Adventures in Urban Chicken Keeping on the Left Coast (aka Chooksworth)

[HighStreetCoop]

Chooks are five months old now. Sylvester is starting to get some tail feathers and the girls are getting that big poofy padded booty Orps are famous for. Phoebe is fully integrated into the flock. She's a middle bird. Still not sure if Clorinda or Venetia is top hen. Not sure they know either.

The only neighbors I was worried about objecting to Sylvester's crowing stopped me this morning to say how much they like hearing him, LOL!

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Got my first two eggs yesterday! The chooks are a week shy of 6 months. They've been squatting for the cockerel for about a week. Now I just have to get them to use the nest boxes (one laid under the roosts [I know that was Phoebe, my black] and one laid out in the run [unknown, but I suspect Clorinda, my splash]. I left the eggs from yesterday in the boxes to hopefully encourage them to lay there. Today I'll get some false eggs or golf balls for that purpose.

First Egg:




Nesting boxes with curtains (barn doors shut behind them; I want to get the exterior nesting boxes installed, but I haven't had time, so I'm using the ones the coop came with for now):



Venetia, front and center as usual when the camera is out:

 

[HighStreetCoop]

The Chicken Fountain had a valve failure after 3 weeks. Unfortunately, there was an email snafu and they didn't get my email about it so I'd already bought a Little Giant as a replacement by the time I heard back from them. I mounted it so the bowl is at "back height" for the hens as directed, but they didn't seem to understand how to get to the water. I think maybe the lid is throwing them off. I ended up hanging their brooder nipple bottles up so that I know they'll have water until they figure it out. If I don't see them using it by tomorrow, I'll take it all apart and remove the lid. If that doesn't work, I'll rip it all out and lower it. And yes, I know the hose looks kinked, but it's not.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Just a few updated pics of the flock. They'll be 6 months old in a week.

Babs (seated), Clorinda, Venetia, Sylvester



Clorinda and Sylvester (Babs down in the corner)



The whole gang (and a shot showing Sylvester's tail which is FINALLY coming in).

 

[lizamagee]

Can you talk a little more about your experience with The Chicken Gardener coop you have and if you're liking it? I have an email out to them and am highly considering ordering a new coop from them (I think the same one you have here!). Do you feel it's big enough for your girls? I only have three hens but thinking of eventually expanding up to 6 hens someday. Ideally, I'd mostly keep them inside the coop and only let them out to free range occasionally and under supervision.

 

[aart]

Got my first two eggs yesterday! The chooks are a week shy of 6 months. They've been squatting for the cockerel for about a week. Now I just have to get them to use the nest boxes (one laid under the roosts [I know that was Phoebe, my black] and one laid out in the run [unknown, but I suspect Clorinda, my splash]. I left the eggs from yesterday in the boxes to hopefully encourage them to lay there. Today I'll get some false eggs or golf balls for that purpose.

First Egg:

Woo and Hoo!!!!
Congrats!

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Can you talk a little more about your experience with The Chicken Gardener coop you have and if you're liking it? I have an email out to them and am highly considering ordering a new coop from them (I think the same one you have here!). Do you feel it's big enough for your girls? I only have three hens but thinking of eventually expanding up to 6 hens someday. Ideally, I'd mostly keep them inside the coop and only let them out to free range occasionally and under supervision.

Sure. Overall, I'm really pleased with it. I'd certainly order it again without hesitation, which says it all. It's big enough for my little flock, but I do let them out every day. They're soooo eager to roam around in the yard when I'm home and it's impossible not to let them out, LOL! I think the space is more than adequate for a flock of 3-6 birds. And it's SOOOO easy to clean out. Takes me 5 min with a dust pan. I thought the guys at The Chicken Gardener were really easy to deal with, too. They showed up exactly as they'd promised to, when they'd promised to, and they set the coop up in no time. And I can tell you that a 140 lb dog flinging herself against it at a full run didn't leave a dent or scratch.

My only real issues were ladder vs ramp (easy fix) and the space around the door. The gap either needs to be shimmed with wood or you need to put in a wire bumper like I did to keep out rodents. But really, that was a pretty small issue. Sure there's stuff I'd like to change down the road (add external nest boxes, rain gutter), but that would be true with any coop I think, even one I built myself. It seems to vent pretty well (air circulates from beneath the internal tray and up out the roof gaps), but we'll see if I need to add ventilation this summer when we get up into the 80s and 90s. If I do, I think I'll just swing the nesting boxes around to back up to the wall and add a hardware cloth "window" where the barn doors are now.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Woo and Hoo!!!!
Congrats!

Thanks! Can't wait to get home and see if I got any today (didn't get any yesterday).

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Two more little pullet eggs yesterday and BOTH were laid in the nesting boxes! The girls have gone through an impressive amount of oyster shell in the past few days, which lets me know they're all gearing up to join in. Yea!!! Have established the two laying are Phoebe and Babs. Disturbed them on the nest when I came home early from work.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

I thought I'd add a rooster progression since I know we're all always looking for that. So here's Sylvester from chick to six seven months:


1 Week




4 Weeks



6 Weeks



8 Weeks/2 Months



10 Weeks



12 Weeks/3 Months



14 Weeks



16 Weeks/4 Months (obligatory 5G bucket shot)



20 Weeks/5 Months



24 Weeks/6 Months



28 Weeks/7 Months. He's still filling in/out. Tail has really started to develop.