Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Nesting Boxes Done

After several days of head scratching, Jerry figured out how to build and attach the nesting box to the coop. YEAH!! I'm so excited! The chickens figured out pretty quickly what they were for and we had our first 3 egg day. Having the box outside the coop makes for easy egg collecting and cleaner shoes. All that's left is the siding and a paint job, and our 6 month project will be completed.




Here are two of the lovely ladies, Pot Pie and Chipmunk. They are on the outside of the chicken run looking into it. I do think the phrase "bird brain" is right on the money. Sometimes, it takes them four or five tries to figure out how to get back inside the run - and it's a 6' opening.



Well, I never said the bird feeder and bird bath were off limits, did I?


This is our original chicken tractor. Made out of wood from pallets and a few repurposed 2x4s. It's covered in plastic chicken fencing (NOT a good idea - it breaks easily). It does have a door on one end. We put the flock in here during the day, covered with the tarp as the direct sun was pretty hot. Now that we have the coop & run, this has been delegated to the rabbits and guinea pig to hang out in. It's light weight and easy to move. It was designed to fit over a raised bed but actually stays on the yard. We are going to build an enclosure on one end so that the rabbit can have permanent residence in it. Or, we might use it to raise a small flock of meat birds. Hmmm, we'll see.

6 comments:

Claire MW said...

That is so funny, to see your hen on the bird feeder. Mine have never flown up onto things like that, although they are certainly capable of doing so. Maybe they are just lazy...

mmpaints said...

Wow, the laying box is great! Aren't chickens a hoot?

Chris W said...

Those look great! I'll be starting our new coop soon since we're getting either 3 or 5 more chicks in a few weeks, taking us to either 12 or 15 birds.

Leasmom said...

I love the nesting boxes. Very nicely done. And I have a pen similiar to your chicken tractor that I bought from a guy. I will be using it when we move. We'll have to build a new coop when we move.

Jennifer said...

The nesting boxes look great!

Anonymous said...

I wish I had my nesting box outside the coop it would be so much easier...and the "bird brain", every time we let ours out we always have to go "rescue" at least one that is "stuck" on the back side of the fencing and just can't seem to figure out how to walk back around to the gate. They're so funny sometimes.