What makes a chicken coop easy to live with?

[Doody]

Hi,

 

Hey all, hope your well.

 

Well all i can say is i have had a cracking day. I got up nice and early and popped to my local pet store. I got all the lice powder, mite powder, grit, layer pellets, mixed corn, mealworms, hempcore etc etc. I was fully loaded lol.

 

I got home, and decided it was time to move my chooks onto a more soil based base rather than grass. I moved the pen back, and cleaned them out and then layed down some hemcore stuff. Within seconds i could see my girls enjoying the move as they was rolling over, and loving the soil base. Im very new to keeping chickens, today is only day 4 lol.

 

I bought some fencing from Homebase, its only about 2ft high but i wanted to surround it around the coop because the chickens have become very very friendly and when i open the door they want to come out. So i made a nice size run for the 3 of them, about 8x8ft. Right, so time to clean them out and let them loose, well into the 8x8 run.

 

I was gobsmacked, they walked out, looking very excited. They couldnt stop following me, peeking my feet, walking where i walk, honestly i was expecting chaos. I thought they would try and get away from me, jump over my make shift fence, but no, they treated me like one of them. So i cleaned them out, and sprinkled all the mite, lice, powder as instructed. I had to laugh as i sprinkled my chickens with it etc, they took it well.

 

After they was all clean, i thought i would treat them to a few handfuls of mealworms and mixed corn. As you all know the loved it. I could pick them up, stroke them, they was great. My daughter and wife came back from school and jumped into my makeshift pen. My daughter was laughing so much, and also managed to hold one, which she loved.

 

My wife got into the pen, but the chickens was transfixed with some sparkly items on her toe-less shoes, yep they chased her, pecked her toes, was hilarious. Lesson learnt for the wife lol lol.

 

I cant say how much i have enjoyed my day with them, do i sound silly? I went into the house for about 5 mins to get a drink. I came back to find one of the chickens had got under the my makeshift pen and was lose in the garden. I was like "oh no" but i just walked upto her, picked her up and placed her back in, i was so happy.

 

After they was all clean, well fed, and enjoying life, i grabbed a beer and sat down with them, it was great. Yet again today though, there was a cat attack. Luckily they was in the pen, and the cat just hit the meshing, the chickens jumped in the air, had a shout and that was it. I know a lot of people say, "the cat will meet its match in a chicken" but it still worrys me as im not very used to this and see the cat as a threat, maybe in a day or two, ill see the cat meet his match lol.

 

Anyway, sorry to rant, i just cant say how much i have enjoyed today. I honestly love my girls. They are great, very friendly, and also very funny. Im so happy to have been introduced to such a special hobby, along with such great animals, that produce such great eggs. 4 days now and ive had 8 eggs.

 

Load more to do tomorrow, filling holes in bushes, hence where Mr Cat gets in. I know i cant keep animals out but i guess i can try my best. Once that is done, work on building a nice big run for them followed with a nice cold beer while watching my girls again...

 

Anyway, i better go, before you get bored lol.....

 

Regards

 

Mark

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Sounds like a fab day . Glad you're enjoying them so much .

[Mercedes55]

Sounds like you had a lot of fun Mark, I can't remember how many hens you have? They are keeping you very busy though I can tell

[Doody]

Sounds like you had a lot of fun Mark, I can't remember how many hens you have? They are keeping you very busy though I can tell

 

Just have 3 Isa Browns, but they are great lol.

 

My daughter even sings the song from a tv advert, (Boots "Here come the girls") every morning when we let them out lol...here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgduIknGejU

[Mercedes55]

[

Just have 3 Isa Browns, but they are great lol.

 

My daughter even sings the song from a tv advert, (Boots "Here come the girls") every morning when we let them out lol...here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgduIknGejU

 

A very apt song that is too

[Meganymoo]

Glad you like them!!!

[abwsco]

Mark, are you a mad chicken man already

[Doody]

Mark, are you a mad chicken man already

 

Lol, yep, i think i have lost it when it comes to chickens lol.....

[Sherbet]

Hi Mark

I know what you mean i had agreat day today to with my 2 girls, the down side was my Cat Monty was taken ill and is in the local vets overnight for observation, on a drip & antibiotics, not sure if it is a bad infection he's picked up or something more serious .

But going back to my chucks, Thursday was day 3 for me, and my son came round to visit we sat in the garden, and i let them out of their run, they were a bit nervous but came out, they didn't venture too far from it but then came over to where we were sitting and i bent down to stroke one, and she just went 'flat' i think she thought i was a cockeral, so i picked her up & she sat on my lap! It was great to see them them having a peck at everything. About 10pm Molly decided that it was time for bed and went straight back in the run and into the eglu for bed, Macy followed, but i had to coax her in the run with a few meal worms, blummin brilliant evening. Can't wait till later to let them out again. Just hope Monty is a lot better today & we can bring him home

They are great fun to watch, very entertaining, beats watching TV anyway!

No eggs yesterday though, am sure we will have another today.

 

Lynne

[docsquid]

Mark, it is great to hear you having so much fun with your chickens. There is nothing like a day spent in the garden with the lovely girls. Whenever I'm down, I just watch their antics and they always make me laugh.

[henriette]

Hi,

 

My wife got into the pen, but the chickens was transfixed with some sparkly items on her toe-less shoes, yep they chased her, pecked her toes, was hilarious. Lesson learnt for the wife lol lol.

 

Mark

Great reading - thankyou We got some new hens yesterday and the first thing one of them did was to peck my toes. I have never had that happen before and was really interested to read about yours. Mine also jumps up at my fingers

[meezers]

Glad you're enjoying them Doody. Just think , 2 weeks ago it was ' shall I get chooks or not ?', now you're as obsessed as the rest of us

[cathybc]

lovely posts!

[Doody]

Yeah, they are great fun....just got in from being in garden most of the morning.

 

Getting plenty of Eggs, but im also noticing the eggs getting bigger than the start of the week. Is this a sign of a good diet and they are happy chickens??

 

They are already developing characters, sooooo friendly, and my daughter just loves em. They now have a nice big fenced run, so im happy along as Mr cat doesnt come along and spoil my fun...

 

Mark

[madchickenlady]

Mark, I give you 3 months before you 'accidently' aquire more girls.....