10. The Home Stretch!

Amazing that the coop is more than an idea!
We started the weekend removing the rain covers and laying the roof planking.
Memorial weekend arrived with unbeatable weather which allowed for good cooping time. Even with all the work to do, we did manage to get together with friends and family, which was great, and they lent a hand with hammering and staple gunning!






Thank you very much!
















Now, tar paper covers the roof and weather proof wrap covers the walls - we are close to completing the basic structure!

When my sister saw the coop, she didn't realize how close it was to the house, so I added a picture of them together.


While we intend to enclose a run for them connected to the coop itself, when we are outside we will let them out so they would have freedom to run the property (assuming our furry animal killing mutt has learned proper farm-dog behavior).

In the not so distant future, we could have lunch on the patio while the chickens are clucking, pecking and scratching about looking for grubs in the lawn - cool!

9. Finishing the walls.

Finally, the rain has stopped.
The blueboard is almost all on, soon we will be ready to begin the roof!


Below is the back wall.
The long opening is the sweep hatch, which will get a fitted door, after the roof , after the shingles, after the hardware cloth, after the windows get put in, after the floorboards, etc....

8. Hellllloooooo Chickies!

I got the call at 9am this morning that the chicks had arrived!

I raced over to the local feed store to pick up chick starter and grit (I thought they were more likely to make it here tomorrow so I was not completely ready) and then stopped by the friends who put in the order for us.

After a little time spent figuring out which of the 50 or so fluffy baby creatures were the six Araucana and four Black Star chicks we ordered, chirping shoe box in hand and smiling, I made my way home.

Check out the two-day old Chicks!
(They are under a red heat lamp to keep them warm.)

Click here to find out more about the chicks!

7. Cooping-it in the rain.

Rain. Rain, and more rain.

So, we tarped what we could and try to keep on target.

The coop is getting its walls up and now the dream seems closer to actually happening!

We have lots more work to do, but the stack of wood in the garage is receding nicely (might actually get the Jeep back in there soon!) and the project has not started world war three
... yet...
so all is good!

6. Standing Tall!

Whew!!!!

Mother's Day consisted of an entire day out hammering, measuring and cutting wood (after a fantastic breakfast out on the deck). We have the walls all up, the door and windows framed, and both the chicken hatch and sweep hatch marked out. The chicks arrive next Tuesday!!!

While we still have lots more to work on, the structure standing tall is a remarkable thing. This past week there was much rain which hampered our progress.

The chicks will live inside for the first month or so and I am behind in getting their indoor space ready. Time to crank it up!