Chicken TV has healing powers...

Our daughter has croup. She's spent the last 3 days miserable in bed. I made her get up and get dressed yesterday so we could go to the doctor. When we got home for the evening, I pulled up my favorite outdoor chair, a Tiffany blue mid century cutie, for some quality chicken TV. Lu curled up on my lap while we watched the chickens discover that their coop door was open. As they clucked around in the yard, Lu got up and started slowing following them around the yard until Barry stood still long enough to be caught. This was seriously the first smile I'd seen all day...

And of course, my favorite chair:

P.S. Chicken TV is best watched on a warm spring evening with a full glass of wine...

Finished coop

Please GOD don't buy the coop we bought. Definitely a "you get what you pay for" situation. This thing is a TOTAL piece. Of poo (to clarify). We're going to spend all weekend reinforcing all the pieces that BROKE during construction, including the door. We're also planning on adding some corrugated plastic to the top for aesthetics...

Here she is:

Elinor (Brave) and Barry (I've been informed it's with an A) romping in the yard..

End result with stain and outdoor paint:

Took a total of about 5 hours with 2 pretty smart guys putting it together. The screws were all the wrong lengths, there were no words on the instructions and the materials are crap. The wood kept splitting and we had to use wood glue and clamps to fix the door after opening it only a couple of times. Nothing is level. But until we have the budget to splurge on something fancier this will do.

We predator proofed it by burying chicken wire (hardware cloth would be better, but home depot didn't have it. Weirdos.) about 3-4 inches under the dirt. It goes about 3 inches into the coop and then protrudes about 14 inches out from each side of the coop. Good thing too since our neighbor's dogs seem uber curious about what's happening back there and have dug all the way under our fence. That's a whole different beast. Literally. To see how we started our deep litter method on the bottom, please check out the Coops and Poops post from March...

The chickens don't know to go upstairs for the evening, so we're trying to teach them. Luckily they're not sleeping in their nesting boxes, just laying below their roost, all snuggled together in the corner. The first few nights I didn't put their food and water up there for night time, but I moved it up last night since the door is broken and they won't have as much free time as normal. It's also dipping into the low 30's tonight, so I figured they didn't need to be out tomorrow in the predicted snow showers. So they'll have everything they need in their little lofted coop. So far, so good...

How do you know if you have a rooster?

I can tell you. Why? Because we got one.Yes, Maggie May, our easter egger, is a freakin' rooster.

1) He's WAY bigger than the other girls hatched the same day.
2) He's always been an ass to everyone and the other hens.
3) He crows. LOUDLY. (this started around 8 weeks of age).

Luckily we bought from a farm that will take returns if you get a rooster. So it's back to the chicken swap this weekend!

Toodles Maggie May...

Chris Farley

3 years ago we adopted Chris Farley. AKA Farley, for short. He's a Bernese Mountain Dog mixed with a Newfoundland. He's 100 lbs of pure love. He was a rescue dog. We "rescued" him from a loving family who lived on an actual farm in Nebraska. Why were they giving away this ball of furry awesomeness? Because he was eating all their chickens. In fact, his behavior report said "awesome dog, as long as you don't have chickens."  So there's that....

Hot Chicks!

We did it! We found our chickens. We went to the Denver Urban Homesteading Chick Festival and picked out 3 little winners. We ended up on compromising between a newly hatched chick and an older bird. We chose 4 week old chicks that are just about done with their heatlamp phase and can move on outside whenever it stops snowing in Denver.

We chose 2 Easter Eggers, which we've been told will lay eggs the color of their ears (yes, chickens have ears) and 1 Barred Rock (known to be a great egg producer).

Meet Elinor, the Barred Rock:

 Maggie May: Our Easter Egger #1

And last but not least, Strawberry Manilow (Aka: Berry) our tiny Easter Egger.

Let me start by saying. Chickens are nasty. They're messy and rude. I keep trying to replace their bedding chips and they thank me by promptly kicking them out of their cage. I bring them fresh water and they poop in it. However. They are fun. The kids love holding them and checking on them, which is happening frequently today since we have some sub-zero windchills at the moment. They're very loud when they're unhappy. They've been snuggled up by their heat lamp all day and when we try to hold them, they flip out because they're cold. It's a good way to learn about the complaining that chickens do.

They also eat a ton. We had a gallon baggie of feed and we've gone through half in 3 days.  And, they drink almost an entire mason jar of water every day. We've been checking on them about 3-5 times per day, which is recommended at this age. So be sure you have the time!

And! They're already establishing their infamous "pecking order". Maggie May is the biggest, and therefore, the bossiest. Every time we take Berry or Elinor out to hold, (and we're trying to hold them frequently so that they're used to being handled by the kids. Makes for more kid friendly hens) upon putting them back in their pen, Maggie attacks them with pecks, feathers spread. It's kind of hilarious. And Sul-train, my almost 7 year old, scolds her and tells her to play nice with our friends.

So now what? Now we build our coop. Of course this is Denver, so it was 70 yesterday, 7 today and should be in the 60's by Friday again. So that will be one of our weekend projects. Stay tuned for photos of the side yard transformation to our soon-to-be-awesome chicken garden!