Posts
Progress on the chicken house has been great! I feel like we are almost done now and that is a huge relief. We began trimming it and have two sides done, two to go. We still have to build the pop doors but the holes are framed and ready. We also have to put gravel in the run on top of the hardware cloth bottom. And then we need to lay the linoleum and build the roosts and droppings table. The coop is wired for electricity and so close to done. I will still need to paint but the siding came pre-primed and the fresh milled trim and battons can wait a while too.
My husband has admitted daily that he hates to build things of this magnitude. I suppose we won't be building a new home anytime soon. But I must say that for folks with no building experience at all, we have done a decent job and it should stand for a long time.
This is the enclosed run. The winters here can be pretty snowy so we wanted a place they could stay outside without slogging through the snow. We will add gravel over the hardware cloth bottom. Nothing should ever be able to dig into this coop or run. I am still thinking some kind of playground would be fun for them too!
And finally- an update photo on the meat chicks. They were 3 weeks old this past Tuesday and they are at least 6x bigger than when we got them. They eat a ton but we take their food at night so that they don't eat themselves to death. Very gluttonous birds. I am still hoping they become less cute so that eating them isn't so awful. All 50 are still alive and kicking and so far no spontaneous deaths have occurred. Thank goodness. I don't want to be the one to find one in the morning. The laying hen chicks will be here on Wednesday and I am happy to say we will be totally ready for them. It was a race but Doyle has been a building fool for the last few weeks and so much progress has been made.
Hi Heather~~ When your hens start laying, you should make hubby a nice big omelet.
ReplyDeleteThe chicken house looks really neat and sturdy and what a great idea to have an outdoor enclosure for winter "roaming."
Good timing on the chicks' arrival. I hope we get to see photos of the little darlings.
Heather,
ReplyDeleteGreat progress and so many extras and details.
Last night we ate a free range local chicken 3.5 lbs and $15. It was pretty good, though it took nearly 2 hours to cook it.
Wow, Heather, your chicken house and run look fantastic! What lucky girls you're going to have living there! You're doing a great job with the meat chicks, too, and no worries, they won't look cute for long (poor things)! Congratulations to you and Doyle on a job very well done!!!
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job! Love the enclosed run too. Aren't chickens fun? I really enjoy mine. Hoping one of my sitting hens will hatch a clutch of chicks soon.
ReplyDeleteDebbie
You sure have made a lot of progress! The run is a great idea Heather! Thanks for sharing the pics of the chicks as they go along! They ARE very cute!
ReplyDeleteIt looks great. Your husband has done a really nice job building it. Can't wait to see the chickens in it!
ReplyDeleteIt is really almost done. They are some lucky chickens. I forgot -- are you going to keep the meat and laying birds separate? Of course they'll be less cute. Even the cute ones get less cute.
ReplyDeleteChicken playground . . . hee.
It looks great....like a chicken penthouse
ReplyDeleteHi Heather, Your chicken house looks like the best property in town! So glad they've all survived. I think that is a bit unusual.
ReplyDeleteWOW! Your chicken house is to die for. Wait till I show my husband. He is dying to Tim Taylor-ize our chicken tractor. I wish I could keep meat chickens! But not in the 'Burbs - just a scanty number of stealth chickens.
ReplyDeleteChicken coop looks real nice. Hubby did a very good job. Glad you haven't had any to die on you. I would so hate to find a dead bird too. I am checking out as many coops as I can so that I can come up with something easy and cheap. I am expecting my chicks in about 10 days. Have a good weekend.
ReplyDeleteGreat work, Heather! Looks so good although you built it by yourself. With no experience, as you said. You should be very proud with your new achievement!
ReplyDeleteMagnificent chicken house! Chickens are really a lot of fun...I live in St Martins, New Brunswick Canada, zone 4b, have 4 of different breeds. My husband is not a chicken lover so I was left to my own devices and built a chicken tractor that now graces our front lawn and houses my four feathered friends. Photos a few posts down on my blog. Are you going to butcher all those meat hens? We got overwhelmed when we had to do a dozen turkeys!
ReplyDeleteI love the setting of your new chicken house. When you get all those colorful chicks soon, you won't think the meat chicks are very cute anymore, ha.
ReplyDeleteLooking great! I wish we had a place to raise chickens around here but we're working on it still. I'll definitely be coming back here when we find our place for more inspiration!
ReplyDeleteThis is looking really nice! Kudos to Doyle. I love the little details that you are adding to it. It will be functional as well as lovely! -Jackie
ReplyDeleteI think ya got some very lucky chickens to live in those digs. And a playground should be the next order of business - they gotta play! Ya know it's kinda like California Cows I s'pose . . . A happy chicken . . .
ReplyDeletethis looks totally professional - I am so impressed!!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea to have their run covered. It rained here this week and the ladies were up to their ankles in mud. Spend yesterday slogging that out. Gross! We did however put downs some bags of course sand. They looked like they died and went to heaven! Dust bathing all around!! Now I can remove the sand when it gets yucky with droppings and use it to amend the garden.
ReplyDeleteHi Heather,
ReplyDeleteProgress on the coop is wonderful. It looks great. Get it done soon, so you can start on your greenhouse!
David
So cool, Heather. Your coop looks soooo professional! Very nice!
ReplyDelete(If it helps,try to keep in mind that your meat chicks will be fulfilling their role when you eat them. Just thank them for that.)
We will pick up our three little chicks on Tuesday, but I will be off babysitting my son's dogs for four days and will miss nannying our chicks. :-( I'll go help pick them up, but as my son lives across town, I won't be able to visit the chicks often. Kim will have his hands full while I'm gone!
Those little chickens are going to be living large! You guys have done a great job.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a wonderful home for your chicks! Only one thing to consider, if you haven't already, is to protect against predators by digging some fencing down into the ground around the outer perimeter of the fence to guard against diggers who will try to get in!
ReplyDelete