The Chicken Ark

So I'm still working on the chicken coop but thought I would post some pictures of my progress here as several people have asked me about it.  We wanted a coop that we could move around the yard so as not to wear down the grass or mess up any one spot in the yard.  We also wanted a design that would be easy to clean and that would make feeding and watering as low-maintenance as possible.  After looking at a lot of plans on the Internet I finally settled on this one.  It's called the Catawba converti-coop and it seems that a lot of city dwellers out there are building it.  Here's the link if you're interested.

Here's what the final product will look like when I'm done.  This is not a picture of my coop, I just grabbed it off the Internet to show you what it will look like when I'm done.  Actually, mine will be better as I plan to pimp it out with an internal gravity feeder and a relatively automatic watering system to make feeding and watering much less of a chore (Work smarter, not harder is my motto).  Stay tuned for more on the feeding and watering system.

Here's my work in progress.  You can see the basic frame below is very simple.  It's just a matter of cutting the correct angles and following the instructions.  You will need a miter saw to cut the angles.

And here's my son pretending to be a chicken.

The kids turned it into their "fort" before I could even get half way done with it.  They might just like it more than the chickens!

Almost done now.  The chicks are giving it a try.

The following pictures are for those of you who are interested in the details.  Just click to enlarge.

Here's the built-in gravity feeder.  I made it out of scrap wood I had lying around and the side of a plastic storage bin someone had thrown in the alley (score!).  It should hold about a weeks worth of food and moves along with the arc.  It's built around a trough-style chicken feeder you can get at Belmont Feed and Seed for about twelve bucks.

 You can see here that it's built into the door so I just open it and fill with feed.  Easy-peasy!

 Here's the ramp that leads up to the roost and nest boxes where the chickens will sleep safely at night and lay their delicious eggs.  I made it out of an old table leaf and some phone line.  It pulls up and down from the outside.  It's attached with regular door hinges.

Stay tuned for the watering system.  I don't know exactly how I'm going to build it into the coop yet but I do know it will involve PVC pipe and poultry nipples.  My goal is to build a system that I can fill once a week and forget about it.  We'll see.

Raising Baby Chicks at Home

So, we bought four baby Red Star, also known as Red Sex-linked, chickens about two weeks ago during Spring Break. We chose Red Stars because they are supposed to be very cold-hardy and are prolific layers. Also, since residents of Chicago are not allowed to have roosters, we wanted to make sure we were getting only females, which are red.

Aidan and Maddie came with us to the Belmont Feed and Seed store to pick them out. They were both so excited, and a little nervous, about picking them up and holding them. The store owner gave us a cardboard carrier filled with pine shavings to put them in. After watching the chicks for a while, we selected the ones that seemed to have the most energy and brought them home that day. (The kids loved hearing their little peeps on the car ride home.)

We put them in the plastic bin we had set up for them and the kids watched them explore the area. We had the bin lined with paper towels because we were told that the chicks might have trouble distinguishing between their feed and the pine shavings. They found their food and water right away.

                                               

 Maddie holding one of the chicks.

We had to teach Aidan and Maddie how to hold the chicks properly. For some reason, they thought it would be okay to grab them by their heads. Ouch!

At first, I was worried about the temperature being just right, so I kept adjusting the heat lamp to make it 95 degrees. After a while, though, it became clear that the chicks didn't seem too sensitive to the differences in temperature. They seemed to sleep around the edges of the light and moved in and out with ease.

Over the past two weeks, I have really enjoyed having the chicks in our home. They are super easy to take care of. I just change their water once a day, fill up the feeder as needed and change the bedding of pine shavings every few days. Sorry if this grosses you out, but I do let them run around in our back room and wipe up after them with antibacterial wipes and a mop. I feel bad that they would otherwise be stuck inside the brooder bin without being able to stretch their legs much. Besides, it's fun to watch them run around and look for places to roost.

Our chicks roosting underneath a chair

Taking a nap during the day.

Alan had to install a screen in the top of the bin to keep the chicks from flying out. Now that they're feathers are coming in, they have been able to fly. I really cannot believe how fast they grow and am afraid that they will outgrow their brooder bin before they are able to go outside and live in the coop Alan's been working on. Here is a picture of the work in progress:

So, in a few more weeks, the chicks will be ready to go outside. I think I'll miss hearing the little pitter-patter of their feet as they run around under my chair while I study or write.