Coop move for winter

We did it, we moved the coop!!  After much grunting, growling, pushing, and shoving, the hen house is sitting squarely in the middle of the garage....and I swear, Faline looks happier than she's looked all day (she felt colder than the other hens who can move around more easily)....and the babies are moving around more instead of huddling together upstairs!!  

I'm sure having them indoors will be a different set of challenges, but I already feel happier knowing that I won't have to worry about them as much!!  Thank you all for your support in deciding to make a big change.

By the way, I'll be darned if that besom hawk didn't fly through the yard while we were working.  Little Red Hen started clucking like she does when she lays an egg and they all began running for cover--Ash and I ran toward it yelling and barking.  I'm sure we were very intimidating :)

Cold, rainy, and leaky coop

After two days of 40 degrees and slanting constant cold rain......

I was gathering eggs this morning, freshening food and water, and trying to clean the coop....and the sand on the inside is wet, there are a couple of leaky places in the upstairs....and it was just a pain to do all that in the wet and cold.  I wondered if Bambi had felt the same way when she took care of the gals last week??  Anyway, I got this crazy idea that we should put the coop in the garage for the winter--and spring rain season!!  It made me laugh, but then the more I thought about it, the better the idea seemed....the hens would be more protected from wind, wet, and cold....I would be protected from all of that when doing the farm chores....and if we had a bitterly cold period and wanted to run the heater, it'd be easier to do in the garage.  And when we let them out, we just open the coop and garage door.  I feel like this would make us ALL more comfortable!!  But am I crazy???  Please tell me, I can take it.  

P.S.  

I just read a blog from a woman in Seattle and she moved her hens in the garage because SHE wasn't pleased about doing farm chores in the rain either!!  HAHAHA!!!

Bambi said:  I love it!  Do I thinks it’s crazy and unconventional ?  Yep, I sure do, but aren’t we crazy and unconventional?!  We have the most spoiled and loved fowl in the universe!  I love that you’re concerned about their comfort, and I am definitely concerned about your comfort, so I say do it!!!! 

Enjoying the fall!!

While we were out of town for two weeks, Bambi stayed at the house and took care of the dogs, cats, and hens.  Everyone looked so happy and cozy when we returned!  Bambi is so good with the animals!  

The eggs are coming in regularly with plenty to share.  Joan came and got a dozen the first week, and we  actually had to give 2 ½ dozen away!  We get four eggs each day, so every 3 days a new dozen!  

Bambi - You are the chicken whisperer! Since you kept the hens while we were in Cape Cod, Georgie has been laying in or near the box (not on the ladder where her egg breaks), thank goodness!!  

And since we have mild weather this week, Erin cleaned out the garage and we are integrating the wee chicks into the outdoor coop....they have all ranged together outside and mainly act like 2 separate flocks....at night we wait until the big girls go upstairs and then slip the wee ones into the roost :)  There have been a few lost feathers in the morning though, and Georgie seems the most threatened.  

It looks like rain, so I've just put the hens in the coop and the chicks upstairs with their own food and water....there's a lot of grinching and groaning from Little Red Hen and Fannie Mae, but no attacks or feathers lost so far....please send harmonious wishes to the coop, if you get the chance!!  

First outing in the portable coop for the babies

Checking out the new baby chicks as they begin to move into the great outdoors.....