Let me introduce you to my Inn and flock of ten!
In the first two pictures, you see the Inn. It started with a small movable coop, then I built the raised 4x4 coop with the porthole window you see in the picture. It was originally attached to 12x4 secure run space. Last summer I got four more chicks, and I built the smaller 2x4 "ground level" coop for them and added another 8x4 secure run. Even though they could move in with the big girls, they haven't, and still sleep in their own little coop, on four feet of roost. Behind the big white door is their fenced-off chicken yard. It is less secure than the runs (fencing/walls all around it, now 8-10 ft high, but no roof or netting). I am now installing an Adorstore automatic door to this yard and will set it to "manual" for opening and to automatic shutting at sunset. I am big on re-use methods and being green & thrifty, and used mostly Craigslist freebies and purchases to build the Inn. Result: a somewhat haphazard Inn, and total cost only $307 so far, NOT counting the automatic door, which was my Christmas present this year!
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The next picture shows the chicken swing, which I made from scraps I got from my neighbor. Two of my hens, Amelia the Barred Rock and Little Red the New Hampshire you see in the background, love it!
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In the third picture Phyllis is checking behind the privacy curtain of the nesting box, to see if Deedee is done yet.
The fourth picture shows my first four hens, now aged around 20 months, including blue/grey Easter Egger Deedee. The orange one is Beatrix (named after a Dutch Queen), she is also an Easter Egger. The white one is Marilyn, a somewhat skittish white leghorn (named after Marilyn Monroe). Her floppy comb is so big that she can only see out of one eye. The black one in the foreground is Phyllis again, black sexlink eggstraordinaire. She is the best layer, and is the most nuts about treats.
I have four pullets age 5.5 months and two younger pullets. Why so many..? Just because.... chickens are so fun!! The fifth picture shows three of my four older pullets, then about four months old. They were clearly models in their previous lives. One is a Barred Rock or possibly a Dominique (any input?) named Amelia Earhart, who recently flew over the 8-ft fence of their chicken yard, into the backyard. This led to more construction and to a wing-clipping party. The middle one is a sexlink named Josephine, who started laying tiny brown eggs this week, at age 5.5 months. The black one is an Australorp named Rosie. Number four of this group is not in the picture, she is the New Hampshire named Little Red. I got her to make up for the fact that one of this group of four was a rooster, from the farm where I bought them. She probably missed the photo op due to being busy swinging.
The next picture shows my two youngest pullets, sitting next to each other on a roost. The black one is a black sexlink and the one with the "beard" is an Easter Egger named Charlie. I am integrating them into the flock of eight right now. It is going okay, but they are not having the best week of their lives...! I got Charlie in exchange for aforementioned rooster (so yes, I ended up getting two hens for one rooster! This rooster was rooster #6 I gave to a local poultry farmer) and Charlie was so lonely while being kept separate from the flock....I then got the black sexlink so she had a girlfriend. Integrating two works better than integrating one.
The last picture: just when Deedee was showing off her fluffy stuff, her girlfriend just had to do a photobomb....!
...I added a pic of Amelia's head. She has a single comb, so she must be a Barred Rock rather than a Dominique!
In the first two pictures, you see the Inn. It started with a small movable coop, then I built the raised 4x4 coop with the porthole window you see in the picture. It was originally attached to 12x4 secure run space. Last summer I got four more chicks, and I built the smaller 2x4 "ground level" coop for them and added another 8x4 secure run. Even though they could move in with the big girls, they haven't, and still sleep in their own little coop, on four feet of roost. Behind the big white door is their fenced-off chicken yard. It is less secure than the runs (fencing/walls all around it, now 8-10 ft high, but no roof or netting). I am now installing an Adorstore automatic door to this yard and will set it to "manual" for opening and to automatic shutting at sunset. I am big on re-use methods and being green & thrifty, and used mostly Craigslist freebies and purchases to build the Inn. Result: a somewhat haphazard Inn, and total cost only $307 so far, NOT counting the automatic door, which was my Christmas present this year!
.
The next picture shows the chicken swing, which I made from scraps I got from my neighbor. Two of my hens, Amelia the Barred Rock and Little Red the New Hampshire you see in the background, love it!
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In the third picture Phyllis is checking behind the privacy curtain of the nesting box, to see if Deedee is done yet.
The fourth picture shows my first four hens, now aged around 20 months, including blue/grey Easter Egger Deedee. The orange one is Beatrix (named after a Dutch Queen), she is also an Easter Egger. The white one is Marilyn, a somewhat skittish white leghorn (named after Marilyn Monroe). Her floppy comb is so big that she can only see out of one eye. The black one in the foreground is Phyllis again, black sexlink eggstraordinaire. She is the best layer, and is the most nuts about treats.
I have four pullets age 5.5 months and two younger pullets. Why so many..? Just because.... chickens are so fun!! The fifth picture shows three of my four older pullets, then about four months old. They were clearly models in their previous lives. One is a Barred Rock or possibly a Dominique (any input?) named Amelia Earhart, who recently flew over the 8-ft fence of their chicken yard, into the backyard. This led to more construction and to a wing-clipping party. The middle one is a sexlink named Josephine, who started laying tiny brown eggs this week, at age 5.5 months. The black one is an Australorp named Rosie. Number four of this group is not in the picture, she is the New Hampshire named Little Red. I got her to make up for the fact that one of this group of four was a rooster, from the farm where I bought them. She probably missed the photo op due to being busy swinging.
The next picture shows my two youngest pullets, sitting next to each other on a roost. The black one is a black sexlink and the one with the "beard" is an Easter Egger named Charlie. I am integrating them into the flock of eight right now. It is going okay, but they are not having the best week of their lives...! I got Charlie in exchange for aforementioned rooster (so yes, I ended up getting two hens for one rooster! This rooster was rooster #6 I gave to a local poultry farmer) and Charlie was so lonely while being kept separate from the flock....I then got the black sexlink so she had a girlfriend. Integrating two works better than integrating one.
The last picture: just when Deedee was showing off her fluffy stuff, her girlfriend just had to do a photobomb....!
...I added a pic of Amelia's head. She has a single comb, so she must be a Barred Rock rather than a Dominique!
