Spring Plans that will probably never happen

[lilmillefleur]

Spring is in the air...and we all know what that means!
Spring chicks, spring coop cleaning, and best of all spending more time with your flock!

There are a lot of little tweaks and changes I want to make to our coop/chicken keeping experience, so I made a list today of everything I wanted to do.
My dad's a fix-it kind of guy, so in the past, he has done most of the coop building. I've helped him, but I've never done a project entirely on my own. I'm not very strong, so I can't lift heavy coops or stacks of wood very well. It's even hard for me to use a screwdriver!!
However, my dad has a lot on his plate for this spring and summer, other projects he wants to work on. So I've made the decision that I will try to do everything myself this year--I've got some time on my hands. Some of the things on my to-do list are as follows:

- Deep clean the coop - remove as much poop, dust, and cobwebs as humanly possible
- Staple in new hardware cloth in the henhouse to replace crappy chicken wire
- Do check-ups for the chickens' health - nail trimming, feet/feather washing, etc
- New feeders and watering systems - DIY PVC pipe feeder and drip waterer (heated?)
- Chicken-sized run door for free-ranging so the sheep don't wander into the coop
- Get a roof for the chicken run to keep it drier and shadier
- Repair the chick brooder and prepare for new chicks!

 

[H-B-O]

My to-do list

1# Start a breeding program

2# Get a girlfreind (Haha just kidding....*Sighs*)

3# Expand Coop

 

[lilmillefleur]

In the meantime, here's some pics of my flock. I've got 10 hens right now, and they all have names, of course.
Here's Basil, my bantam cochin, and Cricket, my marans. They are both young, almost a year old now. As you can see they are super curious and fun!

Here's Dottie, the Wyandotte. She's a batchmate with the other 2. She is also very outgoing.

This is Millie. She's friendly and she loves to fly up in high places. She is a silly millie.

Here's a pic of some of my other birds. From front to back those are Lolly and Polly the d'Uccles, Buffy and Oreo (both deceased, RIP), and Summer the Easter Egger bantam in the back. Lolly and Summer are both around 3 years old I think?? While Polly has got to be at least 7 years old by now. She's the most affectionate of our chickens

Here's Snickerdoodle and Sugar Cookie in the old coop. Sugar, the rooster, we had to give away because since we have 2 houses, we aren't able to collect eggs every single day, so sometimes the rooster would fertilize an egg, a silkie would sit on it...and then we'd end up collecting half-developed eggs
Snicker is about 2 years old now.

I don't have pictures of the other 2, but one of them looks like Oreo, her name is Peppermint. There's also Penny, who is a bantam welsummer.

 

[Byrd gal]

Deep clean coop
Build a new run roof
Decorate run
Fix coop drainage
Try not to buy chicks

 

[Lemon-Drop]

Deep clean coop
Build a new run roof
Decorate run
Fix coop drainage
Try not to buy chicks

I have a feeling that last ones going to be hard...

 

[lilmillefleur]

My to-do list

1# Start a breeding program

2# Get a girlfreind (Haha just kidding....*Sighs*)

3# Expand Coop

That's a good list. Even the girlfriend part.
I am really wack in that regard though--I actually managed to get a boyfriend, despite all odds--and then I realize I'm actually aromantic and asexual--which basically means I don't feel attracted to anyone in that kind of way. I just see him as a friend but he keeps telling me all these sappy things.
Idk. Maybe I'm a late bloomer, but I know there are a lot of people out there who genuinely don't want a romantic relationship and are fine with that. So I guess I'll wait and see!
Anyway, I'm literally hijacking my own thread.

 

[H-B-O]

In the meantime, here's some pics of my flock. I've got 10 hens right now, and they all have names, of course.
Here's Basil, my bantam cochin, and Cricket, my marans. They are both young, almost a year old now. As you can see they are super curious and fun!
View attachment 2587296

Here's Dottie, the Wyandotte. She's a batchmate with the other 2. She is also very outgoing.
View attachment 2587300

This is Millie. She's friendly and she loves to fly up in high places. She is a silly millie.
View attachment 2587308

Here's a pic of some of my other birds. From front to back those are Lolly and Polly the d'Uccles, Buffy the bantam brahma and Oreo the silkie (both deceased, RIP), and Summer the Easter Egger bantam in the back. Lolly and Summer are both around 3 years old I think?? While Polly has got to be at least 7 years old by now. She's the most affectionate of our chickens
View attachment 2587302

Here's Snickerdoodle and Sugar Cookie in the old coop. Sugar, the rooster, we had to give away because since we have 2 houses, we aren't able to collect eggs every single day, so sometimes the rooster would fertilize an egg, a silkie would sit on it...and then we'd end up collecting half-developed eggs
Snicker is about 2 years old now.
View attachment 2587309

I don't have pictures of the other 2, but one of them looks like Oreo, her name is Peppermint. There's also Penny, who is a bantam welsummer.

My flock not all have names but i have over 100 soooo

 

[Lemon-Drop]

These are on my list... some are already done.
Clean chicken coop (done)
Move chicks to garage (just did that about 10 minutes ago)
Deep clean feeders and waterers
Clean old brooder
Decorate coop (any ideas)
I really want to do some DIY stuff for the chickens... any ideas? Please?)
Maybe figure out drainage so it’s less muddy.
Wash Mochi, our silkie bantam.
integrate new chicks to flock.
Any other ideas?

 

[lilmillefleur]

I always love to stop by tractor supply to see the baby chicks. Today I got to watch a new shipment come in! I talked to a nice older lady who was going to buy chickens for the first time. There was also another lady there with a young boy who were watching as well. I could have sworn she was a BYC'er, the way she went on about her chickens and showed a picture of her easter egger (which was her LOCK SCREEN) to the other lady

Must....resist.....purchase.....

The turkeys were particularly cute. I want some now. Just. LOOK at Them!!!

They also had bantams in back, the nice manager guy said, but the bantams didn't tend to do well in the new brooders for the first few days, despite the lowered heat plate. So he said he would wait a few days to put them in. No bantams today

But, we can always come back next time! >: )

 

[Lemon-Drop]

Also, just went out and locked the chickens in for the night... one of the hens was sleeping on the ground. It was a GLE named Minnie. Is that normal? Also, came up with a new idea for plans... since we just got 7 more chicks, we will have 13 chickens in the coop. I think we need another roost, so I’ll probably add that. Any ideas for how to build one? This is my current coop setup:

Thanks in advance for any ideas!