I'm going on an adventure!

[RoseHawke]

I let the littles out with the Big Girls on Saturday. It went better than I expected, after a bit of pecking and chasing they pretty much ignored them unless somebody ran under their beak. Certainly no dedicated chasing.

The littles are just about 6 weeks old, with the Big Girls being about 20 weeks, not yet laying although Rain has been "squatting," so I expect the first egg in the next week or two unless this unbearable heat puts a hold on it (at the moment the heat index is showing 108°F.) I'm considering putting the misters up in the run in the next day or so, as while ordinarily in high humidity areas misting really doesn't do any good, here during the hottest part of the day the humidity is lower; it's actually "only" 59% at the moment.

Here's everyone trying to stay cool around the dust bathing bin.

 

[RoseHawke]

Well, I've pretty much done everything I possibly can to try to help them beat the heat short of bringing them into the air-conditioning!

 

[RoseHawke]

Did an actual check on the run girls just now, expanding on the "virtual" checks I do throughout the day via a Blink cam. It's a good thing I did!

This would be from Rain. It must've caught her by surprise even though I've noticed her checking out the nest boxes and the Chiclets carrier as possible places to lay since this egg was in the middle of the run! I hope she figures out the nestboxes off the back of the coop (they have ceramic eggs in them,) as the carrier will hopefully be going back into storage this weekend as I attempt to overnight the Chiclets with the Big Girls.

 

[RoseHawke]

There are the littles in the run, and then there's Pippin and Helena (who, along with Falco, will probably be rehomed,) in a pet playpen out in the Shop Annex. Despite two fans on the pen with a jug of ice in front of one of them in the pen, and being inside, the annex just feels hotter than outside. So, I need to get these two out.

But that means basically three groups. Falco & Co. are one group (roosting in carrier,) Rain & Co. (the older girls, roosting in main coop) another, and then Pip and Helena. So, I'm short a nighttime roosting area for Pip & Co. which presents a problem.

To solve the problem, I ordered an inexpensive coop off of Temu, among the cheapest they have, to go in the run as an additional nighttime/separation. I can't build one for that amount of money, and while I understand it's going to be very cheaply built, for my purposes it should suffice. I certainly would not use this as primary housing for any adults outside as I sincerely doubt it's even minimally predator proof.

Most of the negative reviews for this sort of thing is always due to the flimsiness (sometimes I like flimsy; flimsy is lightweight!) or lack of hardware, or something like the holes not meeting up. None of this is a problem for me although I appreciate others might be a tad ticked off about it.

EDIT: Wanted to add that Amazon had comparable coops cheaper, but none that would get here quickly - most would be at least a month.

 

[RoseHawke]

The Pippin Floof is 8 weeks old today.

 

[RoseHawke]

Coop came yesterday evening (after FedEx had said "delayed" and "rescheduled", but that's another story,) and I spent the morning with Mr. RoseHawke's assistance assembling it. Assembly went very smoothly which pleased me no end. I think the worst flat pack we ever put together was a computer desk made in Poland of all places. Nothing matched up. Quality of the coop is about what you'd expect for $150, but I'm still pleased with it. It buys me some time.

Went ahead and moved Pip and Helena out of the Annex and into their new digs. I'll try to get some pix later but right now I'm knackered.

 

[RoseHawke]

Amber, the nosiest of the bunch, checking out the new coop.

Helena and Pippin have settled in.

One thing I do not like about this coop is the lack of ventilation. Not long after I took this picture, I ripped the plastic off the "window" and stapled on a piece of hardware cloth. Other than that, I think there's a couple of holes drilled in the side of it that's next to the potting shed. I'm considering using a 2-inch hole cutter and cutting some vent holes in the nestbox. You can get little 2-inch vents that would fit the holes and help the integrity of the structure. The wood it's constructed from is not very thick, I didn't check but I'd say half inch so you can't go cutting holes in it willy nilly. I may take my digital calipers to it this next week just to satisfy my curiosity as to thickness.

 

[RoseHawke]

Welp, went by Tractor Supply this morning to pick up feed, and checked out the chicks as per usual (no, I didn't succumb!) and I did see that they've got the Cinnamon Queens in with the bantams so that's one thing absolutely verified. I suspect they may all come from the hatchery like this and then they just stick 'em all in one bin.