Friday, October 23, 2009

New Chicken Coop

Last Saturday the chicken coop/barn/shed was delivered.  Before delivery we had to cut down low hanging tree limbs off many trees in the area where the building was going, and also above the entry road for the truck to drive.  It was a cold and rainy day on Saturday when the buidling was delivered.

Delivery of barn



After we got the building, we insulated the interior and put up interior walls to cover the insulation, built an interior wall to divide the chicken coop from the rest of the building, put in a door on this interior wall to enter the chicken coop area, and caulked, sealed and painted the interior.

Before insulation & walls



Interior wall going in to separate chicken coop area



Interior door going in



We then put up plastic chick separator mesh to keep the chicks we have raised so far without a mother separated from the hen which has 8 chicks.  We didn't know how the hen would deal with all the additional babies and especially with the guinea keets. 

After putting down straw, heat lamps, feeders and waterers, finally the big moment came last Tuesday evening.  My baby chicks were big enough to live in the chicken coop by themselves.  They were so excited - they ran all around and tested their wings.  They nibbled on straw and ate food from the big feeder.  It was the biggest day of their lives, and they were so happy. 



The momma hen loved the freedom, too!  Her babies were very excited to see the other babies.  At first she tried to control them by keeping them near her, but eventually she let them run near the other babies.  The mesh netting keeps them separate, but they can see each other.  Here one of her chicks gets a free ride on her back. 





5 comments:

Sue said...

What a nice shed!

Leigh said...

I would have loved to see those baby chicks when you introduced them to their new home! And it's a beautiful home too. Looks very roomy. How many chickens to you plan to keep on a regular basis?

Robin said...

Wow, what a nice chicken house. Those hens will be living in luxury.

Country Girl said...

Wow! That coop is huge! Someone could almost live in there!! Have fun with your chicks!!

Randy said...

Sue - Thanks! It's more than just your average shed, it's a luxury chicken coop complete with a storage area! It's even big enough we can store one of the ATV's in there in the storage side!

Leigh - We planned on keeping about a dozen chickens. We plan on only keeping 1 or 2 roosters - we'll see how many of ours are roosters!

Robin - The chicks are happy now in their new setup. We are going to work on an outside pen for them, too. Eventually, when they are big enough & the weather is nicer, we will let them free-range & come back to the coop at night. We'll see how that goes when the time comes.

Barb - Thanks, I really like the coop. Lots of chicks live in there right now! Soon it will be very crowded when the chicks get bigger!

-Lynn