Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[cheeka]

almost there! i still need to properly attach the coop. this pic doesn't show it, but there is a strip of heavy duty vinyl across the top for shade and some rain/snow protection. i have netting to cover the entire enclosure, but i might need help to put it up... i had a hard enough time getting the vinyl up there...
i have chunks of maple trunk on the back right corner, sitting on top of the skirt of hardware cloth, because the inside corner looks like it will be a nice dust bath, so i need to protect that corner!!!!! my fingertips are numb.
the windows that can be seen, cannot be opened, the one on the left goes to the "work room", aka the cat litter room, and the one on the right is the back wall of the attached garage. so no problem having them right next to the house, if i get lazy... i still won't smell it...

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Wow that looks great! You can even put roosts in there for a jungle gym, and you can see your chickens from the house. Now I have to go through my pile of pipes and see what I can use...maybe crank up the welder...I wonder if it would work for hardware cloth...I'm getting inspired. I don't think mine was round, but square would work...even thinking that would work to keep chickens OUT of my garden and double as a greenhouse.....excellent. oh hey, my friend died this morning around ten am....I kinda figr talking with his nurse....but, he had been ill for awhile before this, and last week he had given me his good game hen, who, btw, does not like my remaining mature roo, not even a little bit...at all....so tonight I will be bringing home a new roo, from my friends best buddy...they have quite a few chickens,..and he's a looker too. Maybe I sound somewhat cavalier about this, but I really believe he is better off, it's the ones left behind that are missing out. He would want me to be happy and not dwell on pity and grief, even though, I will miss him! Alright, back to my projects!

 

[cheeka]

I'm sorry to hear about your friend. I feel the same as you, it is those who are left behind that have to cope and keep living. the keep living part is the key. Our loved ones would not want us to forget to laugh and remember the better times. my family is a bit peculiar, we all have living wills, we don't have funerals, we have memorials that are more like parties. and we all get cremated.

the enclosure is this " close to being finished. the apple crate coop is in position, the opening has to be made and stitched shut... and a few more pieces of maple need to be rolled over and put on the skirting.
The gang is inside, happily jostling for space on the roost in the little coop, and tomorrow, i will add more roosts in the dome. the one that's there, sort of suspended, is an experiment. they seem to like it, so a few modifications will be made to make it more permanent... there's more pics in an album on my profile page, but here's where I called it a night:

 

[Wishing4Wings]

ACW So sorry your friend has passed. It's nice that you have one of his hens, kind of a little legacy.

cheeka You are truly multi talented - a poet and a structural engineer! Do I see chickens through the top coop window?

 

[cheeka]

ACW So sorry your friend has passed. It's nice that you have one of his hens, kind of a little legacy.

I agree wholeheartedly!

cheeka You are truly multi talented - a poet and a structural engineer! Do I see chickens through the top coop window?

tyvm Wishing4Wings, I have to credit my Mom for the poetry ability, she would encourage me and help me with writing, especially poems from the time I learned how to write... and I've been told I would've made a great occupational therapist with my ability to take something and turn it into something else... and... YES, that's my gang that you see in the top coop window! the RIR's were very very interested in the nesting boxes that are in there... so

maybe I'll have eggs soon! they will all be 18 weeks old on Friday
3 days of back breaking, finger pinching work, but it was soooooooooo worth it! (1 more day to go... to get the "apple coop" attached, and all the rest of the maple trunk moved over... that stuff is HEAVY!

 

[cheeka]

I need to put something up for a snow baffle, and to keep snow away from the auto door....hmmm...need some ideas.
I plan to use small rectangular hay bales, place them in a row along the side of the dome and place another row on top and another row... like steps, helps that it's dome shaped... but that will give me pretty good drift protection. i stuck this enclosure in the corner of the back of the house, it's completely protected from West wind/weather, which is the predominant force around here... the only wind they'll get is if it's blowing from the North, but i'll block the North side when Autumn is drawing to an end, the East facing side is what you see in most of the pics, and the wind never blows from East to West up here... but that's where the "hay steps" will be anyway come Winter..

 

[okallthis4eggs]

ACW....sorry about your friend

cheeka.....great job, great idea, and you made it happen. Good for you. I bet your hands are a mess from the hardware cloth. That stuff is brutal to work with
The peace of mind will make it well worth it.

EIGHT

EIGHT......another perfect day. (secret.....its the pie)

 

[cheeka]

Because Dad is so great
We lay for him eight
He thinks it's the pie
(shhh please don't tell him)
But we cannot lie
(instead, tell Dad that we love him)
It's the life we live
It's our purpose to give

(But for Dad we'll sure try
So we get some more pie!)
..............

.......

....

.

....

.....

.......

....

 

[aoxa]

Reading your guys' stories about the odd places your birds lay reminded me of a post from a friend of mine about her notorious egg hider, Hermione.

http://heedleyshens.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/hermiones-at-it-again/

 

[cheeka]

Reading your guys' stories about the odd places your birds lay reminded me of a post from a friend of mine about her notorious egg hider, Hermione.
http://heedleyshens.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/hermiones-at-it-again/

what a very clever hen! that is priceless!