Chicken lodgers

My chicken adventures began with taking care of my neighbor’s chicken when she went on vacation. I would release them from their coop in the morning, ensure there was sufficient food and water, and through various stratagems get them back in their coop late afternoon. My neighbor provided the food and I kept the eggs as reward.

My barn came with an old coop on the side. Both were damaged when, during a storm, an adjacent tree somehow managed to relocate itself on the barn roof.  I removed the tree with tractor and chains and repaired the damage.

 

The inside of the coop had been gutted so I installed an interior partition for the chicken – you can see a recycled white door forming part of the partition.  Also I located in Georgia a nesting box fabricator and  visited and purchased from him the 6 hole nesting box seen mounted on the partition wall.  As shown, the coop is fully enclosed and has a small exercise courtyard beyond the partition – sounds like a prison but the inmates are sequestered only during the night and, I like to believe, are happy with their lot.

I erected a fence adjoining the coop for their day exercise yard. If you look at subsequent posts you will see how I fastened criss-crossing yellow rope to the tops of the fence posts to deter aerial predators.

Chicken residents

After hosting my neighbor’s 6 chicken for 2 weeks without incident, and receiving an average of 4 eggs a day, I took the plunge and acquired 8 week old chicks – 2 Buff Orpington (one of which is a rooster), 2 Speckled Sussex, 2 New Jersey Giants and 2 Golden Comets -see the Comets below. Initially the group ostracized the Comets and I had to provide a separate feeding tray for the Comets but, as the Comets have grown and since they are smart and quick, the group has accepted them. Egg bearing and early morning rooster calls are still some weeks away.

See “Chicken” category for more posts on the chicken especially details on the construction of the new chicken coop and chicken coop door opener.