Hello everyone.
I 1st posted in the "Raising Baby Chicks" forum when I rescued some yellow peeps I found on the road. 2 survived & are 4 weeks old now. I just spent $1,200 on materials to build their coop & run. They'll have an 8x8x8 foot coop with a hawk proof 12x20x10 foot run, when I'm done. 
Why so big? I plan on buying some egg layer breeds later who can pay rent with eggs. Maybe I'll start making some of that money back. I had to resist real hard not to buy any peeps when I was at TSC buying chicken wire today. Massive self control.
Why do I give in to their cuteness? I'm a MAN ! & yet, here I am going through all this hassle, because of 2 little peeps that peeped at me to rescue them. Looking at me with their fuzzy, yellow faces. 
Now I understand why baby everything looks cute, be it kittens, puppies, peeps, or people babies. It's a survival mechanism. They look cute so us humans will want to take care of them, & it's very effective.
I never had much respect for chickens before. I was surprised to learn how smart chickens are. Funny thing is I was designing a hawk house for when I get a falconer to sponsor me & can start training a Red-tail Hawk. Then I run into these chickens & 4 weeks later I'm building a coop.
But my chickens are so cool. When I take off the lid on their brooder, they fly up & roost on the top edge & if I hold out my arm, they will fly over to roost on my arm.
Chicken & the Snowman? 
Plus they follow me everywhere & they keep my cat in line. My Black Halloween Cat. That mischievous, always getting into things he's not suppose to Black Cat; Mr. Gizmo. I've also learned the hard way to always wear a shirt when laying down to watch TV with the chickies. Things like small moles look like grains of food to them & well... OUCH !
That's my story so far. I'll post pics of my / their coop when I'm done. I guess I'll be postponing raising a hawk for a while.
from Ohio. So glad you joined. My advice on the coop, use screws. They are easier to remove when you need to make things bigger. 
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