I wonder why they didn't spell it "Layina" like "Layer Feed by Purina" instead of "Layena" like hyena. Either way, saying "layena" makes me laugh. Zuli asked me to tell you all that it's very tasty, too.

Here is their dust-bath tire, filled with sand and some diatomaceous earth (DE). The DE gets absolute raves from "everyone" for mite/lice control when they dust-bathe in it, as a natural wormer when they eat it, and as a fly and smell control when sprinkled in the coop and run. It's the consistency and color of flour -- in fact it's called Fossil Shell Flour. It doesn't cost a million dollars, so YAY for DE!

Voila! Isn't it a cutie? This view allows you to see the little plexi-glass window and the egg-collector doors. No need to crawl in the coop, just flip open the panels and pull out eggs! The coop is built on the side of the original garden plot, and once that garden is done for the year, we'll add an access door from the coop yard into the garden so the girls can explore and help clean up after the harvest.

Ready for the...

Girls!! Our friends, Joni and Erik, were generous enough to give us these three Barred Plymouth Rock hens from their flock. The Big Guy, who has the arms of a ape, was able to wrangle all three, and we hustled them into the dog crate where they promptly poo'd, but hardly made a peep (that's where that expression comes from!!) on the ride home. They are not full-grown yet, as evidenced by their small wattles and combs. This state of immaturity allows me to tell them apart, at least for now. So, without further ado, may I introduce

Prudence, Millicent, and Luella.

They seemed to like their new yard, nibbling on the grass, scratching, and cooing. The coop they were less sure of, and although they easily walked up the ramp to reach their heads around to the food tray, even after the sun set, they were too nervous to go inside. I clucked and cooed and called, but finally had to go in and pick them up and stuff them into the roost area. Two went easy, one (probably Luella -- she's the biggest and most vocal) bawked her fool head off. Inside, dark, and cozy, the noise was gone before I even got the last slide bolt latched. I hope they have a nice night, and I can't wait to see them in the morning. Maybe I'll take them some Cheerios.