Moving day for newly built coop!!!!

[MIChickandGuinea]

That must have been fun!
Uhg.....I need to clear a couple shed roofs today.
We have about the same amount of snow here near SH/SJ.

It was certainly some much-needed post-Christmas upper body exercise.
We drove past SH/St.Joe last night on our way home from Wisconsin!

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

OK. Very happy chickens. Straw out on the snowy ground in their run. Deep, fluffy, dry litter in their cozy house. A heated base waterer, which keeps the water from freezing. The ladies are flying up and down from perches and shelves quite easily (there was some concern about whether there would be room for them to fly, and they are managing it from the lengthwise direction, as well as the much shorter widthwise direction). They are laying eggs in the nest boxes even though I haven’t yet installed a fly-up perch in front of them (I do still plan to).

 

[JudysMuscovy]

View attachment 1220490 View attachment 1220491 View attachment 1220492 OK. Very happy chickens. Straw out on the snowy ground in their run. Deep, fluffy, dry litter in their cozy house. A heated base waterer, which keeps the water from freezing. The ladies are flying up and down from perches and shelves quite easily (there was some concern about whether there would be room for them to fly, and they are managing it from the lengthwise direction, as well as the much shorter widthwise direction). They are laying eggs in the nest boxes even though I haven’t yet installed a fly-up perch in front of them (I do still plan to).

I love your new chicken coop - great job to you and your dad. I am sure the chickens are very happy in their new home.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

OK - Spring has sprung (approximately) and the ladies weathered the winter really quite well in their new coop. I did deep litter and only did two partial clean-outs - meaning I took a few shovels of litter out right under the roosts and replaced with fresh litter, and stirred everything up to bring fresher, cleaner litter up from the floor). When I did the BIG clean-out a couple days ago, the floor was dusty - meaning my coop stayed dry!! We didn't have time to set up the extension pen before snow fell, so I've only just gotten to that. I have also put our old coop at the end of the pen so that we can also keep some bantams for pest control. Lots to do still - I still need to actually make openings in the pen and connect them to the coops. And I have plans for easier feeding and watering for the summer months. And perch remodeling for both coops ... and ... and ... and ... But We're getting there! Today's big project has been tilling, raking/grading, and seeding the ground all around the coops because I caused so much chaos while leveling ground for coops and pen. I gave up on making things tidy with just a shovel and rake.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

Also, so glad someone on here

recommended a clean-out door while we were building!! This makes things ssssssooooooo easy!

 

[aart]

Does one person need to hold the door up while another drives the tractor?

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

Does one person need to hold the door up while another drives the tractor?

For now, until I install a hook to hold it open.