Moving Day!

Due to my husband's MS symptoms, it has taken us a while to get the chicken house done but I think it turned out great. Hopefully we thought of everything. We still need to get the nesting boxes done but they still have a bit before they need those. The girls finally got to move into their new digs yesterday and seem to really like it. We will work on their outside run this week and they should be able to use it by next weekend. Everyone is pretty much fully feathered, the one we call Nekked Girl has really started to fill in her feathers and she was the last one.

Here are some pictures of the coop and the moving in of the new occupants.

We used an existing shed that had been used as a tack room. The walls and floors had many gaps and it was pretty drafty. My husband gave it a new floor, interior walls, new door and a window. We used flashing behind the interior walls to protect against mice.

The chicks have a funky shaped window. If you can tell it is hinged to close from the bottom. The window is on the South side of the building which should allow it to be open most all of the time. The barn is to the North of the building so that should help with heat and cool.

The girls have a cool door all of their own, that when opened will latch up on the outside.

There are possibly temporary roosts in the corners. If you notice at the bottom, Paul put in baseboards to protect against gunk getting in any cracks between the wall and floor. This should make it easier to keep clean.

Here it the other corner with a single roost. This is the wall where the nests will go. There will be six nesting boxes.

The interior of the house is about 6 1/2 x 9 1/2, which I think gives the girls about 2 to 2 1/2 feet of space each.

We used wire fabric to cover the ventilation spaces between the walls and roof. We also made a metal box around the light and plugs for safety. You know, in case a wild chicken party goes on and someone decides to fly to the light.

The front corner where the girl's door is.

The other front corner where the human door is. We put two latches on the human door for extra safety. You can see the litter board and the door is raised to allow it to open above the litter.

Here is the coop with the litter and hanging feeder and waterer in place.

It was time to move the girls into their new house. It was a family event.

Some of the girls were not so sure about the move so Sarah climbed in to get them out of the carrier.

Daniel socialized with them so they would feel comfortable in the new digs.

Then he decided to give one a bird's eye view.

We hung out with them to make sure they found the feed and water. One was more interested in Taylor's shoe. But they eventually all found their way to the refreshments.

In the end, they seemed very happy. Zelda is roosting as the highest chicken in the house, which means that all is well in Chick land.