Welcome to Cluckberry Cottage

I'm a new chicken owner, got my 6 point-of-lay hybrid hens in April 2010.

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Left to right: it's my queen Betty, next to Belle, Bonnie, Pearl, Peas, and Penny. Alas, Peas was always poorly, and became an ex-hen one day between breakfast and lunch. We took her to the field across the river and left her for the foxes.
Here's my first setup. I bought the coop (the part that has the roofs) on ebay, and very quickly realized I couldn't keep 6 chickens in just that .
So I had a guy make me an attached run, doubling the space...which clearly was still not enough room.
My favorite part about this setup was the attached nest box.
So I sold my very pretty setup to a friend who only wanted 3 chickens, and she's been happy with it.
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Here are my 6 in the old run...good chickens get sod!
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So, I read loads more on this board and decided I wanted a walk-in coop with a poop board. I bought a shed off ebay and painted it with gloss. Look how pristine it was!
Here are my girls settling into their new digs. I now put about 4 inches of Auboise shavings under the roosting plank as I prefer to scoop up poo rather than scrape it.
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I've now mounted an exterior nest box but they laid in the old sink shown here, and in cardboard boxes, for months with no problem. It was a purely cosmetic change, as I found I missed opening the nest box lid and seeing the eggs laying in the nest. It is just not the same to crouch down and root around in a cardboard box.
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In the autumn, I decided I get a couple more chickens, as we eat 4 eggs for breakfast...and my five cluckers weren't regularly providing that many, so I read some more on byc and decided I wanted pretty colors, so bought two Columbine pullets (who are supposed to lay blue/green eggs...which one of them does...the other lays a light pink egg). I'd chicken-sat a friend's two hens in the summer and liked being able to see her white chicken from the house, so wanted a whitish chicken too. Enter Milly, Molly and Mae!
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And now we average 6 eggs a day, sometimes get 7 and to date have had one glorious 8-egg day.
Other improvements to the coop:
  • an automatic door which is light sensitive
  • a water jug with nipples, for use in the coop
  • a light inside the coop which keeps the water from freezing, and also keeps the girls laying as they're getting supplemental light
I'm doing the deep litter method, and while I know the coop will need a thorough clean in the spring, think it's working very well.
I'll end with a photo I love, of the Betty leading Belle and Bonnie off into the forget-me-nots like ships in the sea.
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