October Coop News

Angitou and Emily opted out of the nest boxes today & made a nice little nest on the floor - some hens just think outside the box.

Chicken picture of the day: The humongo hen Carmen Maranda the Marans and her friend Maran the Marans hens hanging out in front of the nest boxes.

Emily the Silkie hen out for a walk. So hard to photograph this sweet little hen - she's black & her eyes are covered by fluffy feathers!

Courtney spent too much time in the rain & now she has dreads.

A New Hen Named Courtney!

The little white Silkie hen pictured here has lived the entire two years of her life in a children's book store, where she was loved by all who encountered her. Unfortunately, she pecked a toddler last week and for liability reasons, the store can no longer keep her. So now she will become a Hipster Hen. So, everyone, I'd like you to meet Courtney the Silkie hen. As many of you know I tried naming Snowball "Courtney" at first.  He was fine with that name until the day he decided he was a rooster—and from then on he complained bitterly until we finally came up with a more manly name for him.  Then we got another Silkie named Courtney this past spring – and when he turned into a rooster we returned him to the breeder, because we just had too many roosters!  It would be very, very unusual if it this two-year-old egg-laying hen were to become a dude.  So, I think we're finally good with the name. So happy to have this little girl join the flock!

Spring in the Coop

March 14:  This afternoon's project: I built this nifty set of nest boxes for the new coop out of scrap lumber & repurposed kitty litter containers.

March 18: Spring is around the corner. The snow is all gone except for this Snowball.

March 23:  Chicken Picture of the Day: Angitou the Golden Polish!  What a sweetheart!

The New Coop Progress and Other Stuff

Here are Betty the Easter Egger and Linda Leghorn relaxing on the roost.

Angitou the Golden Polish pullet thinks a John Deere tractor wheel is a great place to roost.

Jan 3 - The new coop is framed up. Hopefully with the holidays out of the way I can start to make some real progress on it.

Jan 17 - Snowball and Emily inspect progress on their new coop. It's going slowly - ran wire for lights today.

Jan 31 - Lights and heat are done. Walls are up. Still need door and insulation.