Oh, I hate replying by phone... I forget things ! Can't remember all that I have read either.... Sorry!
HEchicken, congrats on your move to the quiet country life!!! I am envious, but not envious of all the packing and un packing
Heh-heh - yeah, I hear you on that. It seems like we've been doing it forever already. We closed on the house awhile back but wanted the kids to finish out the school year before we moved since one was in 8th-grade and it seemed a shame to make him change schools with only a couple months left of the school year. But because we had possession and I was building my coop here, every time I made a trip out here, I brought a load of stuff. DD was great yesterday though. She got out the label-maker, then went around the kitchen and labeled all the shelves with what she thought ought to go there, then started unpacking kitchen stuff and putting it all away. She did a great job and it all seems to really work and flow nicely so I am very appreciative that she did that.
I worked all day yesterday on the coop and it is near completion. I need to get some more pictures. The siding is all up, and now I just need to find some corner pieces to finish the four corners, and around the windows and doors. Then on my internal wall, I need to install the door and the chicken wire (the wall has OSB for the base so the birds can't kick bedding through, and that is already there, but I need to put chicken wire for the top of the wall. Right now the birds are roosting on the wall :-( ) Last, I still need to build nest boxes and roosts.
I have almost all of the birds moved out. Two nights ago, DD and I wrangled the keets and brought them over, along with the muscovies. They joined the 2 silkies and 10 other chicks of various ages that have been here a week and a half already. They had never all been together before as I had them in segregated areas at the old place but they all seem to be getting along great. The older chicks (10 weeks or so old) gave the keets a few pecks to let them know where they stand in the pecking order but other than that, there were no issues - yay! One of the chicks tried to do the same with a muscovy and it was really kind of funny. Typically the muscovies seem to be very calm, no-nonsense, don't-cause-any-problems kind of birds, and I've never seen them peck at each other or any other species. They like to just go about their business, eat, drink and sit and watch all the ruckus. But when that little roo pecked at the duck, it kind of raised itself up to its full height and just stared at the chick. The chick stared back for a minute then slunk off with a look on its face that said "Oh, my mistake, I thought you were someone else" and the duck went right back to eating. I don't think anyone has messed with any of the ducks ever since!
The only birds I have left to move are my laying flock (including my Sultan Mama and her two chicks). They are still at the old place because they are the most self-sufficient. I have a huge feeder and waterer for them and can leave them enough for about 5 days. I figured if it is a few more days before I move them, it won't be a problem. They'll keep right on doing what they do every day until then. Then, once I move them, I anticipate they'll stop laying until they acclimate to the new place. I need to get my fencing complete (ran out of fencing or we'd be done already - need to get more today) and then I can start opening the coop up during the day and letting them out. I did bring the silkies out for the day yesterday. They are so good at staying around, and while I was outside working all day and could keep an eye on them, it seemed like a good chance to give them a break from the coop. They seemed to have a great time!
Oh Hawkeye, to answer your question on the basement, we are doing something we have never done before, and making the whole basement an adult-only area. Now that the kids are older, and don't need to climb in bed with us in the middle of the night any more, we decided to let them have the upstairs and we will have the downstairs. My office is there already, and now we will have a large bed and bathroom, huge walk-in closet and a little "nook" that will be a kitchenette - microwave, small fridge, coffee maker. Then, in the mornings, we can make coffee without even having to go upstairs to the kitchen! In the summer/fall I like to drink coffee on the front porch anyway, but in the winter, it will be really cozy to be able to get up and make coffee and have it in bed without even having to go upstairs
