Chicken Wranglin'

I decided to take the boys and the dog outside so that we could all work together to catch the chickens and put them up in the shelter.  Since they are bird brains they need someone to show them what to do.  Well it worked.  Wesley and Henry were very good at yelling at the chickens from the outside of the coop.  The chics would hide underneath the shelter.  Then Henry or Wesley would yell, "Get out of there you chicken!".  Bigsy, the dog, would just put the fear of the chicken God in them, they wouldn't go anywhere close to her location.  I would then try to keep her behind the shelter so the chicks wouldn't go underneath it to safety (away from us).

Once the chickens were flushed out from beneath the shelter they were easy pickings.  I would catch them then put them into the shelter.  They were very happy once in the shelter.  There was one escapee, the last one to catch, that managed to escape out of the coop.  Those little chickens are fast, but I was able to wrangle it and put it in the shelter.  Fortunately Missy held Bigsy or it would have been a blood bath.

I also started painting the coop.  Next entry I'll upload a photo of the coop fully painted.

Chickens are in the Coop

The chickens have spent their first week in the coop.  The first night was the hardest (for me).  The chickens did not understand how to climb the chicken ramp into the shelter for the first week, so they just huddled in a corner over night.  Hence I did not sleep well the first night.  I just kept waking up imagining that a raccoon had gotten to them.  Of course they were just fine in the morning.

Now that they have spent a week in the coop a few of them have figured out how to climb the ramp into the shelter.  But they aren't smart enough to sleep in the shelter yet.  They'll get the hang of it shortly.


Here are a few new pictures.  They really seem happy with their new home.

Henry and Wesley inspecting the chickens.

 Henry and the chickens

The chickens wondering what to do with the ramp.

The chickens really seem to enjoy there new home.

"The Coop will be quite operational when your chickens arive"

I have finished the coop!  Although I still have to paint it and do the trim work in a couple of areas but it is move in ready for the chickens!  Tomorrow will be the big move in day.  I'm excited, the chickens will be too.

Below are pictures of the coop, enjoy.

All finished!  Just needs paint and a little trim on the corners and around the windows. 

 The access door to the enclosed area is on the back and the run's access door is on the left.

 The doors are open in this view.  All of the doors lock (and you can put a padlock on them) to help keep out crafty predators such as coons and opossums.

 Another view of the run access door open.  Look closely and you can see the chicken ramp into the shelter.

 View from the front showing the run, chicken door (open), ramp into the shelter, and the run access door open.

View from the front with the chicken door closed and the run access door closed.

 Inside the shelter area.  You can see the three nesting boxes below the window.

The roosting bar is at the top of the shelter area.  I figure the chickens will roost on the top area of the back wall and the rooster bar (which is just below the back wall).

 Another view of the shelter area.  You can see the nesting boxes on the right, the chicken access door on the left of back wall and the roosting bar a couple of feet above the nesting boxes and chicken door.  

 In this picture you see the nesting box access door below the window.

 Now the nesting box access door is open.  This will allow for easy egg collection.  The door also locks and can be padlocked to prevent predator theft and keep out unwanted humans.

  The nesting box access door in action.

I hope you enjoyed these pictures.  Next ones will have chickens in the coop!

Breaking News

Henry's chicken "Climber" has fulfilled its naming prophecy!

We went out to lunch and low and behold to our surprise, when we got back from lunch "Climber" was out of the brooder and on the garage floor hanging out.  She must have jumped through the top front of the brooder where there is a small gap of about 2.5 inches.  Just enough for a chicken to get through.

Fortunately she was easy to catch.  She didn't run away from me, she just stood there patiently and waited for me to pick her back up.  Luckily no broken feet either.

I definitely need to finish the coop.  They must need more room than the brooder provides.  I might take them outside to run (one at a time) so they can get more exercise.   I'll let you know how that goes.

New pictures and video of Gummy and Friends

I thought I would take some close up photos of the chickens and Gummy.  They are all doing well, nothing new to report.

Stay tuned for new coop pictures.  I will be attempting to finish it this weekend.

Skeeter or Weezie 

Don't look at me! 

 Gummy is on the left.

That's Gummy.  Notice he is redder above his beak (that's where his comb will come in). 

They say the color of their ears will be the color of their eggs.  What do you think?

New video below.  I was attempting to get Gummy to react to the camera.  But he was a bit shy.  Although there was another chick who took an interest in the camera, this could be trouble (2 roosters?!).

Them chickens are get'n big

I really need to get the coop done soon because the chickens will outgrow their brooder within a couple of weeks.  They have lost almost all of their chick feathers.  Gummy is still aggressive and he has a redder color above his beak where his Comb will come in.  I think he will be a rooster although I'm not positive that will be his fate.

The coop is looking good!  The roof is now on.  Just paint, shingles, trim, doors, chicken wire, nesting boxes, and a few more things and I'll be done (one weekend project... yeah right).

Lots of feathers on the feat. 

 Curious little creature.

There is no escape. 

Gummy is facing the corner.  You can't see his comb, but the others are a light pink above the beak.

Weekend 2 of construction

It looks like I'll only be working on the coop today, so all I could finish is the run framing and part of the roof.  I would have put the roof on too but I just ran out of steam for the day.

 right side

left side

It's just a really big bird house when you think about it.