Picture of the Day 2/22/2013 Spring is Around the Corner

The weather is turning more spring-like instead of wintery.  The girls are able to spend all day free-ranging in the yard.

So, I put the food back into the enclosure instead of the coop.  The water will stay for a bit longer.  The days are still not that long.

Every morning I have to take Sassy out of the coop.  I think she has some arthritis that makes it difficult for her to go down the ramp.  She does fine with going up the ramp, however.

Each morning, I open the doors and Sassy waits for me to pick her up and gently put her on the ground.  Getting out of the coop is much healthier for her.  Out of the coop, she can take her dust baths!

Picture of the Day 1/25/2013 Our Rescue Chicken

We picked up Sassy today.  She is 8 years old and a sweet, gentle bird.  She has grown most of her feathers back, but the feathers are not too long.  She has been isolated from the other chickens for a couple of weeks, so she is already stressed.

We put her in a small coop inside the enclosure.  Our birds were quite interested in the new addition.  Yoda did a little posturing against the coop, but lost interest after a few bumps against the wire.  The other girls just watched for a while, then wandered off.

We will keep Sassy in the small coop or alone in the enclosure for a day or two to see how things shake out.  We have an arctic front coming in on Tuesday, so we are hoping they will be able to keep Sassy warm.  We will see.

Picture of the Day 1/18/2013

This picture was taken a couple days ago.  The snow has melted quite a bit since.

We have bark put down on the floor of the enclosure, which is great for the girls to scratch around and look for whatever chickens look for.  When it is snowy, they spend much more time in the coop or enclosure than out in the snow.  Smart of them.

Brrr... How Soon is Spring?

Spice.  She is a new addition to our flock.

Crystal.  She is our "puppy" because she follows us everywhere.

Ginger and Yoda.  Ginger is the new addition to the flock.

Ginger and Yoda.  All of our flock are bottom of the pecking order.  So they all get along.

Ginger.  She always stays still for the pictures.

Yoda.  She is the top hen, but is never a bully.

We are in south central Montana.  For almost two weeks, the temperatures have been in the twenties during the day and single digits at night.  It snowed right before Christmas and the ladies didn't come out of their enclosure for three days.  They do not like snow on their feet.

Finishing Touches to Keep the Ladies Warm

The front of their new house.  It is not perfect, but it is done!

The nesting boxes work great.  The girls began using their new boxes even before the front was attached. 

The ramp and roost.  They didn't like this roost, so we added a second, lower roost, which they seem to like.

This certainly has been a slow process, but I think we finally have the coop that we want!

Winterizing The Coop

The roost, ramp and nesting boxes. The front needs to be attached.

The ramp is on hinges.  It can be brought up for closure.

Right now, there is a chicken wire front for air and viewing...

The new coop takes up none of their floor space.  Raised up 30", it is 4' by 8'. The girls should be cozy this winter!

Adam taking a break to ride Patrick's new birthday bike.  The seat might be a bit too low...

Finally! The Roof is On!

Jason is the roofer.

We had to build the roof before we could shingle.

Aaron looking at the roof.

Attaching the plywood.

Wow!  What a difference!

The ladies will be dry this winter.

Putting the plywood on.

Adam looking on.

Getting the design just right!

Thank goodness for the electric nail gun!

Love the brown shingles.

Cutting the shingles takes a while.

Painting the wafer board panels that will be used for wind breaks.

The panels will be attached in the winter, but stored during the summer.

Aaron's hands were tired by the end of the day!

Admiring his handiwork.

Wind panels and decorations are up!

Painting the back to match the wind panels.

Job well done, Jason!

How pretty!  It rained the next day -- and all is good!

With the rafters, we can now hang the food and water.

Happy girls.  There is still a bit of work left, but we have time before the Montana winter sets in.

Happy Harvest!

We love harvesting every day!

We found another sign for the enclosure.  It is still in the brown, earthy tones.

We only have three of our chickens that are laying; the two blacks have not started laying yet.  We keep checking everyday!  We know that they still have until six months to start laying, but it seems like a long wait!  :-)

Aaron relaxing in front of the enclosure.

Garage Sale Butterflies for the Enclosure

We found the two butterfly plates at a garage sale!

Love the brown, earthy colors.

You can feel the texture!

Aaron talking to the girls.

Decorating the Coop Part 2

 Found this beautiful ceramic sign while we were at a garage sale.  It is the same rich tones as our other sign.  I hope it doesn't break.

When I told the lady at the garage sale that I wanted to decorate my coop, she laughed and then told me about her chicken-raising days!

The metal kite in front of the enclosure is on a stake.  It balances on a sturdy pin, so it spins ever so daintily and wiggles like a kite.  It is fun to watch.