Agathae is the worst offender here. She will sneak off, claim she's "laying a egg" while running around on the other side of the yard doing who knows what.We all have escapees!
And we all have ‘work in progress’
Looks good so far!
That is so nice! We have 6 backyard hens but we let them out all day. They really only use the coop to roost at night or to lay an egg so our coop really is too big ~ having more run space is more beneficial than coop space for us.Thank you so much for this!! I'll share with my dad
I actually totally forgot that my dad wants to build the coop raised off the ground for the exact reason that they won't lose any run space, and they'll have more cover and shade!
The run is almost 7' by almost 8'. Geometry is not my strong suit so I don't know which is length or width or depth or whatever... So I took a couple extra pics
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Front and back are 8'
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The sides are both 7'
For winter we plan on wrapping the bottom half of the walls of the run with landscaping cloth because it's breathable but should block out enough wind and drafts, and above that with greenhouse plastic for sunlight, leaving the very top section (below the roof and above that horizontal board) open for ventellation. Should we leave one side open too?
When we get around to building the coop, it'll probably be about half of the run, like the section outlined in red
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This is a really good idea! I think we were planning on keeping the coop just in case we need it for anything. I REALLY like the idea of enclosing the support frame with hardware cloth!!
What happened? It's either jealousy or broody tempers ~ especially during this Calif heatwave. Our girls are lethargic in this weather & don't have the energy to snip at each other!I’m lucky today. I got a hug from Xzit. Also from little CeeCee.
Holding CeeCee, when she finally jumped off me, she was attacked by Aero. Pulling feathers off her back and biting her. I don’t know why that happened!
I have a great Roo for youI want a rooster so bad guysthe more I read about them and see them caring for their hens the more I want to have one and expand the flock a little. GRRRR I DONT WANT TO WAIT LOL!
Dad and I have loose plans for building a bigger coop out of half of the run. Since we plan on free ranging the smaller run shouldn't be an issue but maybe we can expand on that too later...
The prefab we have now should probably hold 2 or 3 chickens at most. I really hate it. It's drafty, small, and probably going to fall apart within a year. But my uncle is the one who spent all the money on everything, and he did it on a whim. I tried to convince him to either get a prefab with a run built in that we could modify into a bigger coop, or a cheap shed we could turn into a coop. But he went with the cheapest option and then went all out buying the lumber for the run frame. And then went cheap again, using chicken wire instead of hardware cloth
Soooo dad and I have a lot to do to make the chickens happier and safer. I think it will be fun though and definitely well worth it. I hope we can start soon!
We still need to bury hardware cloth on 2 sides of the run and then move the coop into its spot in the back corner, then add more clutter to the run once that's done. Phew!
Here's our chicken space so farThey're confined to the garden until they're a bit bigger but we've had escapees a few times
They're so eager to explore!
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Sounds like Pony & kitty need to be added to you Chicken wrangler title....No pony photos today - had a crazy busy day cleaning stalls, scraping the aisle floor, throwing down hay for the week. Then I drove to town for feed, then when I was dumping feed into the bins I noted I had bought whole oats not rolled - duh. So I started mixing it with the rolled- went to dump more whole oats in the bin and stopped… what’s that in the bag? Scooped it up - BLAHHHHH! Dead dried up mouse !!!!
Threw the bag aside, checked the oats I had poured in, looked ok, smelled ok…. And am sure the horses will let me know if they are bad. Called the feed store to let them know. They were totally sorry and told me drop the bag in for a replacement.
Finished unloading the rest of the horse and chicken feed. Swept the floor (again) fed the horses (they ate the oats), chased down the chooks and brought them in, put out the garbage and went in to have supper. 6pm.
The cat had loose poops and so had to clean her up and the floor, got all scratched up cleaning her up. Finally able to have a very HOT shower (my back is really aching today), supper…. Now need to do evening chores and Go To Bed!
Gosh I am getting too old for all this monkey business.
So my plans to take some awesome autumn pony photos did not happen.
So here is a rerun from a couple weeks ago.
Tip toe through the goldenrod….
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I am still hung up on the mouse in the oats!
can you take a picture of his side? How old is he?Shorley
(Are you all certain she’s a he?)
My three are smart enough to go round back hang out on mount poopmore and wait until I bring the horses in, they then follow the horses inside. The brats!I just had one earlier this morning! One of my SLW pullets, Gytha. I hang out in the garage pretty much all day with my dad, so I was sitting in my chair and I looked out the side door. She was just standing there looking in, looking lost and embarrassed
I walked her back to the garden and opened the gate and she ran back in. I wish a got a picture, it was so funny to see her standing there like "um... I need help?" HAHAHA
First - I love your door! So fancy!
