The Adventure of Moving a Chicken Coop

You know when you look in a room and you know that it'll be better if the couch is over there, well that is how we are viewing the backyard.  We have a nice big barn up and are changing the landscape enough, that it just seems natural to move the original chicken coop to a new spot on the farm side of the yard.  In the photo above, you can see the coop is already prepped for the move.  Two nice size trees were cut down where the pasture is going and they will be the sleigh poles for the big move.

First, we needed to move the girls to safety so that they weren't frightened during the big move.  They had fun checking out the barn.  We left them the ladder to keep them busy.  

After the trees were cut and ready, Pepere Larry asked for a lot of bits of scrap wood and this is why.  We used them to lever the building up one corner at a time and slide in a piece of wood at time to keep lifting it higher and higher until the trees could slide underneath one on each side.  It sounds simple, but it was a lot of work and made a little more difficult, due to a stump under the coop.

Here are the poles, supported by two by fours to hold the poles in place under the coop.  The chains are attached and the truck will pull this a little at a time to the new location.

One, two, three... pull!

The coop is off the stump and moving in the right direction.

We're making great progress moving this coop across the lawn, but the ditch is the challenge ahead of us.

Pepere Larry suggests we leave it right here in front of the play set.  Good thing, I knew he was kidding.

Look at this accomplishment! Right over the ditch with the next try.  

 A little further and a turn and we have the final placement!  The permanent blocks are placed underneath for support and the logs are removed.  

So here is our plan and part of the excitement of this big move.  The newer coop with the front porch and the original coop that is now in front will have a chicken run between them where the girls can mingle and be safe all together.  The coop will also be closer to the barn for getting chores done etc.  

This took two days of work.  I know this post makes it look easy, but Pepere Larry and Justin worked their tails off and I helped quite a bit as well.  We have also spent some of our week working on the interior of the barn.  Check out the update at the post:  Building a Barn, the Finishing Touches.

Chicken Breeds; The Unique Ones and the Dependable

Backyard Chicken Breeds

The Unique Ones and The Dependable in our backyard

A chicken yard is certainly more fun when you have some handsome hens scratching around.  We really enjoy a spunky looking chicken; they hold a special spot in the flock and our hearts.  Most people begin raising chickens in their backyard for the fresh eggs. It doesn’t take too long to realize how much fun chickens really are and how it’s so easy to start raising chickens just because you love them so much.  We have always had the “feather foot” here or the “puff top” there mixed in with our more practical breeds. Since we live in Maine, we choose weather hardy chickens and good egg layers.  This year we added a new group of chicks much different then our past flocks.  Thanks to another backyard farmer, Glamour Chickens, we have introduced a fun variety of beautiful breeds to our farm.

The photo below shows the chicks on their arrival day to our farm. We were so excited to see how these girls looked full grown.  You can keep cruising down this blog to see more pictures, but the video above shows you how each chicken matured in a video format.

Serama-Cemani Mix this one is named Carless

 

Silkie-Sultan mix “Sulkies” named Angus and Isabelle

All of the chicks came with little bands on their feet to help with identification of breed and gender.  We clipped them off easily once they moved into their new coop.  These two chicks are Angus and Isabelle.. see below for their updated look a couple weeks later.

Lavendar Orpingtons

We did get a few of these birds.  They are very dependable egg layers.  As full size hens, they will be gray with a hint of lavendar.  They are a particularly popular breed of laying hens and average 200 medium sized eggs that are light brown in color. The one featured here is named Morgan.

There is also an Aracauna in our flock.

These young chickens are already getting up on their third floor perch by the fresh air.  I’m pretty impressed that these younguns were able to do that. And look at these photos below; Alexia made a swing for these new fancy chicks to play with.  They seemed to enjoy their first time giving it a try.

Jupiter is an Ayam Cemani Sizzle mix 

This baby chick is very unique and should grow up to be a curly dark hen. 

Angus Napping by Alexia

Inkie the Sulkie reminds me of the birds in Rio. Photo by Acadia.

Fuzzy Mozart: photo by Acadia and entered in 4H exhibit hall.

Fuzzy Mozart and the other chicks take a trip outside their coop and around the backyard

Jupiter up on the tower of the play set.  He was contemplating jumping off, so this photo shoot was cut short

Carless on the upturned wheelbarrow, such a natural place for a chick to hang out at the farm.

Fuzzy Mozart, getting a little blue on her cheek

                      The twins Abigail and Isabelle, we tell them apart by the color of their beaks.

Angus going for a walk.

Check back on this post... I’m sure you’re as interested as I am about how these girls will look as they age.   This year, the kids have been excited to meet this fun flock of girls.  They are such a great addition to the farm.

Cameron is a rooster strutting his stuff.

Jupiter, not all black anymore. He’s our feisty rooster!

The many nameless, Lavendar Orpingtons.  Only Morgan is named, she is plumper then the rest.  I’ll catch you a photo of her later and add it.  Morgan sleeps on the grain barrel at night.

Fuzzy Mozart all grown up: what a little fuzz ball she is.

Inky and Isabelle 

Cameron

Carless, we think is also a rooster.

Soup up the Coop

Ten Ways To Soup Up Your Coop

Anyone can buy a nice little chicken tractor to pull around their lawn.  But even backyard farmers can spend a little time to soup up their coop.  So thinking like both a chicken and the farmer, we will list out our top ten priorities for a souped up coop.

• 1: Roosting perch. The hens just feel safer off the ground at night, but they even have fun flapping up there during the day too. Just plan the location carefully; you do not want their droppings landing in their water or food bin and you don’t want it in your way when you’re cleaning the coop. It should be 2-3 feet off the ground and plan 6 inches of roosting space per bird.
  
  
  
  
  
• 2: Nesting boxes, loaded with hay.  Hens prefer a nesting box to lay their eggs, and also enjoy a little snack of hay.  Keeping the boxes filled with hay regularly helps keep your eggs cleaner (less poop to clean off) and decreases the risk of a cracked egg.  Cracked eggs can encourage the chickens to start eating their own eggs, which is not good at all.

• 3: Nesting box secret door.  Ok this one is really for the farmer.  A door on the outside of the coop makes collecting your eggs a breeze and easier to refill with hay as well. 

• 4: Outdoor run; because chickens just love to be outside. Even if you let your chickens roam free during the day, there is early mornings when the coolness of night is still fresh, but predators could be lurking.  An outdoor run should have all six sides protected, so run some fencing on the ground and then cover it with dirt.  For the ceiling consider a roof or fencing*; netting will keep your birds in, but will not be a sure way to keep the predators out.  We will be putting a roof when we add our run this year because we’d like to extend the number of weeks the girls can enjoy the outdoors and in Maine, our snow season can get uncomfortably long.

• 5: Fresh air.  Especially in the summer months, but even in the winter, fresh air is important to the health and happiness of your chickens.  We have a predator proof fencing* on one of their windows.  In the winter we will slide the window back in place from the inside.  Bonus: there is less a chance of a broken window.  We’ve lost two to dogs jumping up and cracking the glass because they wanted to meet our hens. We also keep the eaves open all year round with the same fencing* stapled underneath to keep out predators and mice.

• 6: Lighting. A window or two will let your chickens see daylight even on rainy or snowy days.  For the farmer, an electrical light is very helpful if you have to do your chores in the dark hours of the day(like in the winter).  We have a primary door and a secondary door.  This first is used at night for safety and warmth.  The latter is fenced* so that they can see outside and get fresh air during the day and evening but are safe from predators. 

• 7: Space. Chickens ideally should have 2-3 square feet per bird inside the coop and 8-10 square feet per bird for the outdoor run. A little more space is always better.  We have found our “second floor” has been helpful especially when we had a few roosters that didn’t always get along.

• 8: Chicken fun time.  A hanging cabbage or a block of salt pork can keep your hens happy and busy for hours.  This is great to do in the winter months when they are spending less time free ranging or even utilizing their run.  This hanging food skewer is sold on Amazon.

• 9: Electricity.  You’ll need it for the chicks when they are little and using the warmer.  In Maine we’ve even used the heat lamp during the coldest weeks of the winter when we dip into the negative temperatures.  If you’re in a cold climate, it’s a necessity to minimally have a heated waterer/ poultry fountain or the poor chickens will have nothing but a block of ice to drink.

• 10: A savvy food and water system.  For the chickens, they just want clean, fresh water and grain readily available with the occasional feast of corn cobs or watermelon rinds. For the farmer, you’ll want to have easy access to your grain in a weather and vermin proof container.  Bags of grain can be dumped in a tightly sealed trash bin stored beside or inside your coop.  With this strategy, it is super easy to refill their feeder.  The waterer should be easy to clip in and out of a hanging chain using any simple carabiner.  Not only to refill the water, but to rinse out regularly.

*When I reference fencing* above, I am recommending hardware cloth with 1/2 inch squares.

• Many people use chicken wire for their fencing and that is what we’ve used in the past.  Unfortunately chicken wire spaces are big enough for rodents to get in, so we lost many chickens to weasel attacks two seasons in a row.  This type of fencing also allows mice to get in and steal grain.  We are very happy with this alternative and feel it gives longer lasting and better protection to our feathery friends.