[FONT=andale mono,times]"Our Little Girls"[/FONT]
Cute fuzzy little things, aren't they? Well, at least they were when these pictures were taken on June 27th, now a month later they are for the most part fully feathered and more than twice the size.
In our situation the chicks came first, and I mean first before buying a feeder or watering container, much less food and housing. So, there we (my son and I, my husband clueless to what was about to happen was at work) were at the feed store looking at the cute little chickies, and before we knew it we were picking out the ones we'd be taking home as our new family members. Once home I had to scramble to find a box to house them; fortunate for the chicks my son and I are huge animal lovers (never minding our allergies to them) and came up with something better than a cardboard box - an old guinea pig/rabbit cage no longer in use. So we set-up their new temporary house and waited for my husband to come home to break the great news to him. Now my husband is a great guy, wonderful husband, and an awesome dad...but animal lover he is not. Despite that fact he has put up with multiple dogs (we now have 3 - a pug, schnauzer and chihuahua), a cat, many fish, have had many a mice, a hamster, a guinea pig, and now 4 chickens. As I type my son is also pushing to convince us to allow him to have a bearded dragon (since he has given up trying to convince us to allow a snake). So the point I'm trying to make is despite our crazy animal antics my husband always come through for us. Oh, I forgot to mention that two weeks after we purchased the chicks we left for our European vacation. We were gone three weeks and didn't think/know that the chicks would grow as big as they have. We are fortunate in having a neighbor who has put a bit more thought into getting his chickens - he built a coop and run and has not yet gotten his chickens. He and his wife very generously volunteered to care for our chicks while we were on vacation, and due to their size have continued to house them to allow my husband time to construct their new home. Which brings me back to the point I was trying to make - my husband is building a chicken coop and run from our son's old swing set. I am amazed at his dedication to quality and desire to build a home for our chicks despite not being an animal person. He is at the beginning stages of putting the frame together, and doesn't even have blue prints, plans or anything. I mean he just asked me what I was thinking, how big, what type finishes, etc. I mean, he's literally figuring it out as he goes. He has a degree in mechanical engineering, but I don't think that really preps you to build stuff. I'll get some pictures to download next time and provide updates as we go along.
Hello, me again. It's been some months and our coop is still not finished, but it's not entirely my husbands fault. As previously mentioned he's not a carpenter and so he has to figure things out as he goes along. Then there's all the other commitments and obligations that we both have and so here we are with our chickens in a converted doghouse and run. The chickens aren't complaining, actually they're rather comfy. So much so that they are laying eggs - regularly! We get three eggs a day - Oh I forgot to mention one of our chickens is actually a rooster. Because we live within city limits and are not allowed to keep roosters we rehomed our little Rhode Island Red (Shadow), my son was very disappointed as Shadow was his favorite. Anyway, the coop is coming along the framing is up, the cement is poured, the windows are hung. The wire screen still needs to go up, the siding, the nesting boxes, the shingles on the roof, and the doors. I know I promised pictures and I'll deliver once it's finished. At that point I'm sure my husband will help publish them just to prove to everyone he did it. I hope you check back because like I said he never fails to amaze me with what he can do, and he's doing just that once agian. The coop is being dubbed "The Chicken Condo" by some of his friends, and he's being teased by co-workers who don't get the whole chicken thing, but he's okay with it and is doing what he can to get it done.
In our situation the chicks came first, and I mean first before buying a feeder or watering container, much less food and housing. So, there we (my son and I, my husband clueless to what was about to happen was at work) were at the feed store looking at the cute little chickies, and before we knew it we were picking out the ones we'd be taking home as our new family members. Once home I had to scramble to find a box to house them; fortunate for the chicks my son and I are huge animal lovers (never minding our allergies to them) and came up with something better than a cardboard box - an old guinea pig/rabbit cage no longer in use. So we set-up their new temporary house and waited for my husband to come home to break the great news to him. Now my husband is a great guy, wonderful husband, and an awesome dad...but animal lover he is not. Despite that fact he has put up with multiple dogs (we now have 3 - a pug, schnauzer and chihuahua), a cat, many fish, have had many a mice, a hamster, a guinea pig, and now 4 chickens. As I type my son is also pushing to convince us to allow him to have a bearded dragon (since he has given up trying to convince us to allow a snake). So the point I'm trying to make is despite our crazy animal antics my husband always come through for us. Oh, I forgot to mention that two weeks after we purchased the chicks we left for our European vacation. We were gone three weeks and didn't think/know that the chicks would grow as big as they have. We are fortunate in having a neighbor who has put a bit more thought into getting his chickens - he built a coop and run and has not yet gotten his chickens. He and his wife very generously volunteered to care for our chicks while we were on vacation, and due to their size have continued to house them to allow my husband time to construct their new home. Which brings me back to the point I was trying to make - my husband is building a chicken coop and run from our son's old swing set. I am amazed at his dedication to quality and desire to build a home for our chicks despite not being an animal person. He is at the beginning stages of putting the frame together, and doesn't even have blue prints, plans or anything. I mean he just asked me what I was thinking, how big, what type finishes, etc. I mean, he's literally figuring it out as he goes. He has a degree in mechanical engineering, but I don't think that really preps you to build stuff. I'll get some pictures to download next time and provide updates as we go along.
Hello, me again. It's been some months and our coop is still not finished, but it's not entirely my husbands fault. As previously mentioned he's not a carpenter and so he has to figure things out as he goes along. Then there's all the other commitments and obligations that we both have and so here we are with our chickens in a converted doghouse and run. The chickens aren't complaining, actually they're rather comfy. So much so that they are laying eggs - regularly! We get three eggs a day - Oh I forgot to mention one of our chickens is actually a rooster. Because we live within city limits and are not allowed to keep roosters we rehomed our little Rhode Island Red (Shadow), my son was very disappointed as Shadow was his favorite. Anyway, the coop is coming along the framing is up, the cement is poured, the windows are hung. The wire screen still needs to go up, the siding, the nesting boxes, the shingles on the roof, and the doors. I know I promised pictures and I'll deliver once it's finished. At that point I'm sure my husband will help publish them just to prove to everyone he did it. I hope you check back because like I said he never fails to amaze me with what he can do, and he's doing just that once agian. The coop is being dubbed "The Chicken Condo" by some of his friends, and he's being teased by co-workers who don't get the whole chicken thing, but he's okay with it and is doing what he can to get it done.