Friday without the Fotos.

This is normally Foto Friday but because I posted so many pictures on Monday I thought today we would just talk about what is going on in Chick-land.

End of school year activities, the assortment of projects we have going on and the weather have made this a difficult week to work on the run. Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful and with all of the rain the soil should be easy to work. Sarah's ballgame is early so after that we should be able to all pitch in and get it erected so the girls can be outside and play in their own yard.

The chick we call Neked Girl is no longer neked. =) She is growing in all of her feathers and is looking quite beautiful these days. I am thinking we should change her name to Cinderella or Cindy for short. She is a sweetie and is always one of the first to greet you at the door.

The first big no-no happened yesterday. The girls got their eat on and ran out of food in their feeder. When we went to check on them in the afternoon they were not happy birds. Once they had food it was a riot of sorts, they were all over each other trying to get to it. We had to put some of the feed in another area just for a bit so that they could all eat without killing each other. After they had their fill, they seemed to feel better and be happy. They started spreading out and coming to socialize with us and play.

There is one chick that is a mess! Unlike the others that peck at you in a curious way or in a sense to say hello, this one pinches you. She grabs your skin and twists. She bobs around like a boxer when you try to pet her, she bows up her chest at you and if you gently push her away she will run back at you like she is going to take you down. It is too funny to watch her but the funniest part is when I pick her up to love on her she immediately calms down and starts making those sweet little cooing noises. Once I put her down and start talking to another chick, she gets jealous and puts herself between us.

They all have such great personalities. I am so pleased that Zelda is calm and easy going. She and Daniel really seem to click. He has a lot of sensory issues, but Zelda is soft and doesn't peck or flap around when he holds her. It is almost like she understands him and was meant to be his girl.

We have been researching some plants and bushes that we can plant in and/or around the run to give the girls treats and shade. There are some definite issues here, such as, we can't have anything that will be toxic to the girls and doing things in a way that they will not kill it. We have found some great ideas and will do a post on this a little later.

Last but not least, now that the girls are six weeks old, we have changed them from starter feed to a starter/grower. When they are about 10 weeks we will change over to a grower/finisher until they are about 20 weeks and then move on to a layer feed. They are growing and looking great so I guess we are somewhere on the right track.

Have a great weekend and maybe I will have pictures of the new run up soon.

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.