And finally got some flowers planted
THE COOP AS IT IS TODAY!
We purchased our fist pullets in Sept of 2014 We were going to start w/ 4 hens but once we got out to where we were buying them well we ended up leaving w/ 6
At the time, I had repurposed a large dog house for their coop & we got busy making an enclosed run!! The first part of the run was 12'x17' Then we decided to get a "fancy" coop
so we ordered one from Costco, it arrived a week later we loved it sooooo cute!!We then got a call from a friend that he had a loose chicken in his backyard for 2 days & he couldn't find the owner so I said well bring her over, she ended up being beautiful & such a wonderful hen, about a month & half later she started laying!! My girls were not laying yet as they were only about 12 wks at this time! So I was pretty excited! So our 6 hens now went to 7 they all got along great after the 2 week seperation to make sure she was healthy!!
Now come Jan 1,2015 & YES on New Years one of my girls laid her first egg once again I was very excited & so proud
Well jump forward to Jan 24 & i saw an ad on craigslist for a Silver Laced Wyondotte for sale, she was beautiful so I called the gal, she was getting rid of her because she said her current hens were mean to her so when we got there, she had told me she was keeping her in a cage in the laundry room, so we went in to meet her, the first thing I noticed was her crop was HUGE :/ So we put her in our kennel for transport home, by this time we had made a seperate area to quarantine new chickens, so we put her in there for a couple weeks & kept an eye on her crop! He cob & wattle were very pale also & she just looked HUGE!
Well after the 2 wks I introduced her to the other girls, it didn't go well at first as she thought she was going to be top of pecking order
So I took her out for a couple of days, then put her back in & all went well, there was some pecking but not like before, I just let them work it out & they did!!
We then knew we needed a much larger coop sooooo my oldest son had a 1965 12 ' travel trailer he had tore down to the frame & rebuilt all the walls ect. he then parked it here over the winter & it had gotten wet, so instead of him having to tear apart again & put MORE money into, I asked if I could have it for a chicken coop! He reluctently said yes haha
Now one month later we have finished it inside & out,( new siding, reconfigured inside, new roof, & insulation on all walls/roof) it was very painful to move into place as it is rainey season & very muddy to say the least!!
Well we got it into place THEN it had to come off the frame :/ 2 days of hard work & blocking it up it was now off the frame!!
I also in the process of this expanded the run for them to include a grassy area, & my old garden area
they are going to work the area for a couple months then I will fence off & plant a small garden area w/ treats for them
I can't believe they were actually this small
1st day home
The fancy new coop
Miss Buttercup my first layer
random fluffiness
THE NEW COOP Nesting boxes done
Roost bars(BTW they came down, didn't like them)
Went to this set up instead
they wanted to sleep up here so we did a bar for them
Outside of new coop