- Aug 11, 2011
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Hey all!
Our four silked EEs from MPC are six weeks old now, and are small, but seem fairly feathered out! I still see pinfeathers on them when I examine them of course, but they’re getting there!
I was really hoping to get them outside this coming week, but we are in Seattle, and I’m worried about the temps. This is the forecast for this week:
Basically, rainy (rain here is rarely worse than a steady drizzle) and in the 50s, dipping to the low to mid 40s at night.
I’m finishing out the coop and run this weekend and am hoping to have it ready by Wednesday. The roof is on, the hardware cloth is almost done, and the bit I’ve left to do now is to finish caulking the exterior shingles, put the foam insulation in, and then install the interior walls and floor for the coop. Everything is primed and painted, I’ve just had to wait for breaks in the rain.
I’m using a mix of aspen and hemp bedding in the run as I have the floor fully enclosed with 1/2in hardware cloth. The roof and the rest of the walls are done in 1/4in HWC to prevent intrusion from mice- although frankly what we mostly have here in the city is rats.
Is it going to be too cool for them? We are going out of town Nov 1-8 and I have my mother and her friend staying at our place to take care of our other pets, but my mom does not want the chickens to still be inside, and neither do I. As cute as it is to hear them chatting as I’m working in my office, they smell, and no amount of fancy coop refreshing herbs is going to change that, haha!
However, she’s a softie and I know if we absolutely couldn’t put them outside until we are back, she’d likely just grumble but deal with it.
This is their indoor brooder pen:
I think it’s a little more than 3ftx3ft. Technically, their outdoor coop is bigger (it’s 3ftx5ft), so even if I left them locked in the coop the week we are gone they’d have more space - but it’s still going to be cold.
Anyway, sorry for rambling! Installing hardware cloth above your head with a sinus headache sucks, and that’s what we have been up to all day. Please let me know your thoughts!
Our four silked EEs from MPC are six weeks old now, and are small, but seem fairly feathered out! I still see pinfeathers on them when I examine them of course, but they’re getting there!
I was really hoping to get them outside this coming week, but we are in Seattle, and I’m worried about the temps. This is the forecast for this week:
Basically, rainy (rain here is rarely worse than a steady drizzle) and in the 50s, dipping to the low to mid 40s at night.
I’m finishing out the coop and run this weekend and am hoping to have it ready by Wednesday. The roof is on, the hardware cloth is almost done, and the bit I’ve left to do now is to finish caulking the exterior shingles, put the foam insulation in, and then install the interior walls and floor for the coop. Everything is primed and painted, I’ve just had to wait for breaks in the rain.
I’m using a mix of aspen and hemp bedding in the run as I have the floor fully enclosed with 1/2in hardware cloth. The roof and the rest of the walls are done in 1/4in HWC to prevent intrusion from mice- although frankly what we mostly have here in the city is rats.
Is it going to be too cool for them? We are going out of town Nov 1-8 and I have my mother and her friend staying at our place to take care of our other pets, but my mom does not want the chickens to still be inside, and neither do I. As cute as it is to hear them chatting as I’m working in my office, they smell, and no amount of fancy coop refreshing herbs is going to change that, haha!
However, she’s a softie and I know if we absolutely couldn’t put them outside until we are back, she’d likely just grumble but deal with it.
This is their indoor brooder pen:
I think it’s a little more than 3ftx3ft. Technically, their outdoor coop is bigger (it’s 3ftx5ft), so even if I left them locked in the coop the week we are gone they’d have more space - but it’s still going to be cold.
Anyway, sorry for rambling! Installing hardware cloth above your head with a sinus headache sucks, and that’s what we have been up to all day. Please let me know your thoughts!
