Sassy & Sweet Notes

So THAT's where the eggs are going...

We haven't been getting very many eggs from the girls ... and last night while I was locking up the hen house and gathering the last of the day's eggs, I found out why. ACK!

That lump you see behind it's head... that is it's most recent snack -- one of my large sized chicken eggs! It hadn't swallowed it yet when I saw it for the first time, and by the time Alan and I got back out to the hen house with the snake catchers, there was no getting that egg back. I'm guessing it ate at least 3 or 4 other small bantam eggs from the nest box, too.

This rat snake is over 4' long ... and while they are good snakes, I really don't want them in the hen house eating the eggs. Alan caught it and we relocated it to a remote wooded area about 4 miles from the farm. Not far enough away, if you ask me!

Chicken Yard Expansion Project

Alan and I have been talking about making the chicken yard larger, and today we managed to get it done!

The existing yard was 30'x40'. To add to the length of the yard, we took the kennel panels we used to use to keep the goats in at night (when they were little) over to the chicken yard. In the photo above, we were in the process of adding the panels to the end of the existing chicken yard. After we had two additional panels added to each side of the yard, we moved the three end panels out to the 'new' end of the yard. Alan set a t-post at each joining section of fence, to keep things nice and stable.

By adding four more panels we were able to make the yard 30'x60'! I will need to fasten some wires across the yard at various locations to deter predatory birds from dropping into the yard. At night, all the chickens and ducks get locked up in the covered yard/coop area, safe from night time predators.

The girls are going to love digging up all of the new grass. They've got quite a job ahead of them!

They also love the leaves from the hackberry trees behind the yard. They strip a branch in no time!

Even the ducks enjoyed the new space. Quacks and clucks all around!

The Nightly Lockdown! (Video)

I decided I would take some video clips last night while I was locking up the chickens. Join me in the fun!

If you're having trouble viewing the video here on the blog, you can check it out here on YouTube.

Happy FRIDAY!!

Reasons to Secure the Chicken Yard (Video)

I put together a video to demonstrate just why we made sure our chicken yard was very secure... The images in the video aren't new, but some of them are new to YOU! *grin*

Video Description:
I use a Leaf River trail camera to see what kinds of critters visit the chicken coop at night. Here are some images and video clips I've captured, of unwelcome guests at the chicken coop. The wire around our chicken yard goes all the way to the roof. While it may LOOK like there are gaps in the wire, that's only because the wire doesn't show up in the video. The covered (roofed) chicken yard is 10x10, and connects to a larger (uncovered) 30x40 yard. I shut the gait to the larger yard at dusk, to ensure no predators can get into the chicken house, or into the covered yard.

If you have trouble viewing the video here on the blog, you can check it out on YouTube.

Enjoy!

An egg-eating SNAKE!

I went out to lock up the chickens tonight (like I do every evening) and to make sure water containers and feeders were topped off. The ducks were quite upset, giving me all kinds of attention. Lots of quacking and carrying on. I have a duck that's been broody, and we've been nursing a sore foot pad on her, so I've been letting her sit on some eggs so she doesn't feel like she needs to be running around the chicken yard all day on her sore foot pad. Even she was off of her nest, quacking, and was quite upset about something.

I looked over at her nest and saw a RAT SNAKE had come through the chicken wire nearly 3' up the side of the fence and was investigating her eggs! No wonder she was so upset!!

Since our snake issues began, I've been carrying a two-way walkit-talkie so I can get Alan's assistance as needed. This certainly called for some much needed assistance! I voiced over the radio for him to grab my camera and come to the chicken yard, that there was a snake thinking about eating a duck egg!

In just the few minutes that it took Alan to get out to the chicken yard with the camera and his headlamp, the snake had already chosen his meal and was working on swallowing it.

Here is a series of photos for you .... since we had to experience this, it's only fair that you do too!! *grin*

I never thought I'd see this in MY chicken yard!! Duck eggs aren't small, or delicate, either! They easily fill the palm of my hand, and have a VERY tough shell.

We let the snake get the egg all the way swallowed, and then Alan placed a paper feed sack in front of the snake and with a long garden stake, encouraged the snake to go into the bag. At first it thought about escaping through the fence, but there's just no way it would have fit through 1" chicken wire having just swallowed the duck egg. It changed it's mind, and just like that, the snake was in the bag. Alan poked down the top of the bag, rolled up the top edge, and we went about the process of relocating the snake near a big open field and pond.

What we found interesting was that while the snake was working on the egg, and while the snake was in the bag while we transported it, it was shaking it's tail and mimicing the tail shake that a rattlesnake does. But this was just a rat snake ... trying to be extra scary, I guess. Believe me, it was scary enough just the way it was. What we also found interesting is that in just the few minutes that it took us to get to where we relocated the snake to, we couldn't even tell that it had swallowed that huge egg! Whoa!

Yesterday morning I saw another hog-nosed snake (only maybe 3' long one) in the zucchini bed in the garden. I'll be watching for that one to show up again, too.  Jeepers... enough snakes already!!

 

In other LESS CREEPY farm news...

...Alan sold three of the calves today to a local fella. He may come back for Stanley too, when Stanley is old enough to take off his mama.

See ya later Popsicle, Riblet, and Harry (Dumbo)!

SNAKE!!

1:30am: I was just about to step up into the chicken house to gather eggs for the last time today and say good night to the chickens....when I saw the tail end of a SNAKE slithering onto the shelves that are in the feed storage side of the chicken house. And it was a BIG SNAKE! I dropped the (empty) egg basket and ran to the house to get Alan.

"Alan, I need your help in the chicken house, PLEASE!"

We grabbed extra flashlights (but not the camera, grrrr!) and headed out to the chicken house. We found the snake coiled up on the bottom shelf, right next to a hammer, the garden trowel, and various other items. It was a very large adult rat snake, quite capable of swallowing a whole egg.

Alan tried to encourage it to go into an empty feed sack, but it wasn't interested in his efforts and made its way to the back corner of the chicken house, behind all the garden shovels and rakes, bags of feed, bags of wood chips, partial rolls of chicken wire, and then some. Bit by bit, we moved everything out of the chicken house, until finally Alan could see the snake in the corner.

After a bit more effort and a few escape attempts, the snake went into the empty feed sack. Alan rolled the top of the bag closed. We were going to relocate the snake to the middle of our pasture where there's an old dead tree, but I decided that wasn't far enough away. So, we took it to the far end of the pasture and Alan set it free.

Rat snakes are good snakes to have around, but myyyy oh myyyy, I don't want them (especially that large of one) in the chicken house! As it was making its way to the back of the chicken house to get away from us, we could tell that it was easily 6 feet long.

Just yesterday afternoon I saw a smaller rat snake leaving the garden. It was only about 2 feet long, and not nearly as intimidating as the one we dealt with tonight. You can bet I'll have my eyes peeled from now on, on the lookout for SNAKES!

Coyote

This is why our chicken house is built like Fort Knox.

I had the trailcam set out to see what was visiting the coop at night. Now I know...

Chicken Coop Romeo

Bits and pieces of this card have been laying on my desk all week. Today, I put them all together. The chicken coop is one of my Whipper Snapper images, and the chicken is from the Beautiful Day cling set.

The images are colored with markers and I inked the edges w/ brown distress ink. I added some medium sized and small sized twine, along with a button from my stash. Will I ever tire of these October Afternoon papers? Unlikely...

The ladies are laying eggs like crazy lately... I brought in an entire bowl full of eggs earlier today, and will bring in more this evening. They sure do like the warmer temps we've been having!

Hope you've enjoyed the weekend; I know I sure have!

Today in the Hen House (Video)

The ladies wanted to say hello... *grin*

If you have trouble viewing the video here on the blog, you can see the video HERE on YouTube.

Snow Day (Video)

I went out earlier and took some quick video clips of the farm activities. The snow was really coming down, and still is! About 4" have accumulated now. Fun!

Enjoy the video! ...oh, and you might notice that there isn't a chicken to be seen! They were ALL in the coop. Sissies!

If you have trouble viewing the video here on the blog, you can see the video HERE on YouTube.

Happy Snow Day!

PS: For those of you with relatively slow internet connections (Mom and Dad!), start the video, then press the PAUSE button (the button with two vertical bars) and allow the video to download. You will see the download progress by watching the red/pink progress bar extend. Once the progress bar is almost complete, press play again. This will allow you to watch the video without lots of stops and starts.

Chainsaw.

 
Chainsaw was the first chick I hatched in the incubator last spring. She's part Silkie, and part bantam Cochin, and is one of *the* favorite critters here on the farm. (It's OK that I choose favorites ... really, it is!) She is particularly fond of Dancing with the Stars, and last season rooted for cowboy Ty Murray.

 
Most every evening while I'm doing the evening chores around the hen house, Chainsaw keeps busy by scratching around in the wood chips in front of the coop. She is a VERY busy chicken and does an excellent job of rearranging the chips.

 
But last night was different. She wanted grass seeds! Alan and I haven't been mowing all of the grass around the chicken coop to allow the grass to seed itself. This makes for very happy chickens, too! (See Wiley in the background, happily scratching around in the wood chips...)

 
Soft blades of grass get gobbled up just like warm spaghetti noodles!

 
But grass seeds take a little more finesse. Some grass seeds are easy to harvest.

 
Others take a bit more effort.

 
Nugget and Teaspoon look on in pure amazement at Chainsaw's persistence and agility.

 
More times than not, a bit of grunting is required to get the best seeds off the stalk.

 
But it's all worth it in the end. Fresh grass seeds are delish!

 
And Chainsaw is not one to share.

 
Wiley on the other hand, is more than willing to share is bounty. Wood chip, anyone?

I do believe it's a "she"

I changed the location of the trail/game camera last night. And we figured out how to set the date/time! Yay!! I also moved the brooder with the 6 chicks to inside the chicken yard. Phwew! It used to sit on the right side of this photo, up near the fence.

We had more visitors last night and early morning...

 
12:41am: Chief (one of the barn cats) visited

 
12:48am: Chief, still visiting

 
1:08am: Raccoon, standing on hind legs... When I zoom into this photo, I think I see her boobies *giggle*

 
...what do you think?... Boobies?

 
5:47am: Raccoon returns

 
6:03am: Raccoon returns again...

 
6:08am: Raccoon, looks to be eating chick food on the ground where the brooder used to sit. You can start to see the tree line in the distance, where the sun will eventually rise.

 
6:37am: Junior (another barn cat) visits, and now the chickens are up and about.

 
6:38am: Junior off to see what he can see

Tonight, I think I'll try the video setting! Cool!

Nighttime Visitor...Caught on Film!

Last year about this time I received a gift certificate to celebrate my 10 year reunion with the company that I work for. The gift certificate has been sitting on my desk, just waiting for me to decide how to use it. The decision has been made!

Last week I ordered myself a digital trail/game camera from Cabella's. They have several to choose from, and not being an "expert" on trail/game cameras I relied heavily on customer reviews posted on the Cabella's website.

I chose to purchase the Leaf River Model iR-7SS. I'm still not sure if it's the "best" option out there, but I liked it's features, and it was affordable, so it's the one I chose.

I haven't been able to figure out how to set the date/time yet, but I'm sure it's possible... the instruction manual isn't exactly accurate for this feature. I'll keep trying though!

Usually trail/game cameras are used by hunters to scout hunting spots. The cameras are motion activated and take photos (some even video) when motion is detected in range of the camera. This gives hunters a better idea of what is in the area, and allows them to determine the prime hunting locations. However, I have a completely different use in mind! I want to see what's prowling around the farm at night!

We set the camera up near the back corner of the chicken coop, near a brooder I have sitting outside of the chicken yard. The first night the camera was set up we had a big storm. The camera took photos, but mostly of tree branches being blown in front of the lens. Last night we didn't have a storm and the camera worked great!

(Click on the photos for a larger view...)

 
Here you can see the stubborn hens that insist on sleeping on the brooder I have inside the chicken yard. Why they don't sleep in the coop is beyond me. There is one hen inside that brooder, being "introduced" to the flock. You can also see in the lower left corner of the photo, one corner of the roof of another brooder I have outside of the chicken yard. We move this brooder around as we need to. Sometimes it houses chickens that need some extra TLC, and sometimes it houses chicks. Most of the time, it's empty.

 
Just as I suspected... the reason we have the chicken house and yard built the way we do presented itself on top of that brooder.

 
I know this raccoon is looking over at my chickens who are resting peacefully on the brooder, wishing it could have chicken for dinner.

 
Raccoon: "I see chicken dumplings, chicken nuggets, chicken pot pie, eggs over easy... "

 
Farmer: "I see safe, happy chickens, ready to enjoy their next happy chicken day."

 
At night , and in very low light settings, the camera takes black/white photos.

 
As soon as there is enough light, the camera switches to daylight color photos.

Alan and I have built the chicken yard quite securely. ...but I will be moving the brooder that is currently outside the yard, to inside the yard. There are 6 baby chicks in that brooder right now!

Wonder what I'll catch on film tonight!

Antique Nest Boxes

The ladies in the hen house have been laying so many eggs lately, and several of the girls are "broody" (they just want to sit on their nest all day and night). Broody hens are grouchy hens, so there has been a bit more squabbling over the nest boxes in the hen house. 

I have various apple picking baskets lined up in the hen house for the girls to lay their eggs in. The apple boxes are cute and functional and low to the ground for the little frizzle and silkie girls. But even though the girls have several (6) baskets to choose from, most of them prefer to lay in the same two baskets. Of course, the two favorite baskets are where the broody hens want to be, too! When a hen jumps in to lay her egg, the broody hen gets all kinds of upset and a bit of pecking and screeching takes place until they settle into the basket together.

 
To change things up a bit for the ladies, I decided to get some antique traditional nest boxes from a local antique dealer and hang them on the walls of the hen house.

 
The boxes I chose show significant signs of age, but they're charming and fun!

 
The bigger girls have already started using the new nest boxes, and the frizzles and silkies -- well, they're still using the old baskets, and are broody as ever. 

A Visit to the Hen House

I took the camera out to the hen house yesterday evening when I went out to check on the girls. They just crack me up! Here's a short video for you...

The gray hen in the nest box is "broody", which means she wants to spend her days sitting on eggs until they hatch. But, since I gather eggs daily, she's not actually sitting on any eggs. Crazy chicken. *grin*

If you are having trouble viewing the video here on my blog, you can also find it on YouTube.

Happy Weekend!!

We've got a winner, a new record, and a video!

The comments on the Egg-citing Guessing Game are now closed. And what a lot of guessers there were! So many of you were so CLOSE, but only ONE of you was RIGHT!

There were 65 farm fresh eggs in the bowl, and every one of them was gathered on Monday of this week. Until today, that was the highest egg collection day of the week!

The one and only correct guess for Monday's bowl of eggs was submitted by Mary Campbell:

My guess is 65. I was going to take 57 but that was taken several times.
Posted by: Mary Campbell | February 25, 2010 at 09:14 AM

Mary, get in touch with me and I will mail your prize right away!

Seems as though the ladies had a little competition today to see if they could beat their score, and sure enough, they did! They have smashed their previous record by 9 eggs!! I've collected 74 eggs so far today, and the day's not over yet... there's still a chance that I'll find one or two more eggs when I'm locking up the girls for the night.

Update on today's count: Sure enough, I found 2 more eggs while I was locking up the girls for the night. That brings today's total to a WHOPPING 76 eggs! I'm flabbergasted!

I went out to the hen house with the video camera today, and took some short videos. Enjoy!

Having trouble viewing the video here on the blog? You can check it out here on YouTube.

Thanks for playing along in the Egg-citing Guessing Game!

In case you want to see more, here are more videos of life on the farm.

Wacky Weather...

 

A little over a week ago, we had a big snow storm and were put under a blanket of 8-10" of snow, which is quite unusual for our part of Texas. All the critters fared well (especially the dogs), but the bird netting on the chicken yard didn't take the weight of the snow too gracefully, as you can see from this photo of part of their yard.

 
Today it's a sunny 76 outside - lovely, just lovely! I spent some time fixing the netting so the birds could enjoy their big side yard again, but it might have been too soon, according to the weather outlook for our part of Texas... Snow, on Tuesday!? And look at the change in temperatures! Today we've got the doors and windows open on the house. The rest of the week doesn't look like we'll be doing that!

a few photos from today...

As promised, here are a few snapshots from around the farm today.

 
This is Curly Que sitting in one of the nest baskets. Curly Que is a cross between a frizzle bantam and a Golden Laced Polish. Her feathers really do curl forward like you see them. She is quite protective of her little nest basket, and screeches at me every time I go in to gather eggs. She has been "broody" for well over a month. When a hen goes "broody", all she wants to do is sit on her nest and incubate her eggs so chicks hatch. She gets up just long enough to snatch a bite to eat and drink, and then she's back in the nest basket. Trouble is, since she's in with all of the laying hens and I collect eggs several times a day, she's not actually sitting on any eggs. Silly bird. 

 
Only a few minutes after I finished cleaning out the coop today, I was left with three tidy eggs in one of the nest baskets. Thanks ladies!

 
These two little hens are two of my smallest hens. They lay pretty little white eggs smaller in diameter than a quarter. They're so little, they can perch on my finger! They like to sit on top of the partial wall in between the chicken side of the coop and the feed side of the coop. The gold colored one behind tugs on my pant legs every time I go in the coop. When I pick her up and hold her, she snuggles in and coo's. Quite cute! They were supervising me as I gathered eggs and took photos.

 
This is Poof. She is the ONLY Silkie hen I got this year from the farm supply store. All of the others were roosters, which I sold about a month ago to a nice lady near here. I kept Poof for myself though. She's just too funny!

 
This is Zip. He's a really beautiful frizzle, and quite the ladies man. I'm thinking of selling him... any offers?

 
Truman, Baron, and Runner were catching a bite to eat this afternoon while I was out and about with the camera. Truman is quickly outgrowing his baby halter ... just in time to go to his new home!

That's about it for today ... time for some hot tea, and a blanket on the couch!

Fresh Egg Sign

I painted these letters and sign boards Monday night, but need suggestions on what else my farm fresh egg sign needs! I'm planning on putting this on the chicken coop, but feel like it needs something else.

At this point, nothing is fastened down...just painted.

I'm planning to connect the two boards with little eye hooks. Or maybe I'll just screw both boards to the side of the building and not worry about using the eye hooks. Decisions!!

Anyway, I'm open to suggestions for what this might need!

a breezy new door

Some of the smaller hens in the coop still don't like to go into the chicken yard yet. With temperatures rising, they needed a little more airflow in the coop. Instead of cutting another window in the wall, I built them this COOL new screen door so that they can have a HUGE "window" that they can see out of during the day.

I designed the screen door so that the doors can still be fully opened so that I can easily clean.

The right side of the building is blocked off from the chickens so I can store feed, etc. But we didn't divide the building equal to the middle of the doors, so I had to make a little hinged section in the screen door to compensate for the extra width needed to close up the gap.

Because there isn't a center post for the doors to close to, I used large bolts at the top and bottom of the big doors, and the screen door, to hold them in place. This will keep predators OUT, and chickens IN!

The girls LOVE their new door, the view, and the breeze.

And so does Wiley!

Chicken Portraits...and a coop update!

...can you handle more chicken photos? ...I hope so...  *grin*

This is Chatty. She's considered to be an "Easter Egger" pullet. She is a cross between an Old English Game Bantam (her mama) and an Ameraucana (her papa). She was one of the chicks that hatched down in the barn in December.

Chatty just started laying cute little green-shelled eggs late last week. She's an adorable little gal, who LOVES to talk. She also loves to be held. And she was the best helper while we were working on the new chicken yard. She had to make sure every screw and every wire was in just the right spot. And she told us what she thought every step of the way.

Chatty used to live at the barn with her sisters and some of the older barn hens, but she got in the way of one of the older *bossier* hens and got a terrible 2" open wound on her neck. Thankfully I interact with the chickens daily and was able to get her isolated and treated right away. She has healed up nicely, but still has a large scar on the back of her neck that interrupts the growth pattern of her feathers.

This is Cheeks, one of Chatty's sisters who also hatched in December. She is also an "Easter Egger" pullet, but hasn't started laying eggs yet.

Cheeks also used to live at the barn, but like Chatty, she got in the way of one of the older *bossier* hens and ended up with a open wound on her head! She immediately joined Chatty in our ICU ward where they both got treated (and spoiled). She has healed up nicely, but has a scar that interrupts the feathers on her head.

See how she's holding her wings out from her body? That's one way a chicken keeps cool on hot days. Nothing better than a nice cool breeze under your wings when it's 90+ degrees out!

Because these two spent so much time away from the barn, and because they seemed to be the two that got picked on by the older hens, I've decided that they'll be integrated in with the babies at the new coop. I refer to them as the head injury duo.

We finally got phase 1 of the new chicken yard completed so yesterday the chicks had their first full day in their new yard, and didn't have to be supervised! It was a great time for photos -- I'll share some of the chick photos tomorrow!

Here's a photo of the coop as it is today. It doesn't look like we've made much progress, but we have! There are still lots of things left to do. Like frame up the small windows we added in the storage area of the building, cut in and finish the large window on the back wall of the coop, finish the chicken door (right now it's just a rough cut hole), continue working on the full chicken yard, paint the trim, and a whole slew of other odds and ends. See the red cord coming out of the window? That's operating the HUGE fan we have in the coop to keep the birds cool. I can't believe how HOT and HUMID it has been here. I don't think I could wish any harder for cool temps and rain!

The 10'x16' roof over their back yard took longer than planned, but I'm glad we did it. It provides great shade and will keep the ground behind the coop from getting too muddy and gross when we actually DO get rain. This kind of covered area really expands the living area of the birds, giving them just that much more space out of the weather. We'll be adding a 30'x30' run off the far side of the coop. The large 30'x30' yard will have two access doors. One from the existing 10'x16' back yard, and one from the front side of the coop. The original plans were to have a 30'x30' yard on both sides of the coop, along with the 10'x16' run at the back, so we'll see how that comes along.

The small wooden structure you can see in the yard is a brooder, which is typically used to house small chicks in the coop when they still need a heat lamp. The front of the brooder folds down, allowing the birds to go in and out as they wish. That is where the head injury duo have been living, enjoying the yard during the day yet having the security of a locked brooder at night. Now that the small chicks are able to access the yard, the head injury duo get to see the chicks but not physically interact with them just yet. They all need time to get used to each other before they're allowed to mingle together. After a week or so, they should all be used to each other and the head injury duo will be able to live with the others, having free access to the coop and yard. This is a nice, safe way to introduce birds to each other. And safe is always best...

Stay tuned for more!

Cluck cluck!

Residents!

Hmm... I guess the white trim with black polka dots isn't a hit after all! Good thing I didn't actually PAINT it like that before I found out it was such a bust of an idea! *grin*

I was asked to post a photo of what the perch ladder looked like when it was suspended from the ceiling -- there you go, Chris! There's a short chain above both of the outside legs of the ladder so the ladder is held up on both sides. Works like a charm! Sorry for the low quality pics -- it was early, I was using my point and shoot camera, and had to use the flash. Argh! But you get the idea anyway...

We knew it was going to be HOT today (in fact, we're at the beginning of a HOT spell), so bright and early this morning Alan and I added a layer of wood chips to the floor of the coop and moved the majority of the chicks into the new coop. We've still got the youngest ones in a brooder in the house. They need to get a bit older (and grow more feathers) before they can move out into the coop.

This is their first time on wood chips, and some were a little more comfortable than others. But after a short time, the babies thought it was a PARTY! The white and black chick on the left is Sweet Pea, the cute little white chick we had hatch from one of Olive Oye's green eggs. Dang it, I think it's a rooster. Poo! In fact, I think all of the chicks in this photo are roosters. Bigger POO!

 
The brown and black chick in the middle is Edwina, who is one of our farm hatched chicks (as opposed to store bought). Edwina is half Ameraucana and half Mille Fleur. The little dark brown frizzle chick on the right is another one of our farm chicks (yet to be named). She's half frizzle and half golden laced Polish, so she will have crazy curled feathers, and hopefully a plume of feathers on her head -- though I think if she does it will be small.

If you're wondering why they have bright green marks on their legs, that's how we marked them as we vaccinated them, so we could tell who'd been vaccinated and who hadn't been. Every now and then, Alan got a little carried away with the green grease crayon and they ended up with an entire green leg instead of just a green middle toe!

Here's another farm hatched chick, yet to be named. Every time I look at her I just LAUGH! She's half frizzle and half silkie. She's just the FUNNIEST thing on two legs!! Like the Polish chickens, Silkies also have tall standing feathers on their heads, but usually they're a bit shorter and not as "showy" as the Polish head feathers. Hers are a RIOT!! I think there are 5 feathers coming in. Hopefully she'll get a few more!

This is one of the bantam chicks we picked up at the farm supply store. She's the smallest of all the chicks, but she's mighty! She has big beautiful eyes!

"Whoa, is that my TOE?"

Peck peck peck peck peck peck peck peck peck...

This is a Golden Comet pullet (girl). I love this in-between stage they're in. Losing their baby fuzz and growing in their first feathers. They're so awkward looking!

Here's the cute little frizzled Polish again, looking for snacks...

Yup, still too scary...

MORE Coop Progress!

We spent two or three hours working on the coop again this evening. We needed to get it to a point where we can move the chicks out of the house into the coop. They're outgrowing the brooder! We managed to finish all four sides of the vinyl flooring, installed insulation and wall boards below where the large window will be cut on the back wall, and installed PERCHES!

I wanted the perch ladder attached to the back wall with hinges so that I could lift up the ladder and have the perches suspended from the ceiling when I clean out the wood shavings in the coop. I think it's going to work PERFECTLY! (I saw this idea on a coop design shared at backyardchickens.com - I think it's a brilliant idea!) I don't even have to duck my head to stand under them when they're suspended! We put some short pieces of chain on the ceiling above each side of the perch. We added a couple of hooks to the legs of the perches so that the perches can be suspended from the ceiling. That, along with the vinyl flooring and the WIDE opening door will make cleaning out the coop a breeze!

I have a little wagon that attaches to the back of our lawn tractor -- I'll just pull right up to the front of the coop, swing open the doors, raise up the perches and sweep away!

Tomorrow evening, I'll add a layer of wood chips to the floor, a waterer and feeder, and introduce the babies to their new digs! They're too little to be outside just yet, so we have time to work on the chicken door, chicken run, and the window on the back wall. We'll also be adding in some nest boxes as well, but we've got plenty of time before they're ready to lay eggs!

In time, my dears, in time!

Cluck cluck!

Edited to Add:
I had to see what polka dot trim would look like. Here it is with a little digital editing magic -- HAA!!!

A new coat of paint...

...does wonders!

Here's the little polka dot cutie after her make-over! I removed the "tired" grape vine wrap and a tattered bow from around her neck (which I did before I took the "before" photo). I added a new coat of paint with some fresh colors, and updated the embellishments on the heart - a tin star, big brown button, and hemp twine!

I love her!

For now, she's on the door of the new coop, which will eventually have it's trim painted either red or white, I can't decide... maybe I'll paint the trim of the coop white with black polka dots! Hmmm... that's not a bad idea!

In need of a make-over!

Six or seven years ago I bought this wooden chicken to hang on the wall next to my front door. While "aged" and "rustic" is cute, it's time for this little gal to get a bit of a make-over.

Last night I drug out the paint supplies and fixed her right up!

Stay tuned for her reveal!

Coop Progress!

This past weekend Alan and I worked on the chicken coop. It's coming along nicely, but wow, it sure takes more time to do things than you'd think.

We started with stacks of supplies and amazingly enough, we've made good progress.

Some time last week we laid down the center of the sheet vinyl flooring. This will make for easy clean up, and will protect the wood floor of the coop. I got a steal of a deal on the flooring! $8 at Lowe's -- gotta love clearance!

We also started to frame in the internal wall that will divide the chicken area and the feed storage area.

The walls of the shed were not insulated when the shed arrived. With Texas heat, we thought it would be best to insulate the building to help keep it cool.

I hung the insulation while Alan framed in the internal door. The kind of wall insulation I bought is encased in a vapor barrier so it was a snap to install! We put weird foiled bubble insulation on the ceiling. It's kind of space-agey, and we're hoping that it will improve the lighting, making it a big brighter.

The foiled bubble insulation was easy to install around the roof beams. The shed stays nice and cool now!

Once the insulation was done, Alan started cutting wall boards. He cut, and I installed. We're a good team!

We also finished the internal door, added wire to the internal wall, completed two sides of the flooring (the other two sides of the flooring will get finished once we have the back wall where the chicken pop door will go).

Lots more to go, but so much progress has been made!

Beginnings of a Coop

I've been wanting a larger chicken coop and yard for the girls. Since Alan and I have busy schedules and building a larger coop would take an enormous amount of time for us, I decided to make things a little easier on both of us. I ordered a locally built 10x16 garden shed that we will convert into a coop. If the building is small enough, the company I ordered it from will build it at their location and deliver it to your location, set it, level it, and drive away. Or, if the building you want is too big to transport, they offer on-location building. Ours was small enough to have built at their location and be delivered.

Last week, a man in a truck pulling a really cool hydraulic trailer showed up with the shed, complete with wide swinging doors and one window. The trailer did all kinds of strange maneuvers until the shed was set very gently in place on our property.

Today we started customizing the building into the new coop! We added hardware cloth (sturdy woven wire) around the base of the coop to keep things like cats, raccoons, armadillos, and chickens out from under the coop, and then "disguised" the hardware cloth with short cedar flowerbed picket fencing, purely as a "cute factor" detail and to further discourage critters under the coop. The pickets are made of wood that I *might* paint white since they're currently all different colors of cedar. We'll see. *grin*

Tomorrow we'll start modifications on the interior. We'll be adding insulation, adding a dividing wall so we can have a feed storage area separate from the chicken house area, installing linoleum flooring for easy cleaning (we scored a new piece of linoleum flooring on clearance at Lowe's last week for $8.00), creating a large window on the backside of the coop and two smaller windows on the storage end, adding nest boxes, perches, brooders for chicks, and of course CHICKEN doors! We will also be constructing a large run that will connect to the coop, so the girls can safely get out and scratch around in their yard and do what chickens do.

Of course not everything will be done in a day, but we'll get there. I'm excited!! I have plans to do a little painting on the coop -- some red and some white, and maybe even add some shutters! Or a flower box beneath the window!

Every coop needs a good name. Care to offer up suggestions - I KNOW you'll have good ones!!

PS: See the band of purple in the background? That's one of our pastures, filled with bluebonnets! Gorgeous! Now that the cows and donkeys are all out of that pasture, I'll be able to take the dogs back there and get some photos. That'll be fun!