Drag Me Out!

The first two weeks of December had some days for the record books.  We started the month with some pretty good winds arriving from the south. While not the most fierce winds we have experienced. The wind had already knocked over my PVC pipe greenhouse a day or two after Thanksgiving. Those south winds brought in a lot of warmth and some rains. But one week after Thanksgiving (which was late in November this year), an arctic front flew in from the north and turned our weather upside down for this time of the year!  You can see based on our regional weather records that our temps went from the low fifties (F) down to almost five degrees above 0!!!  That's pretty darned cold around here. 

Here's the local weather chart for the first two weeks of December.

Day	Date	Hi	Lo	Wind Avg	Wind Gust
Sunday	12/01/13	53°	46°	11.4 mph	26.0 mph
Monday	12/02/13	49.9°	35.4°	4.9 mph	15.0 mph
Tuesday	12/03/13	39.8°	26.5°	2.2 mph	11.0 mph
Wednesday	12/04/13	35.1°	22.9°	3.8 mph	7.0 mph
Thursday	12/05/13	30.3°	15.6°	5.1 mph	15.0 mph
Friday	12/06/13	27.8°	21.5°	8.4 mph	18.0 mph
Saturday	12/07/13	26.3°	11.4°	5.6 mph	12.7 mph
Sunday	12/08/13	27.4°	5.7°	0.6 mph	4.6 mph
Monday	12/09/13	27.7°	9.3°	1.0 mph	4.6 mph
Tuesday	12/10/13	34.1°	23.4°	0.3 mph	3.0 mph
Wednesday	12/11/13	42.5°	19.5°	1.5 mph	8.1 mph
Thursday	12/12/13	39.8°	22.8°	1.0 mph	5.8 mph
Friday	12/13/13	44.2°	37.9°	0.3 mph	4.8 mph
Saturday	12/14/13	41°	33.3°	1.2 mph	8.1 mph

This was quite the test for our Four Little Russian Orloffs! 

I think we did almost lose them one night.  We had been using a 75W red heat lamp all night with a 40W white light coming on at 4:00 a.m. each morning. But as the nights just kept getting colder, the guys thought we should, perhaps, use the 250W red heat lamp (Saturday the 7th). Well, that was just too hot inside the coop and the next night at dusk, the four girls adamantly refused to be cooped up! At 8:00 p.m. the guys changed back to the 75W bulb, but still, the girls refused to go up.  Finally, at almost 11:00, I went outside in my bathrobe to try to entice the girls to go up into their coop with some mealworms. I was able to get three up there, but one, as hard as she tried, kept falling over. At that point, it was only 14F and I think she was too tired and cold to make the trek up the cold (now slippery) ramp.  I had no choice but to crawl into the pen, under the coop, scoop her up and push her up the ramp. I had already been out there for 20 minutes trying to Chicken Whisper them into the coop. My fingers were starting to feel frost bitten with that achy burning. When I grabbed Orange, aka Little White Wings,  to help her, she actually felt colder than my hands, so she had to just be freezing at that point! That next morning, the temps had dropped down to a little under 6F! I doubt that any of them would have survived outside that night, even huddled together.

We also think that some of the issue is the loss of ramp traction for the girls.  During the cold weather, the ramp has basically turned into a slide, especially in the mornings.  The skateboard grip tape isn't working in the cold. I picked up a couple of wooden yardsticks to cut up and staple onto the ramp. That new traction has been accomplished today and we will see if it helps Orange get up that ramp on her own power. 

So, for the rest of this last week, I've been helping Chicken Wrangle.  On Tuesday night, I ended up having to crawl into the somewhat muddy/poopy pen to chase down Red who had shooed Orange into the back corner.  Of course, Red, being the feisty one, was not happy with me trying to carry her out of the pen.  I ended up getting stuck as I was  backing out on my elbows and my knees, firmly holding Red with both hands. I got stuck just inside the pen's door and so D grabbed my feet to help pull me out of my stuck position. Finally, got Red into the coop and had to head back in to get Orange. It was a lot easier getting out with Orange since she's not so wiggly and squirmy. But, the ground was not yet frozen for the night, and I was a bit of a mess, by that time. Friends were asking me where the YouTube of this feet pulling event could be found online.  Um! Ha Ha! We don't have Night Vision Cameras for this potential Funniest Home Video :)

The rest of the nights, the three "big" girls have made it up the ramp on their own. Orange will make a half-hearted attempt to go up but seems to prefer to have me reach into the pen and either push her up the ramp or slip her into the coop's side door. What a silly little game. They all wait for us to get out there to insure that little Orange will have help, then they proceed to go to bed and wait for that day's Orange solution.

When we had the freezing temps and the wind-chill factor, we watch the girls' combs and wattles for frost bite.  Nothing yet. Their wattles are fairly well protected in their neck feathers and their combs are basically just slight little red bulges on the tops of their beaks.  Their feet seem to be holding up, also. 

I'm really hoping that the ramp's new ruler traction does the trick. And, if the girls try to use the ramp as a slide tomorrow morning, they are in for a very rude bum thumping on the way down!

The First Four-Egg Day

Yay. Four chickens and four eggs laid today!  Obviously, our pretty little Orloff girls were a bit slower to develop into full blown egg layers than some of the other breeds. We adopted them on the 3rd of May, they had to be at least a week old by that time, and while it was apparent that two of the girls were older (based by size) it was still way longer than 20 weeks to egg production, for all involved.  

This last chicklet didn't start laying eggs until (at least) 29 weeks of age!  Her eggs are darker, as well.  While still beige in color, the eggs are a deeper hue than the others. 

We have had a lot of wind, 20-30 mph with 50 mph gusts, the past week with temps in the 30s and wind chill into the teens and twenties. We don't have a lot of protection from the wind for them since their coop gets moved twice a week.  There is no way to buffer the winds in each new location. They have the ability to get into their coop during the day, but choose to stay outside at long as there is light outside. The coop is well protected from wind and rain. I do have a canvas panel though, that I could try to wrap around the pen on windy and rainy days (sideways rain) but they don't like things that flap around so that might be more stressful than useful. We will just play it by ear to see what/if anything else needs to be attended to, as we head into the winter months. 

Cold Nights and Warm Eggs

While the girls were a little slow to actually start laying eggs, they now gift us with at least 3 eggs every day, rain, shine or freeze. The temps have dropped down below freezing the past few nights and we are still receiving the gifts of 1.5 dozen eggs per week.  They seem to have no problem leaving their coop on the frosty chilly mornings. So, given the year we seem to be having, selecting the Russian Orloffs was a good choice.  But that's the nature of our area. Even when the temps are not yet freezing, our east winds create a wind chill factor that routinely drops the feeling of the air temps down into the 20F. But the girls truly don't seem fazed by the cold winds. It's all good and the eggs are great!  

We do still have a small heat lamp in the coop that comes on at dusk and turns off at dawn. So they have a little extra warmth at night, just in case. Then, we also have a 40W white light that comes on at 4:00 a.m. to add that extra little boost of light for them in the mornings. By 5 pm, it's totally dark here, now. So they really are only getting about 13 hours of light per day, but they are still laying. That's pretty good :) 

Fake Light and Real Eggs

Another of the girls has started laying eggs as of today. A little more than two weeks ago, one of the girls began laying eggs, but none of the others were so inspired. After some more "research" I realized that we just really were not getting enough sunlight during the day. I hope we have that part fixed now.

Today, I found a smallish, slightly blood smeared egg early in the morning, and another egg arrived around 10 this morning. It would appear that we now have two layers in the group.

Last Sunday (October 12) I added a small 40W bulb, on a timer to turn on at 4:00 a.m. in the coop. I set it to be on from 4 to 7:30 since some of our mornings can still be quite dark even after the sun comes up.

Essentially, this is week 26 for the girls. And my guess is that we just needed to add a little extra light in their day to activate their pineal glands for egg laying purposes.  Hopefully, this will do the trick and all four will be laying eggs soon enough.

Twenty Plus Weeks Equals Eggs?

Although, at least two of the chickens hit their 20 week point on/around September 13, I'm guessing that the other two had to be 20 weeks old around September 29. Yet, the eggs did not arrive until October 1. Or should I say "the egg."

I'm not sure if they were just confused because the nesting box had not been "finalized" yet, or if they are simply slower to mature (likely it's the latter). D divided up the nesting area into two smaller boxes on September 29, and two days after doing that, we were gifted with our first egg. Since then, we have received one egg per day. Cute little beige eggs that are getting larger each day.

As soon as the egg was discovered, we switched the feed over to Organic Layer pellets and added some ground oyster shell to their food to help encourage healthy egg laying. Hopefully, the other three will join in soon to contribute to our egg supply.

We had a series of events over the past few weeks that may have contributed to the egg delay, as well.  A little more than a week ago, around September 21, we had a pack of coyotes chasing a dog through our property.  I'm sure that this was stressful to the poor chickens since it was stressful for me hearing all those coyotes cay-yie and yelp in such close proximity to the house. Then, the week before, we were having water issues (heavy rain drain) leaking into the coop and drain into their feeder under the coop. We also had sideways rain, adding to the feeder getting drenched.

We purchased a waterproof army tarp to cover the coop and keep the heavy rains out (the floor is staying dry).  I think this will also help keep the coop warmer at night. We purchased some plexi-glass panes to create a wind shield on the door and also attached it on the side of the wire that the feeder is closest too.  Interestingly, the girls seem to like the plexiglass.  It provides shield and light for them, as well, while they are in their "yard."

Despite the heavy torrential rains that we had last weekend (we had record breaking rainfall last weekend), the girls stayed outside (in their yard) all day, each day. We have been moving their coop a bit more frequently since the rains have added to their quick destruction of the ground. Thankfully, we have plenty of areas to move their coop.

D is still working on the watering system.  The waterer has not worked out like he envisioned, but he continues to tinker with it each weekend in hopes of getting it to work.

That's the latest news.  The pictures of an egg and the nesting boxes are below.

Big Girls Don't Honk

As you can tell, it has been more than a month since I have posted anything. Partly because I have been busy with a lot of other things, but also because I have been waiting for some "good news" on the upgrades. First off, all the girls are big now. They are starting to sound more like chickens too. All except the one which sounds more like a goose. I think it's Blue, but I'm not really certain since they all kind of look the same now.

The first two photos are the girls approaching me to see what I'm doing.
July and the first weeks of August were hot, so I picked up some "sunscreen" for the girls. No more sun bird... uh, I mean, sunburn. haha
Their feathers are incredibly beautiful! They almost remind me of a mini Bald Eagle feather.... and they definitely are everywhere.
This is the new feeder system, below and above. A double decker feeder using PVC pipe and plant saucers. Hopefully, this feeder will be less "buoyant" as the girls tend to knock the other feeder all around as they fly by.
The girls have sauntered back to the other end to check on me again.
Another pix of the girls and a pix of the new watering system in the making. It's still not done, but it is going to have an auto fill system built in. It is still being tested and developed. If it doesn't work, we have another idea in mind.
	This last photo is one of the girls peeking at me around the edge of the coop, as if to ask "Whachadoin?"

As you can see, we have all been busy and the birls, I mean girls, have been growing. :)

A week of fireworks and other concerns

Darned Fireworks!  Not actually on our property, but, all around us for the past week (plus), we've been hearing and seeing fireworks literally every night. This totally stresses out the chicklets!  They are way more hesitant in the mornings to leave their coop, but they eventually do ramp down for the sunshine and fresh air. They do love their dust bath area. They do love their mealworm treat at the end of each day. They definitely are ramp trained to go into the coop each evening now as soon as they see their people.  Even when it is not evening, and I'm just working on finishing up a few things on the coop, Red or Blue marches up the ramp to check out what is going on up there. Red has become considerably more trusting, at least with me. And gradually is settling into her routine with the others.  She and Green seem to be best buddies.

Little peep and Green are getting their face feathers now, and it is becoming more difficult to tell them apart from one another.  There are a few distinguishing factors, but very minor.  I may pick up some ankle "bracelets" to help keep them identified. Or not.  I'm kind of torn on this idea.

It is interesting to see more predators on our property.  I don't know if we are just "noticing" them more because we are worried about the chicklets or if it is because there are more predators on our property and interested in our chicklets. In the middle of the night, the coyotes definitely sound like they are crossing "on" our property more this summer rather than off in a distance.  I'm torn on the idea about putting a monitor in their coop.... do I want to be listening in on chicken talk all night?

Speaking of Chicken Talk.... D asked a good question that I have yet to see in any of the backyard chicken books.... when do chickenettes start sounding like real "brack bracks"?  They are going into 11 weeks of age now and still they sound more like little peepers than the real deal. Granted, they are still young pullets, but they don't look all that young anymore.

A Groupon Kind of Day

It's hot and windy today.  I don't know if it is actually as hot as yesterday, but it is pretty warm and the wind offers no relief, even in the shade.  Yet, the chickens seem to want to group together, I'm assuming to try to shelter each other from the wind? Red and Green were first to settle down next to the pan then Blue and Orange nuzzled in to the middle. 

Rub-a-dub-dub Four Hens In the Tub

It's the first day of July and it is another sweltering day for our region. Humidity was especially heavy today, and the chickens were feeling the HOT!  Even in the shade, the poor girls were walking around with their beaks open and their tongues bopping up and down.

L suggested that I find a squirt bottle with some cool water.  Spent about five minutes shooting a mist of water into their cage.  They actually seemed to appreciate this cool down.

In the meantime, I was drying out some sand that I had purchased from the hardware store to put into their dust pan.  Since we are continually moving their housing over pasture, they really don't get an opportunity to create a dirt patch for dust bathing.  I noted this morning that Red was doing a lot of scratching with her toes around her neck and chest.  I read up on how a large kitty litter pan can be used as an alternative dust bathing area.  The sand in the bag was moist so we had to spread it out on a flat surface (cardboard) in the sun to get it dried first.  Then I poured about an inch of sand into the pan (about 12" by 26" by 4"). I added about two cups of DE over the sand and we slipped the pan into the cage.

D expressed concern that there was no Momma hen available to teach them how to use it. We decided to just watch and try to coax them over to the pan, at least to reassure them that it was "OK."  At first they stayed a long way away.  After about five minutes of us sitting near the end of the cage with the new pan in place, the girls decided that it was time to investigate.  Green was actually quite cute.  She approached one end, wrapped one set of toes over the edge of the pan to seemingly test to see if it would support her weight. She leaned inwards over the pan bringing her other foot up and then jumped in to the pan and quickly jumped right back out.  Blue walked all the way around the pan several times after that and seemed to verify that it wasn't going anywhere. Red and Orange stood back to watch the whole scenario. After Blue finished her inspection, Green came back and hopped in.  Blue attempted to walk on the edge of the pan, but realizing that it was too narrow, opted to hop in and out of the pan before deciding that the sand in the pan might contain some food. Then all four chickens were in the pan pecking at the sand and investigating the possibility of some food.

Eventually, Green laid on her stomach/chest and started kicking and scratching at the sand, then stretching out her wings and flapping them until she was covered with dust, head to tail.  The other three were still busy pecking at the sand when Green hopped out, totally bathed in dust. But, eventually, the other three took turns taking a dust bath, and hopefully, feeling so much better, afterwards.

I realize now that they will need at least another inch of sand in the box to make it easier for them to create a bit of a valley in the box to make it easier for them to coat themselves.  I had read online, that it is best to have their dust bath far away from their food, and now I can see why that's important!

Update - These photos were taken the next day and it was a bit too hot for them to really get into rolling in the dust.  Some of them did play in the sand, though.

1. The Box with two inches of sand plus DE. 
2. Finished checking on the contents of the box.
3. Feeling sand between her toes.
4. Blue and Red competing in the sand.
5. Blue Wins.
6. Green burrowing into the sand.
7. Shifting positions before getting out. 
8. Orange taking her turn in the sand
9. Stretching out for a preen.
10. A full out preen of the tail feathers.

How We Move The Girls' Coop

If you thought my last photos were blurry, well, these are even more blurry! Sorry 'bout that. Nonetheless, I think you can make out how we move the coop based on this series of photos. We currently have a power cord running to the coop for the 75 watt red lamp to help keep it warm at night while our evening temps are still kinda cool and two of the chickens are not fully feathered.

Before moving the coop, we brought the wheel barrow up to one side and dropped a lower flap onto the wheel barrow.  Ultimately, after a variety of different styles of brooms and shovels, we decided to just use a hand broom and dust bin to clean out the shavings and pooh.  The pooh really isn't too bad with the shavings in the coop and since we also use food-grade DE (diatomaceous earth) in their shavings and food.  We sprinkle a tablespoon of DE in 2 cups of food, and liberally sprinkle DE over their coop shavings.  There are several benefits that we noted right away when we started doing this.  It was suggested by a vet, and after trying it, I believe in it!  It helps minimize mites/lice in their feathers when they have an opportunity to lay in it (or even dust bathe in it) and in their food, it helps with their digestive system, cuts down on intestinal worms and firms up their pooh, making it easier to clean up.

1. Placed the round pole under the front end of the coop base.
2. From the back, lift the coop by the nesting box and start pushing forward.
3. Have a second person in the waiting to move things out of the way.
4. Have that second person balance the front once the pole is near the half-way point.
5. The pole pops out the back after moving the coop the full length (8 feet).
6. The coop in its new location and the chickens can now rest for the night.

The advantages at this point of using this method to move the coop is that it involves very little lifting, the wheels can't get stuck in the mud (which we tend to have a bunch of that during the rainy seasons) and it doesn't involve a whole lot of muscle to move it the full distance. When we are done moving the coop, we can lay the pole along the side that has the most "dips and valleys" and fill in other low spots with cement pavers and heavy bricks.

End of the Month Update on the Little Miss Orloffs

The chickens are close to 2 months old now.  Blue and Red are still larger than Green and Orange. Blue and Red's faces are now filled with feathers and looking more mature, but Green and Orange are not too far behind now. Based on the lack of saddle feathers on any of them, I am assuming that they are all young ladies.

Earlier in the week we had torrential rains and 60 degree (F) weather making for a miserable muggy start to the week. By Thursday, things were drying out and warming up. Now the temps are in the 90s (F) and we were a bit worried with the extreme weather changes so quickly that the peeps would be having problems.  Yet, they seemed fine today.

With the design of the coop, the girls have plenty of shade all day long. The young un's are feasting on all types of ants, spiders and flies that haphazard into the pen/run.

Here are some pictures from today showing the way that we finished the ramp up into the coop as well as where we ultimately hung the feeder to keep it dry during the rain storms.

I apologize for the blurries.  A few turned out well enough that you can see the feathering on the faces of Blue and Red. The first two photos are of Green.  She tends to be the least camera shy. And, by the way, that "second eye" on the second picture is actually the ear hole to the right and slightly below her eye... LOL.  It is the way her feathers are coming in that makes her ear look almost like an eye :)  (My apologies for not cleaning the ramp before the photos.... But, it is a chicken coop, after all!)

Hawkeyed, Ramp Trained & Solsticed

We had three hawks (two full grown Red Tailed Hawks and one smaller [about half the size]) circling over the coop today!  We were out on our deck trying to rig up a portable greenhouse for the poor tomatoes when I spotted the first hawk with a wing span of about four feet across circling just above the tree line of the nursery trees (about 15 - 20 feet tall). One by one, the hawks circled for about three minutes before moving on once they realized that they had no easy access into the run and humans were nearby. The chickens were totally in view of the hawks, so I'm guessing that the peeps could also see those big soaring chicken eaters in the sky!

The chickadees have finally figured out the ramp.  After my "training" the other day, and then D did some additional training yesterday, they have it all figured out. When the rain storm hit us today, they wasted no time scurrying up the ramp and skooting into their nice warm nesting box to snuggle together.

There has been almost a half inch of intermittent rain early this morning and today. I noted a few saturation points in the coop along the base of the doors.  So I picked up some more rubber weatherization to add to the floor around the doors. Remember, the other day, the rain totally filled up the feeder with water (making a delightful soup) which wasn't too appealing to the chickens. The feeder is now hanging from the middle of the coop floor "joists" and despite the rain blowing in from a variety of different directions today, the feeder stayed dry. 

I must say, that it certainly does not feel like we are having 17 hours of daily sunlight this week. The cloud cover today has been so thick, it basically looks like the Sun already set an hour before actual sunset (in 10 minutes) and twilight is simply "no light" at this point. A very disappointing summer solstice. I just hope summer weather shows up soon!

Just Some Glitchy Chick Stuff

I don't think I remembered to mention last time that the chickies are exiting the coop via the ramp, but have not yet figured out that they can go back into the coop on the ramp. Hopefully, based on all that I have read, they will figure it out eventually.  

Also, the one thing in looking at the layout of the dual doors, we are going to have some "glitchy" issues when ever the coop is moved.  Since we are not moving the coop onto nice level ground with each move, the doors may not open well, overlap at the edges from time to time, and they can be pulled away from the frame by about two inches in the center, if there is some overlap issue going on. That's one reason why we think using cabinet magnets will help minimize some of the "gap" issues. What we are trying really hard to prevent is a rodent/weasel invasion into the coop itself. 

The ramp is glitchy too.  It rubs a bit on a support piece making it difficult to get it to rise all the way up.  D feels that he can cut the ramp off a little to get it to bypass that support piece.  

Another issue is the access opening for the run.  If a person needs to get into the run, there are no handles inside the frame of the detachable door to pull it into place from the inside to prevent a chick escape. I picked up a medium sized brass handle. L should be able to install that when it warms up.  Hoping that will do the trick. 

One of the good things that we did at the onset was to weatherize around the doors on the tops and sides plus put the "lip" on the bottom-edge of the upper door so that rain will run off over the bottom door.  It worked well during the rain storm last night. 

We cut a long branch off the oak tree for the chicks to use as a perch in the run.  They have yet to figure out how to use that.  We have not yet installed the roost in the coop.  They still huddle together under the light, so I don't think that a roosting area is needed.

At this point, instead of wheels, we are using a tall round (4" diam) wood fence post for the purpose moving the coop across the yard.  Think of it kind of like using a lever and a round fulcrum (a moving axle?). The post is placed length wise on the ground under the 2x4s of the coop's base and while the post is under the  base frame of the coop, using the nesting box to push the coop over it until the post pops out the back end of the coop. I'll try to take a photo the next time we move the coop. 

Last, but not least.  If you wonder where the inspiration came for the creation of the A-framed Coop de Run, D saw it on Ana White's blog.  She apparently built/had it built as an inexpensive temporary space until she could build the permanent structure.  The modifications that have been added to ours is a larger floor area, a very solid nesting box for two with outside access (this box can also be used to move the coop), and eight weatherized doors.  The floor space inside is about eight square feet with plenty of area for a couple of roosting bars (down the center) about four to five inches above the floor.  There is also space for feed and water inside the coop.  One other helpful feature is the ramp that can be pulled up at night. With the floor lower than the original plan, the ramp is not too steep. Instead of using dowels or rungs for traction on the ramp, we picked up some grip tape, like slip-resistant coating use for wheelchair ramps and on skateboards for a flat surface that's not slick, even in the rain. 

Noah? Where's That Ark?

The rain finally came late in the afternoon.... I mean R-A-I-N mixed with a smidgin of hail.  

It was getting really dark out about an hour before the sun goes down, and it was getting cold.  There was some sprinkling happening throughout the day, but we really didn't get the rain that had been forecast for the day.  On the other hand, with the darkness encroaching so quickly, I took the opportunity to try coaxing the peeps up the ramp with some egg yoke. It worked... after I just about crawled down the ramp topside down! Little peep was the bravest and once I got her going, she scurried up the ramp into the coop, with Blue and Green right on her tail. Red held back, half way up the ramp, waiting to see what I was going to do.... I closed up the top doors and talked to her through the screen for a few seconds, reminding her that the other three were going to finish up all that egg if she didn't hurry up.... She actually hesitated for just a moment longer then forged on up the ramp for her share of the egg delight. I pulled the ramp up into place, locked up all the doors and made certain that the light was on. 

Not more than 30 minutes later, the heavens opened up and we had about a half inch of rain in less than half an hour.  We were scrambling to get the tomatoes covered and were worried about the electrical cords that we have plugged in for the heat lamp. After the first deluge, hubby checked the electrical situation and I checked the coop.  I was happy to discover that the coop appeared to be all dry inside!!! At this point, I feel fairly certain that this design will work well for our weather. But time will tell.  I picked up some cabinet magnets that we plan on using to help secure the doors a bit better, as an addition to the heavy latches that we installed, in the event some varmit tries to pop open an edge of one of the doors. Also, we get some pretty strong winds out here, upwards of 75+ miles per hour in the fall and winter months. So hopefully, the magnets will help prevent the doors from "puffing up" with the wind gusts, as well.

On a different front though, we are going to have to rethink the food situation.  Their feeder totally filled up with water. Obviously, we will need some way to protect the trough from the rain. Back to the drawing board on that.

Chicks in the Run

The baby chickens are in the run today and already enjoying the worms, ants and bugs.  Since it is still cold here at night, we have put the lamp into their coop until they are all fully feathered. Picked up some standard water and feeder containers that we can hang in the run for now and the larger chicks have already figured out the ramp. The smaller chicks are less certain so we may need to get into the run to get them into the coop at night. For now, I think the finished coop will work and the next few projects will involve putting wheels onto the thing and getting some easier feeder and waterer situation set up.

Coop d'Etat

Today's Paint with final paint and finish tomorrow. Father must work on Father's Day to get his chicklets in their coopdom.

	The nesting outside, inside and from inside looking into the coop. The rest are of the coop from a variety of angles.