Okay, I'm not sure if I'm really allowed to be putting an article on this here, as I didn't build the coop from scratch 
. But I'm doing it anyway. After deciding we didn't have the time, resources or space to build a chicken coop this past summer, we decided to cheat and go with the Omlet Eglu Cube coop with the longer run. Our chickens love it! Currently, we have four golden buffs from Meyer's hatchery: Goldberry, Josephine, Susana, and Phasma (they're currently 20ish weeks and started laying between 16 and 17 weeks!). We keep track of them with different colored zip ties. Here are some photos from when they were chicks to now:
Goldberry at a couple days old
All four in their brooder (We had to change the size of the brooder later on as they grew)
Ugly stage! This was 5-6 weeks I think.
Their first day in their coop
Mealworm snack! It took them a couple of weeks to get used to mealies, but they're officially obsessed.
Snowy birds! They spent their entire time out of the coop looking for pitifully small blades of grass. They were NOT happy. We do let them out of their coop for supervised free ranging in our tiny yard every other day or so (more in the summer).
The coop! We've since added bedding to the run as well as an automatic, rat-proof feeder, and an automatic door.
On a side note, golden buffs are super friendly! We don't have any 'lap chickens' per say (they'd all rather be looking for delicious grass), but they'll follow us around and let us pick them up most of the time. They all have individual personalities. Susana, the one with the light colored head and green zip tie, enjoys jumping on our shoulders and heads whenever we happen to be bending over enough/sitting down. Her sisters copy her, until we have all four chickens climbing over our heads and arms. Susana also is the first to jump onto tables and chairs before we can get them off. Josephine (blue zip tie) is at the top of the pecking order: she goes into the coop first, her sisters all follow her when free ranging, and I have yet to see her get pecked or pushed around. She also was the first one to start laying, and, despite being loosely followed at all times, often wanders off by herself. Phasma squawks like the world is ending whenever someone tries to/manages to pick her up. We haven't been able to hold her long enough to put a zip tie on her. Phasma's also the most feisty, and, if you're holding treats, will bite your hand until you drop them. Goldberry is probably the most normal of all of them. She's at the bottom of the pecking order, and copies her sisters. She's probably the calmest of all of them. Back to the coop. The chickens love it. It's easy to clean and maintain, and it's a good size. We could probably fit another three or so birds in the coop, especially because the golden buffs are small, but we'd need to place another nesting box in a corner of the run: the coop only has one, nicely sized nesting box. In the past, we've seen two chickens in the nesting box, but recently we've only seen one at a time, even when one chicken is desperate. We get 3 or 4 eggs a day, more often four! Phasma always lays eggs with a whitish coating, and one of them, we're not sure who, always always lays a slightly smaller, slightly paler egg. I think the golden buffs are pretty beautiful, especially with the lacing on their neck feathers. Well, that's all I can think to say about the coop and their residents, for now at least! Thanks for reading!
. But I'm doing it anyway. After deciding we didn't have the time, resources or space to build a chicken coop this past summer, we decided to cheat and go with the Omlet Eglu Cube coop with the longer run. Our chickens love it! Currently, we have four golden buffs from Meyer's hatchery: Goldberry, Josephine, Susana, and Phasma (they're currently 20ish weeks and started laying between 16 and 17 weeks!). We keep track of them with different colored zip ties. Here are some photos from when they were chicks to now:
Goldberry at a couple days old
All four in their brooder (We had to change the size of the brooder later on as they grew)
Ugly stage! This was 5-6 weeks I think.
Their first day in their coop
Mealworm snack! It took them a couple of weeks to get used to mealies, but they're officially obsessed.
Snowy birds! They spent their entire time out of the coop looking for pitifully small blades of grass. They were NOT happy. We do let them out of their coop for supervised free ranging in our tiny yard every other day or so (more in the summer).
The coop! We've since added bedding to the run as well as an automatic, rat-proof feeder, and an automatic door.
On a side note, golden buffs are super friendly! We don't have any 'lap chickens' per say (they'd all rather be looking for delicious grass), but they'll follow us around and let us pick them up most of the time. They all have individual personalities. Susana, the one with the light colored head and green zip tie, enjoys jumping on our shoulders and heads whenever we happen to be bending over enough/sitting down. Her sisters copy her, until we have all four chickens climbing over our heads and arms. Susana also is the first to jump onto tables and chairs before we can get them off. Josephine (blue zip tie) is at the top of the pecking order: she goes into the coop first, her sisters all follow her when free ranging, and I have yet to see her get pecked or pushed around. She also was the first one to start laying, and, despite being loosely followed at all times, often wanders off by herself. Phasma squawks like the world is ending whenever someone tries to/manages to pick her up. We haven't been able to hold her long enough to put a zip tie on her. Phasma's also the most feisty, and, if you're holding treats, will bite your hand until you drop them. Goldberry is probably the most normal of all of them. She's at the bottom of the pecking order, and copies her sisters. She's probably the calmest of all of them. Back to the coop. The chickens love it. It's easy to clean and maintain, and it's a good size. We could probably fit another three or so birds in the coop, especially because the golden buffs are small, but we'd need to place another nesting box in a corner of the run: the coop only has one, nicely sized nesting box. In the past, we've seen two chickens in the nesting box, but recently we've only seen one at a time, even when one chicken is desperate. We get 3 or 4 eggs a day, more often four! Phasma always lays eggs with a whitish coating, and one of them, we're not sure who, always always lays a slightly smaller, slightly paler egg. I think the golden buffs are pretty beautiful, especially with the lacing on their neck feathers. Well, that's all I can think to say about the coop and their residents, for now at least! Thanks for reading!
