My children finally joined me outside and helped with holding nails and such. My son got his first blood blister from hitting his index finger with the hammer (the sign of any true builder). I discovered that my lovely wife was taking pictures, so I hurriedly donned my favorite "Bass Pro Shops" hat to cover up my thinning hairline. I used a lot of metal connectors to put things together instead of just screwing things together. Not sure what is better, but it worked pretty well. (Yes, I am still nailing the same piece, and I am not sure what my son was building...)

 The coop became an obsession.  I worked into the night - until my spousal unit came and forced me to put down the hammer.  She said the neighbors called and complained about the noise - but I knew better - she was already jealous of my brood.  No eggs for her, I'll tell you that much!

As you can see, I decided to put the chicken entrance on the floor.  Again, just sort of decided to do it, but as with everything else, the girls figired it out pretty quick.  At night they move right up the ramp and settle down together.

I knew I had to keep working.  My babies were getting restless in their small enclosure.  They even started having small gatherings to discuss how best to break out.  I caught them red-handed as the ring-leader was stirring up the revolution up on her little “soap box.”  Notice the surprised look on the others!

3 weeks and a couple hundred dollars later (ugh – so much for “all the free eggs you can eat!”) I had reached the point where I was ready to wire up the bottom and put on some finishing touches.  A window and a couple vents went on the sides. 

I realized that the girls were growing pretty quick and I needed to get them outside as soon as possible.  The feathers were in, and the weather getting warmer, and so it was time!

My father-in-law found a nice stick for me, and I put that in - and then built a box around the bottom opening to try this "deep litter method" thing I had been reading about.  I really was not interested in having to constantly change the bedding.  The rake was found at the local mega-mart for $5 - I figured it was the perfect thing for mixing up the bedding. 

Now, the trick was...how do we move it?  It was pretty darn heavy.  It was probably a site for the neighbors to see as my wife and I worked and worked to get this monster moved to the back yard.  We finally made it though!  (My back still hurts.)  I wish I had a video of that. 

The first day we put the girls into their new home, they seemed curious, but a bit nervous.  Oh, I raised them on critter type water bottles.  I got tired of seeing the poo in their water.  It took them all of 10 seconds to figure it out.  I built a small holder so it could go inside of the coop for when they are closed in.  I also kept the light in there, as it was still getting pretty cold at night.

As you can see above, the ramp is a bit steep.  The girls sort of tumbled down for a time and had a hard time getting up, but until I put the run together, there was nothing I could do.  They did figure it out though, and when the run did go on, I was able to adjust it a bit so it is not as steep.  Now they go up and down all the time!

Oh, if you look at the big flip up door, you will see that I had some hooks to lock it.  This did not work out well, so I changed them to the slider type of locks.  They worked out much better.  Also, if you notice on the right side of the door looking at it, you'll see a larger hook.  That goes in the corresponding loop on the top right to keep the door open.

So, now the girls are happily inside their new home, and seem happy enough. 

  I finished the run this past weekend, as seen below:

I figured out a great way to connect the run to the main coop.  I wanted something I could move, but was not a tractor.  So, I built this in two parts that can be taken apart and moved individually.  The connectors keep the two parts together very tightly.