Moving Day!!!

After the Saturday morning group bike ride, I came home and set to work at finishing the Poultry Taj Mahal (aka my version of the Catawba Coverticoop).The inside of my house is covered in fine sawdust, and the chicks are do big I'm sure they were feeling cramped in the brooder box that had been home for almost six weeks.

And, about dusk, it was pretty much done. Complete enough to say "Girls, you're outta here!"

The coop is designed as a lower run with a ramp up to the roosting/nesting area. The clapboard sides are removable for ease of cleaning.and moving (they weigh a lot). Likewise there are two end panels for the run, so I can get underneath to change the food and water, and so the girls can have access to free range in the yard. The upstairs is wired for electricity, and I had both a 100w bulb and their 250w heat lamp turned on for warmth on a chilly evening.

Getting the girls into the coop was a challenge. They didn't want to leave their happy spot in the yard..  Getting them upstairs was a whole other level of challenge. I finally had to gather them into a plastic bin,  take a side panel off, and put them upstairs by hand.

 by the dawn's early light

I'll tell you that about 1am I was worried that the heat might be cranked up too high, and that I would have baked chickens in the morning. But fear not - they were fine and seemed quite please with the new digs.

This morning I went out to the roost, cut off the electric and hung the feeder. I figured they'd be out of there as soon as I lowered the ramp. Wrong! Two cups of coffee later and no chickens. Sleeping in, I guess. I ended up pulling a side panel back and putting each of them on the ramp so they could hopefully have a clue.

Today I'll prime the exterior, and make one or two small modifications, but mostly I think I'll clean MY house!

what? you're kicking us out?

When they get to be a little closer to egg laying age I'll put in a MP3 player with speakers in the nesting boxes.