Home At Last

The ladies have finally moved out of the basement and into their permanent home.  The coop is ready for the chicks to move from the 4' x 4' exercise pen inside to the hen house outside.

The 4' x 8' coop is fully furnished with two doors, a window, hinged roosting rails, and vinyl flooring all enclosed in a 10' x 20' chain link lot.

The 3' double door allows us to check on and clean up after the ladies while the 18" chicken door will be their path down the two part ramp.  We started with the deep bedding method and the chicks love the 4" of shavings laid on top of the protective vinyl flooring.

A 1x4 board anchors the banister scraps turned roosts to the back of the coop with hinges.  Hooks and eyes in the rafters will hold the roosts up off the floor when it's cleaning time.  The ceiling is lined with window screen to protect the ladies from any unwanted guests but still maintain lots of ventilation.    A four part nesting box is under construction along with the installation of an outside poultry waterer. Fruit tree netting is  next with installation on the bottom half  of the 6' high chain link sections.  The netting will also serve as our ceiling to the lot hopefully keeping the chickens in and all other flying predators out.

The ladies love their new living situation and Stephen loves that they are finally out of his basement.  Now to build a new hutch and get the twin rabbits outdoors.