20. What's New?

It has been super busy getting everyone ready for school, into school, home from school, getting homework completed, meals bought, prepared, cooked and cleaned up afterwards, house and dogs sustained, etc. etc. etc. We have slacked off a bit due to the major coop components being mostly finished... But here is an update! (finally!)

The exterior walls have been sided (aside from three on the back due to no more supplies!!), insulation has been put in the ceiling and most of the top vents, heavy gauge plastic sheeting hangs over the windows (except for the one over a sitting platform, they like to look out!) and a double layer of shavings covers the floor. Yup! It is time for winter!
While we still need to cut the excess roof off the sides and shingle it, there is most certainly a coop on our property! And, best of all, it holds laying chickens!!!!!
The blue/greens on top are from the Araucana chicks (also known as easter eggers), the bottom are from the white Cochins, Jersey Giants and possibly one of the Black Stars... Haven't caught them laying for sure just yet!

19. Siding...Going...Up...

S..l..o..w..l..y the siding is going up. Time, energy and efforts are waning, but when we step back and see how far we have come, it is amazing, isn't it??

While Dad/Builder struggles with the table saw and the ship lap siding in the under-deck makeshift work space, I have been thinking about the fenced in run attached to the coop. I strung up yarn to tree branches and dug a few holes, but so far the flock is still completely free ranging. I romanticize the winter routine of slogging through the snow in big man muck boots and a work hat while bringing the birds their feed and water, but I doubt it will remain very much fun after the first week!

On a side note, the neighbors who we jointly ordered our chicks with had a surprise gift from one of their hens -an egg!! Wow!
At 15 weeks old I think that is very early, but I quickly put in a nesting area just in case any of the girls get in the mood... We shall see!

There is a golf ball in the nest used as a prop to give the girls the right idea. Who knows? It has worked for some people... We will certainly post any new egg info as soon as we can!

18. Summer slump.

Builder/Teacher/Dad skipped out for the month of June and went to Alaska, but the work for school that he does over the summer did not go away. So the past week he has been busy with non-coop related projects.

In the meantime, I put together a little window sill ledge and a corner roost. While the roost has its faults (the corner idea was not so great and it is best for happy bird co-habitation to have them all on one post rather than two), what I slapped together does give them a temporary place to sit at night.

Here is the ledge:


And the roost:


Eventually the coop will have an inner-vestibule area, but this step is a loooooong way off. First comes the rest of the siding, cutting the excess roof and end boards, and building the long planned enclosed run.