Bryan has spent the better part of his days off for the last two weeks working on what we now call "The Mansion."  That's right, The Ladies have a new home.

I convinced him in May we needed a new coop as our pre-fab coop was falling apart.  After all it was three years old and we all know pre-fab anything just doesn't last.  We used this shed coop design as our starting out point.  Bryan build all the walls and the floor when he had time over the summer.  But then as fall was getting colder we felt the urgency to get it together.

We modified the plans considerably.  Instead of a flat roof we built a pitched roof and we didn't build a nesting box that extended from the coop.  We put nesting boxes inside the coop.  We also built a food storage bin that also has the pine shavings bag in it.  That way everything is one place.

The front door is from Habitat For Humanity.  The windows, while not installed yet, I found in the trash.  They are old, but with shims will fit perfectly between the 2x4's.  I debating whether I need to get a heater/heat lamp for those days when it is below zero.  We will have an extension cord for the water dish so it would be easy enough to do heat.

The pre-fab coop didn't really have a roost so The Ladies never roosted.  Janis and Grace II roosted for a while in the big bush in the chicken run but the others never roosted even though there were places outside the coop to do so.  The first night I checked on them they were crammed two by two into the nesting boxes!  And then the lone chicken was cuddled next to two in a box.

We purchased a lot of the outside material but for everything on the inside of the coop we used recycled materials.  We saved all of our scrap pieces of wood and I even dug through the scrap pile at the construction site up the street.

I do plan on hanging some plants on the front of the coop like the one in the original design.  I'm thinking herbs in one and pretty flowers in another.  I'm not sure if we'll put shutters on it or not.  The next nice warm day we'll get the windows in.  I also think we need to insulate the roof  so that the heat that is in there doesn't escape completely.

And of course we'll get more chickens next spring.  Which is exactly what Bryan was afraid of!

The Barred Rock chicks we have added to our flock.   They are currently residing in a rubbermaid tub in the garden shed under the heat lamp.  We put them out in the shed because the dust the produce drives Bryan's allergies crazy.

I have been on the fence about getting more chickens.  I wanted more and we have enough space for them in the dog run.  I was worried about the coop.  We put together a pre-fab coop last summer and I couldn't remember how many it held.  The man at the feed store said six, so I figured we'd be good at five.  At least until I can convince Bryan we need to build a bigger chicken coop!  But because I hemmed and hawed for so long about getting more, the feed store where we bought our ladies last year was out of chickens.  And the feed store closest to us goes through them so quickly that I had to call every day this week to find out when they were getting their shipment.

I can't wait for these to little fluff balls to join our little flock!  I just hope I can be patient during the chicken integration period !

I knew they were small eggs, but when I compared it to the store bought egg, it was amazing to see how small they really are.

I have since put more pine shavings in their nesting boxes and made a little "nest" with little Easter egg decorations (that's all I had) in the hopes they will start laying in the box like good little chickies!

This week I wrote my first guest post!  Kind of exciting for me.  I stumbled upon Colleen's blog Five Little Homesteaders while I was perusing the posts from The 52 Project.  She is an urban homesteader in Phoenix.   She asked me write a post on our pre-fab chicken coop.  I call it Ikea for the chicken set because it reminds me of furniture from Ikea that is not pre-assembled.  It's a good thing she didn't give me a deadline, I certainly would have not met it!  Here is the link to my guest post. 

Have a great Tuesday!

Joni on the edge!

The ladies in their new home

Now they have room to spread their wings.  I have found a pre-fab chicken coop (think IKEA for the chicken set) on Amazon that I like and will purchase in the next week or so.  It's still been too cold for them to go outside yet.  They are in their awkward teenage years and don't have all of their feathers yet and it was 7 degrees last night.  Ideally I would like for them to be in their permanent home by May 1st.  It's good to have goals!

I may have jumped the gun on the whole chicken thing.  My inner voice has run the course of "I am out of my mind" to "I can totally do this."  They are a week old now and are living in a tub in the spare bedroom under a heat lamp.  We have no outside housing for them yet.  Nor do we have any idea of what sort of housing to build them.  I was thinking a chicken tractor.  Bryan was thinking something more permanent and stable.  He's afraid that a predator will get them and then I'll be a basket case (and there is probably something to that).  Of course I don't want anything to happen to them.  The cats are curious.  Henley is oblivious.  And Buffett wants in that room so badly he can almost taste them through the door!

I have no idea about raising chickens.  While I did grow up on a cattle ranch in Kansas until I was eight we never had chickens.   I guess I'm sort of expecting to learn as I go.  My dad has a friend who has said I can call on him if I need and there is always the internet.   I was relieved that they made it through the first night in our house.  I just don't want anything to happen to these little fuzz balls that will make me doubt my chicken raising abilities.  And I don't want my peeps to say "I told you so."

Right now all I can say is bring on the chicken adventures!