Sal's New England Chick Condo

[WingsysRoost]

Your flock is beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Sonflowerjoela]

Just wanted a journaling spot to share photos and updates of our flock. I'm a new chicken mama, living in a quaint New England "city" with my husband and kids. I am also a care-taker to my elderly in-laws (one of whom has alzheimers) and work full time from home, so the flock is a little bit of peace, entertainment, and respite in my day. I like to write, I take an excessive amount of photos, and I enjoy sharing, if you enjoy it too, you are welcome to be here (and share your flock too!)

This is our coop and run: You can read all about our build in this other thread.

View attachment 3160054View attachment 3160055

Here is the little flock when they were tiny babes in a brooder in my livingroom, each member of my family got to name one.
View attachment 3160056

As far as we know, they are (in order L to R): A Wellsummer, Buff Orp, Easter Egger, Lavendar Orp, Ameraucana, Speckled Sussex, and Silver Laced Wyandotte

They are now about 8 weeks old, and living in their coop full time. Brandy, Tammy, and Eloise have proven to be the friendliest of the bunch thus far. They will regularly hop on a lap or shoulder for pats. The others are slowly getting more comfortable with their humans, but will only come close for treats.

A few pictures for now:
View attachment 3160092
Mr. Sal - the builder of this incredible coop and run, enjoying some time with his ladies. No hats or shirts were harmed (aka: poo'ed on) on in the making of this photo.

This is how the girls wait for me to let them out in the mornings!
View attachment 3160095


Little Eloise being a floofy marshmallow chicken in my daughters hand.
View attachment 3160098

Checkin' out their new coop for the first time!
View attachment 3160097


Sweet Brandy-girl taking a lap snoozer.
View attachment 3160096

Coop sweet coop!
View attachment 3160115


One day I put a lawn chair in the run and sat in there with them... they all came over and snuggled up under me. Mr. Sal called me the Mother Hen.
View attachment 3160094

And just a few weeks after they moved into the coop, they put themselves to bed, and even roosted... So proud of them!


View attachment 3160093

Thanks for letting me share, and thanks for all the great advice found here! I'll share updates soon!

Just wanted a journaling spot to share photos and updates of our flock. I'm a new chicken mama, living in a quaint New England "city" with my husband and kids. I am also a care-taker to my elderly in-laws (one of whom has alzheimers) and work full time from home, so the flock is a little bit of peace, entertainment, and respite in my day. I like to write, I take an excessive amount of photos, and I enjoy sharing, if you enjoy it too, you are welcome to be here (and share your flock too!)

This is our coop and run: You can read all about our build in this other thread.

View attachment 3160054View attachment 3160055

Here is the little flock when they were tiny babes in a brooder in my livingroom, each member of my family got to name one.
View attachment 3160056

As far as we know, they are (in order L to R): A Wellsummer, Buff Orp, Easter Egger, Lavendar Orp, Ameraucana, Speckled Sussex, and Silver Laced Wyandotte

They are now about 8 weeks old, and living in their coop full time. Brandy, Tammy, and Eloise have proven to be the friendliest of the bunch thus far. They will regularly hop on a lap or shoulder for pats. The others are slowly getting more comfortable with their humans, but will only come close for treats.

A few pictures for now:
View attachment 3160092
Mr. Sal - the builder of this incredible coop and run, enjoying some time with his ladies. No hats or shirts were harmed (aka: poo'ed on) on in the making of this photo.

This is how the girls wait for me to let them out in the mornings!
View attachment 3160095


Little Eloise being a floofy marshmallow chicken in my daughters hand.
View attachment 3160098

Checkin' out their new coop for the first time!
View attachment 3160097


Sweet Brandy-girl taking a lap snoozer.
View attachment 3160096

Coop sweet coop!
View attachment 3160115


One day I put a lawn chair in the run and sat in there with them... they all came over and snuggled up under me. Mr. Sal called me the Mother Hen.
View attachment 3160094

And just a few weeks after they moved into the coop, they put themselves to bed, and even roosted... So proud of them!


View attachment 3160093

Thanks for letting me share, and thanks for all the great advice found here! I'll share updates soon!

your coop and chickens ar beautiful!

 

[sals_chicks]

Time for another update!! Long overdue - a LOT has changed!!

The OG flock and I survived our first winter together unscathed, complete with 3 arctic blasts, and a lot of snow! The few times it dipped down to -40F for a few days, the ladies came inside the basement to a makeshift coop, and did just fine! Unnecessary? Maybe, but they seemed grateful...

After things thawed out, and spring came around, 5 new additions showed up from Meyer Hatchery! It's been fun having babies again! Here's a recent shot of the newbs. They are still in the integration process - visible but not accessible just yet. Some of the OG's are still being jerks though, sneaking an occasional pinch through the fencing, but so far it's going pretty well otherwise... The beard on that salmon fav is nothing short of completely majestic.

The spring also brought about the newest project - the brand new chicken yard. Husband started calling it Fort McFeathers, and that stuck. So, of course I had to paint a sign to make it legit.

The chicken yard is about 700 sq ft of "safe space" for them to be during the day, complete with hardware cloth and hawk netting. We aren't allowed to free range in our city, so this is the best we can do, and so far they seem pretty satisfied with the extra space in addition to their attached run and coop. We still have a bit more tinkering to do with the netting, but so far the chicken yard had been a GREAT addition to the setup. They also have access to a larger fenced in backyard area shared with kids and dogs, but this space is all theirs.

I have plans to add chicken safe plants, some shade panels, some stuff for hiding and roosting, and maybe an outdoor dust bath too... What would you add?


I can't say enough happy things about our eggs. These girls are working full time, and are producing gorgeous healthy eggs that my family is enjoying on the regular. We are so grateful for this sweet reward to our efforts. We have not purchased store eggs since December 2022, and even enjoy giving some away to neighbors and family!!

I can't wait to add even more color variety when our new girls start to lay!

Of course, it's not all rainbows and butterflies over here - it is work too. 5 out of our 7 OG's had a case of bumblefoot that is still receiving treatment... Regular soaks and wraps seem to be working well for us. And fortunately my ladies seem to enjoy the extra spa time.

I do believe we are encountering some mite issues as well, so treatments for that will begin shortly! I know problems are inevitable, so we just take it one day at a time and do our best to help the flock! Here are a few of them enjoying some fresh cantaloupe:

When the big girls are off enjoying the backyard, the littles get to run around the new chicken yard, and they LOVE it. Watching them torpedo around crashing into things is so fun... crazy birds.

And just some gratitude for this guy, without him, none of this would exist... I've helped a lot, but he is not only willing to build me this crazy backyard, but also seems to enjoy it! Love him...

 

[TwoCrows]

BEAUTIFUL grounds AND flock! Thanks for sharing!!!