Just in time!

So yesterday after work, my brother in law came over and helped me fix the roof on the coop. Or rather, he made sure I did not fall off the ladder while I screwed it down. Then I finished patching the gaps along the roofline and built some roosts for the chickens to sleep on.











And then last night, I shoved their little feathered asses through the pop door, closed and locked it and they spent the night in the shed!



Whooooooo!



And I proceeded to spend all night having horrible nightmares about all the possible ways in which they could die. Animals breaking in, door latches breaking and they get loose, crazy neighbors letting them out, etc etc etc.

Now keep in mind, I have the coop padlocked at night....so no person can open it and get them out. You would have to take a screwdriver and dismantle a portion of it to get in.

The weakest point of the shed is easily the roof. I'm still not convinced it is totally secure but I'm not sure how to improve on it, to be honest. An animal cannot fit in any gap (other than maybe a small snake or rat or mouse or something) that currently exists, however a crazy raccoon could maybe pry up part of the metal roofing and shimmy in. Maybe?


Or possibly I am just paranoid.



Either way, I went out this morning and found this.









And this...












They were happy as a clam in there. Not happy when it is dark at night, but once the sun comes up they have 3 times as much space as they had in the tack slash coop shed in the garage.




Even my cute little barred/speckled/whatever chick with pants were enjoying the new roosts.










And the other two speckled chicks with pants.









The Giant Rooster was enjoying the space also.








Now they have not yet really figured out how to work the pop door and ramp. About half of them figured it out this morning....all of the chicks with pants were still putting around inside. I grabbed each of them and stuck them on the ramp.


And then tonight, when it was time to lock them up....the two White Leghorns were already inside and up on roosts! Whooo! 1 of the Buttercups put herself away also....the others I had to pick up and stick through the door though......but they were much more cooperative today than yesterday as far as not trying to get back out and into the pen. I think in a week or so, they should have it all figured out. I need to bust out some treats and get them used to the sound of treats after shaking the can so I can go in the coop and shake the can and have them all run inside to get them.



The nice part of this all is that the 9 little chicks have moved out into the tack shed. They are out of the bedroom! and just in time since my dad's flight arrived today....he is over my sister's house tonight but will be here tomorrow. That room has been dusted and vacuumed and deoderized and the bed linens pulled and washed and it is ready for dear ol dad.

Just in time!







Did I mention that I am giving some of them to my coworker? The obvious Rhode Island Red cockerel (same type as Crockpot), two of the gray/blue chicks, and maybe the blueish silkie mix cockerel. I am definitely keeping the Polish, the splash Andalusian, the blue Andalusian that I think is a girl, the black Andalusian and the RIR that I think is a girl.

Technically even if I did not get rid of any of the chicks with pants, my coop could fit those 5 plus the 14 I already have. I go by the 3 square foot per chicken, not 4 square foot, as mine will never be locked in the coop other than at night, and will have extra run space once I finish building the run addition.

We'll see how many I keep once they have all gotten a little older and I can see boy vs girl, personalities and whether they get along and LAY ME SOME MOTHER EFFIN EGGS.




Speaking of eggs.........


The nest in the garage was raided by something that stole or ate the eggs. The birds have not come back lately.

The other new nest in one of the front hanging baskets has not seen a bird in a while and just does not look completely "finished".



However.

As things go around here.




THERE ARE TWO NEW NESTS.


IN TWO MORE HANGING BASKETS.



And they each have eggs! As of Saturday morning, there were 2 in the House Finch nest and 1 in the Carolina Wren nest. Awesome!


House Finch on Friday.






House Finch on Saturday.






Carolina Wren on Friday.





Carolina Wren on Saturday.




So, on my front porch 4 of the 6 baskets have or have had nests. That is RIDICULOUS. AND AWESOME.


Yay birds?



Also, I finally went back and caught up on some comments......sorry! I am a slacker!