After my rescued cockerel outgrew his hutch, We converted the garden shed into a coop. Its nothing flash but its become quite a cozy little coop.
On the first of this month we went and picked up our new pullet, A Black Orpington, 5 months old. Not laying yet (Kind of a good thing, We havn't built the nesting boxes yet)
So my flock is ever so slowly growing, But I actually like the slow progress as it means I get to form a good relationship with them before introducing another newbie.
Planning on getting two or three more pullets, Then hopefully getting some chicks out of them and raising our own pullets, So we will have ones that we've had since birth and hopefully have a really good relationship with them. So excited!
Portia (Our new pullet) was having some trouble getting used to how things work around here, We kept her in the coop for about a week to learn it was home and then let her explore the back yard, It was her first time free ranging as she had been in a enclosed run her whole life, So it took her a bit to get used to it. Then came the issues of night time, We realised she wasn't going to put herself back into the coop, So I had to catch her each night, Which was a mission because she wasn't comfortable with me handling her yet.
We considered shutting her in the coop for another week or two until she was 100% settled but it didn't seem right. So we built a run around the coop (In the pouring rain I must add
The things we do for our birds eh!), Which was pretty easy considering it already has 3 fences around it and the garage in front of it. We put in a fence between the garage and boundry fence, A fence and gate between the house and garage and some chicken wire over the picket fence. Then we let Pete and Portia (Don't laugh at my name choices
) have free range of that everyday, Once they both started putting themselves into the coop at night from the run (Was only about 5 days) we started letting them into the backyard again, They're now pros and start making their way down the path to the coop at around 5 every night, By 6 they're snuggled up on the roost.
The run is going to be such a life saver when we introduce new chickens and when the weather gets worse (Heading into winter over here in New Zealand) they can just hang in the run on bad days so when the skies open up they can get back into the coop, Makes me feel so much better about Winter!
This is all a huge learning experiance for me but I think we're doing a pretty alright job, Especially with a breed we are completely new to, We had Shavers at the farm yonks ago but it seems like a completely different game now. I love having the chooks around and cannot wait for more. My Mom is inlove with Orpingtons and said we are sticking to that breed, But we can't decide what colours we want next, Or if we should stick to blue and black! Opinions welcome
Next on the to do list:
Get more pullets
Build the nesting boxes
Sorry for the massive novel, Heres pics of the converted coop and the run, I know its nothing flash but it works
This is looking out the front door, The run gate with the coop behind it
The run looking down from the coop
The coop
Pete wandering in from the backyard, Seeing if I brought treats! If you look closely down the path you will see a black cat, A black and white cat and Portia at the very back. I love my zoo haha
Pete, I think hes growing quite well?
Portia and Pete
Taken out of my bedroom window, I consider myself quite lucky for this
Sorry for the writing and picture overload!
On the first of this month we went and picked up our new pullet, A Black Orpington, 5 months old. Not laying yet (Kind of a good thing, We havn't built the nesting boxes yet)
So my flock is ever so slowly growing, But I actually like the slow progress as it means I get to form a good relationship with them before introducing another newbie.
Planning on getting two or three more pullets, Then hopefully getting some chicks out of them and raising our own pullets, So we will have ones that we've had since birth and hopefully have a really good relationship with them. So excited!
Portia (Our new pullet) was having some trouble getting used to how things work around here, We kept her in the coop for about a week to learn it was home and then let her explore the back yard, It was her first time free ranging as she had been in a enclosed run her whole life, So it took her a bit to get used to it. Then came the issues of night time, We realised she wasn't going to put herself back into the coop, So I had to catch her each night, Which was a mission because she wasn't comfortable with me handling her yet.
We considered shutting her in the coop for another week or two until she was 100% settled but it didn't seem right. So we built a run around the coop (In the pouring rain I must add
The run is going to be such a life saver when we introduce new chickens and when the weather gets worse (Heading into winter over here in New Zealand) they can just hang in the run on bad days so when the skies open up they can get back into the coop, Makes me feel so much better about Winter!
This is all a huge learning experiance for me but I think we're doing a pretty alright job, Especially with a breed we are completely new to, We had Shavers at the farm yonks ago but it seems like a completely different game now. I love having the chooks around and cannot wait for more. My Mom is inlove with Orpingtons and said we are sticking to that breed, But we can't decide what colours we want next, Or if we should stick to blue and black! Opinions welcome
Next on the to do list:
Get more pullets
Build the nesting boxes
Sorry for the massive novel, Heres pics of the converted coop and the run, I know its nothing flash but it works
This is looking out the front door, The run gate with the coop behind it
The run looking down from the coop
The coop
Pete wandering in from the backyard, Seeing if I brought treats! If you look closely down the path you will see a black cat, A black and white cat and Portia at the very back. I love my zoo haha
Pete, I think hes growing quite well?
Portia and Pete
Taken out of my bedroom window, I consider myself quite lucky for this
Sorry for the writing and picture overload!
