Eggie And Mes Page

WITHOUT anything written down on paper here we go. The reason for no drawings is I couldn't draw a straight line if my life depended on it. So with the patience of the saints, my husband and son Christian got sweet talked into joining my dream. Our little project began 03/15/2009. This is the North East corner of our yard, aka the future site for our chicken coop and yard. The plan is to take the corner where the chainlink is and design the coop going across the north facing fence and east facing fence. There is an existing sidewalk that goes the full length and width so there is our critter proofing. What luck! WISH I COULD DRAW. Cause all of these ideas are in my head and I'm counting on Ed and my Son Christian to figure out what I'm trying to explain. NOTICE THERE ARE NO VEGGIES YET..

This is an old stump from an apricot tree planted by my Father In Law back in 1986. Unfortunately my Eggie was/is allergic to apricots, so the poor tree went yrs ago. This looks and feels like a huge project that will never end.

In the corner is a slab of cement that was poured yrs ago. It's about 6'x6' and will be the perfect hang out for hot days or rainy ones. There is also a large "dirt" area that will also be under the coop. Tons of "critter" protection.

Two vented windows, allow for fresh air during the summer months and latch easily at night. We (i) finally settled on white with "ivy green" trim. In these pics the X's aren't up yet. We put primer inside and out and used 2 coats of exterior enamel which I'm hoping will make clean ups easier and faster.

Besides I really like the color. It's happy.

This is the inside so far. I keep "remodeling", well actually it's the girls fault. At night it's a crack up they ALL want to sleep in the same box. It's like how many students can you really get into one VW, our version is how many chicks will really fit into once nesting box (comfortably)??

Just out of reach from the girls is our veggie garden. Any veggies brave enough to go through the fence do so at their own risk.

This pic is from the outside looking in. The girls all get so happy anytime they see up go up into the veggie garden. They are always hopeful I'll find a snail or two to toss in along with the weeds. We got a little carried away with the garden and as you can see all of this has occured just since 3/15/09. Today is 6/7/09. Tons of progress...

These are 4 of our 7 girls 4 Rhode Island Reds and 3 Barred Rocks in all. We got them 4/15/09 when they were 2 days old. At first we considered "starting" with 12. I'm glad today that we ONLY got

the 7 chicks. The pic of the wood frame w/wire was just another one of my wierd thoughts. The girls LOVE their greens and as you can see from their yard they've eaten just about everything. Sooooo Ed made this frame and we have leafy veggies and grasses growing under the wire. Once the greens get tall enough the girls car trim their own veggies.

This pic is from the inside of the chicken yard.

Having their coop up off the ground was so that during the winter months they have a safe place to hang out. It's also been nice as during the hotter days I put their water on the cement under their coop where it's always in the shade. Here they are chowing down on grass clippings.

The REWARD hangin with the girls.. As you can tell, they're all still really terrified of me. NOT! Anytime I go into their yard they ALL come running for me totally convinced that I'm bringing something new. They've gotten soooooo comfortable that I can go into their coop and work with a hammer etc. and they just come in and check it out. Totally unafraid. Different from their younger days when everything especially the color green scared them...So far this has been one of the most rewarding experiences. To watch and care for these little creatures and see them go up into this. Well 9 weeks and I'm still overly protective with their diets, etc. Buttttttttttttttt the funniest thing is setting your watch to them returning to their coop. 8:00 p.m. the march begins and the leader of the troops one of are Barred Rocks is always the last to go into the coop, and she sure lets the other girls know if their are minding her..... STILL HAVE TO FINISH THE INTERIOR AND AM EAGER FOR SUGGESTIONS>