Life in the Fire Swamp

Final Chicken Coop/Run

Here it is all fleshed out.

You can see all the stuff I'd mentioned previously, plus all new fancy clear corrugated roofing not only on the run's sloped roof, but also on the coop.

You're supposed to dig down and create an "underground fence" at both sides and bottom so varmints don't burrow under and swipe yer chickens (thanks, Sarah for that tip). Our ground is soooo hard and rocky I just was NOT gonna do this. So instead, I trapped corrugated metal siding underneath the framing for the run...extending out from udner it just a hair on all four sides, and then trapping it some more with big cinder blocks all around which also lock the whole structure in place a bit.

Once the metal flooring saw trapped in and the cinder block built up on the sides, we filled the whole thing with about 8" of idrt for them to scratch in and keep them above water level when outside during the wet, wet winters here.

How to Eat a Live Chicken

Observe. Learn.

Chickens Week 11

Yes, I'm skipping over a lot of boring stuff here...the growth cycle becomes a bit more gradual after five weeks. But here are a bunch of really well done (if i do say so) "art shots" of the chickens at week 11.

You can now clearly see not only the color differentiation between Brahmas and Orpingtons, but also the red, leathery wattles and combs just beginning to come in. The Brahmas' "bell bottoms" are pretty much full-fledged at this point.

Goat Feeders-cum-Chicken Housing

Just for perspective, here's what WILL be the chicken coop "proper". What this used to be was a feeding station for our goats: it kept the alfalfa off the ground so it wouldn't rot or get wet, and kept the portioning under control so each goat got it's own alfafa "leaf" each day. The two arches are on doors that connect in the middle with a latch and swing open to the outsides.

I'll be keeping the doors, but sealing the arches other than some chicken wire covered ventilation holes. This will be the most impenetrable part of the chicken fortress: the area where they will sleep at night and lay eggs. All doors close and lock to create a solid plywood box safe from coons, skunks, possums, etc.

Off the front of this thing I'll also be building the "run", which is also sealed off from predators but has chicken wire sides so they can run around outdoors during the day when we're not around, and at dusk when we are but there's also enemies about. The run will also have a human-sized front door for getting in to change food and water, etc.

And here's a couple shots of those sides to the chicken RUN in-progress. Build first and then raised Amish-style.

Two Weeks, One Big Difference!

Here's a skip-over of week 4 development (no time to take pics that week!) and you can see that they suddenly look a whole lot more grownup in size and...um...texture?

They're getting a little big for the watermelon box at this point and as I begin to construct their permanent coop, Ranbow occasionally takes them outside and lets them pick and scratch at the lawn inside these recycled chicken wire cylinders I'd previously constructed to keep the goats from eating our fledgling hedge row along the back fence.

Awkward Adolescent Chicken Time

Here's week three and the visual weirdness starting to begin: a mixture of pin feathers (unopened feathers all rolled up into little hard tubes) with the original down, bald spots, etc. Gangle creatures.

Peepers Week 2

Right now I'm publishing these all after-the-fact just to catch up and get everything up to speed...not publishing things as they happen in true blogger fashion.

Anyhow, here's week two chicken pics. I should mention that we got two each of two different breeds: there are Buff Brahmas which are the ones that have some black in them, and as they get older you'll see them start to develop an overall rust (buff) color and distinctive black-and-white checkered heads, wings, tails, and bell-bottoms. Tee all yellow puffballs will become Buff Orpingtons, which are just the straight-up rust color all over when grown up bur VERY floofy.

Both breeds lay plentiful and large-ish eggs apparently, which is part of the reason we picked 'em over some other distinctive-looking breeds out there that lay shitty eggs.