The Coop is Finished! :)

Yesterday, my fiance came to me at about noon and told me the chickens didn't seem to be handling the heat well.  We'd managed to put a roof on the coop and move it outside, but the run wasn't finished, so we'd kept them inside the coop for the last two days.  It wasn't ideal, but it was roomier than the tub.

I went to check on the chickens and they all looked uncomfortable in the coop.  The window that I'd hoped would give them ventilation didn't seem to be venting out enough.  They were all panting.  So we did something I read about in my research (I was not voluntarily being mean to my poor chickens) and carried them out of the coop one at a time and poured water on them from one of those sprinkly watering pails.

They weren't thrilled about it, but they did cool off very quickly.  They seemed a lot more lively afterward.

This meant that the rest of our day was devoted to finishing the coop and run so that they could go outside to cool down on hot days (like yesterday).  I was a bit burned out on coop-making and a tad under the weather, so I ended up watching while my fiance finished the chicken ramp.  I was very grateful.  He did a wonderful job (better than I would have).

So, we have our completed coop and run.  The chickens seem happy.  We lock them in the coop overnight and open the ramp up for passage during the day.  We need to water them regularly, and make sure the have food.  In the evenings, I plan to give them some sort of "treat" to lure them up into the coop.  Last night it was squash guts which they seemed very excited about.

Here they are, clucking and fluffing happily around the ramp J. made for me.

Our chickens have now become considerably more low-maintenance.  This means I can return my attention to cheese-making.  From thence, onward to goat-owning (and the subsequent goat-cheese making and goat-cheese selling).

Hopefully all of this works.  So far nothing's gotten into the coop and killed any of our birds, and the birds themselves don't seem to have any illnesses (knock on wood, knock on wood).  I do hope to make a small detachable tractor for them sometime in the near future so that I can house sick or broody hens as they come up.  I'd prefer to have the tractor and not need it for several months than need it and not know what to do without it.

Anyway, for now all seems to be going well.  I need to go make dinner.  ttyl :)