Tag Archives: chicken coop

Chickens. Can’t live with ‘em…

So, I spent the last year raising my four lovely hens. We started out with three and added the fourth later.

The beginning

A couple weeks later

The girls when they were three weeks old.

Batman begins building the coop and run.

And Hermione makes FOUR.

The chicks move into their new home.

A small foreshadowing of what was to come (in terms of yard desolation)

The chickens and the kitty.

Sure! They do eat bugs. AND EVERYTHING ELSE!

The first egg.

Cute little chicken-themed items and some thoughts on keeping chickens in the house.

The first snow.

The second snow and this time the amount was more than a couple inches.

Now that it has been basically a full year, I have decided I’ve had enough of the joy that comes with having chickens in a small yard. I love my chickies. I really do. I love the eggs. But then there’s the list of what I don’t love; chicken droppings in multiple piles all over my back deck and even on the chairs and tables *shiver*, utter desolation where once there grew green lush plants like hosta, bleeding heart, hydrangea and *sobbing* peony (these silly birds even ate the roots of my peonies!). They’ve even decimated the lawn. I’ve had enough.

We are giving the girls to a friend who has a yard about four times the size of mine. I think they’ll be quite happy there and they’re just a few blocks away and I will have visitation privileges. ha

So, the adventure of having chickens has been fun but I’m really ready to have flowers and a pretty yard again.

Bring on spring!!

The birdies have left the building!

Rejoice with me.

I couldn’t resist scrawling a little color on the poor thing.

The girls are happily stationed in their new home and I have cleaned out the old one (an enormous box in the upstairs guest room) and will be vacuuming the 2 inches of dust eventually.    WOW  they made a lot of dust.   It was the airborne equivalent of silt.  Extra fine and everywhere!

 The girls have had to adjust to the harsh realities of life fairly quickly.   Our highs have only hit 60 since I moved them outside and the four of them have spent a good amount of time bundled together in the coop.

Between periods of sunshine they’ve spent most of their time inside.

Last night it rained continually.    I was anxious to find out if the coop was nice and dry inside, or if condensation had accumulated on the walls.  So I put on my Wellies and headed out there at 7:00am

It was dry!   I knew Batman had constructed a solid little home.

 If any of you are interested in venturing out to do chickens in your backyard I recommend two books;    Chick Days, Raising Chickens from Hatchlings to Laying Hens by Jenna Woginrich  This one is just the basics  but has great photos.   The other is  Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow.  This one is for the true chicken farmer but has all of the nuts-and-bolts information one will need even if only raising a few.   There is even a section on preserving eggs!  Directions on how to calculate the protein rations in the chickens feed, how to clean eggs for storage in the fridge, medical conditions to watch for,  etc…    If you only get one book  make it Damerow’s.   I borrowed mine from a friend but fully intend to buy it. 

All the birdies agree that the grass is their favorite place to hang out.

When it comes to a coop/run.  Building your own is a LOT of work.   Our total cost came to $225.00.  If we had purchased a pre-made coop (equivalent to the one Batman built) we would have spent anywhere from $350-$500.00.   We looked at some that were smaller and cost $400 – without a run.  So, building your own is definitely the way to go.

I decided to paint ours to match the house.  Also because we already had the paint.  HA.    I mostly wanted to keep it from being an eyesore for the neighbors.  As you can see in our photos, the fences around here are rather short.   I was used to those 8 foot fences in San Jose.   These took a little getting used to.

We’re supposed to have highs in the 70′s next week.  I’ll believe that if it happens.  *sigh*

How is your spring treating you?  Oh – I guess it’s actually summer now.   I couldn’t tell [note sarcasm].

Celebrating my 19th Mother’s Day. Whoa!

Nineteen times?  Seriously?  I still remember my first Mother’s Day quite vividly.   It’s a bit boggling to realize I’ve done this nineteen times.   Only OLD ladies have had nineteen Mother’s Days.   Don’t they?   (I’m joking, by the way).

Motherhood has been one of the most amazing journeys.  Nothing could have prepared me for the tremendous changes it would bring about in me.   Most of the changes are for the good.  Some of them were sobering  (like finding out how truly self-centered I am capable of being) some of them were hard-won  (like taking care of myself when I had pretty much let “me” get swallowed up by the gaping maw of endless need that is a toddler and young child).    Motherhood led me to home education.  Motherhood led me to meeting my dear friends Anne, Chloe and Susan

I wonder where I might have gone if Motherhood hadn’t created that fork in my road of life.  Who would I be now?    hmmmm    Doesn’t really matter.   What I do have is here  and I am satisfied.

Oh and I’m getting a chicken coop for Mother’s
Day.   Batman has been building it.

Oooooo.  Shiny!
frame of coop run

More to come!