For the last month I’ve been in full-build mode, getting everything set up for chickens. I actually picked them up on July 6, so I had to have some place ready for them… so it was a bit of a scramble.
Here are some of my progress pictures.
The first 8 in their Babymoov tent in the front room. (Keeps the dust confined and stays warmer for them).
This batch of straight-run week-old chicks are 4 Black Copper Marans (lay very dark brown eggs) and 4 Wheaten Ameracauna hens (lay blue/green eggs). Upon watching them further over the past few weeks, I believe I have two hens and two roosters of each. Time will tell.
The second 8 (one’s on the roost above) in the new coop upon arrival.
This batch is ‘supposed’ to be all hens, sexed at the hatchery before shipping. 4 Black Copper Marans and 4 Whiting True Greens out of Murray McMurray hatchery in the US. (I did not import them, but purchased them from someone local who did). They were five weeks old when I picked them up. After watching for the last few weeks, I suspect that one of the WTGreens might be a rooster. As I said earlier, time will tell.
- Completing the coop structure and the inner fence (to hold chickens in).
2. Finishing up the outer electric fencing (to keep other critters out – it currently reads at 6000V all around).
3. Fixing up the feed bin (old freezer that stopped working – keeps rats, mice and squirrels out of the feed, although I have seen a very bold chipmunk hanging around).
And dividing the inner area into two (I’m going to need another coop so I can provide 2 ‘breed’ pens if I want to sell hatching eggs or chicks). The one coop I made is definitely not big enough for 16 birds.
4. Fixing up larger feeder/waterer, so they don’t have to be filled every morning/evening.
All 16 birds are now together in the enclosure and spend the night in the coop. Right now the older ones are on the roost and the younger still in a corner on the ground. There is very little scrapping. I think they have figured out their pecking order, although there is one bully of the olders that sometimes bothers the others. But mostly peace in the pen.
On the weekend, I spent a lot of time just sitting in my camp chair watching them. There’s nothing like ‘chicken TV’ to keep you firmly in the present and relax your tangled thoughts. In another two months, they will hopefully start laying and we will not need to buy eggs for the foreseeable future. Can’t wait.
