I get several questions about the chickens on an almost hourly basis. So, despite the busyness of life, I did not want to fail to provide an update. Ha!
We purchased our coop from a lady on Craiglist and picked it up last month. It's made of reclaimed wood and should house 6-8 hens. It has several roosting polls, a large door for easy access and cleaning, a door and ramp for the hens, a window for ventilation, and a door on the opposite side to access the nesting boxes to get the eggs. Overall we have found the coop to be a huge success. We love it!
For the run, we decided to go with a chain link dog run, plastic corrugated roofing and hardware cloth / mesh around the base and open spots. The chain link dog run we got off of Craigslist, as well. It's 6'x10', which is the average amount of space recommended for six hens. For the safety of the hens, we dug a foot deep and ran the hardwire cloth (2' total in height) around the base of the run. We also put a slanted roof on - for complete protection and so the snow and rain will flow right off.
All last week Jody worked hard to put everything together. We made several trips to Home Depot for odds and ends, and last Saturday while I was at work, Jody finished everything up. He made this awesome waterer that will keep the hens' water clean.
The food container is nothing special - just a suspended container we were able to pick up from Murdochs - but it seems sufficient thus far.
Jody constructed this dusting box (pictured below on the left), made of diatomaceous earth and sand, for the girls to take dust baths in. We'll see if they use it.
With everything in order (as far as we could anticipate without really knowing what we're doing!), we felt confident that we could transition the chickens from the brooder in our laundry room into their new home.
They moved out last weekend.
Jody did such and incredible job! We are both tired, but we are thoroughly enjoying watching them as they explore their new place. :) Hopefully all the research and hard work is going to pay off.
Feel free to stop by and visit! The chickens LOVE visitors! :)
Oh, and we're still accepting name suggestions.
