Chicken moving day

We talked for a really long time about what kind of coop we wanted, and looked at a bunch of books and designs online. As our space was fairly limited (therefore no converted sheds) and we didn't want to spend a fortune (and it's nearly impossible to find a cute coop for under $500), Eric built us one. I threw together a design we sort of used at work, and it more or less worked. We had to leave the bumped out egg boxes off since that wall was meant to be removable and they would be too heavy, and the flower boxes haven't been added yet, but it's fantastic - Eric did a really phenomenal job. I love the cedar shingles, and the hinged roof is incredibly convenient. We also did a single door that drops down to form a ramp, and that has been working really well. As the run is totally enclosed (wood frames and hardware cloth) and there's an overhanging roof, we can leave the coop open all the time - important given our laziness and the absolutely miniscule probability we would wake up to let the chickies out. Eventually I'll add the flower boxes and perhaps the Phyllis Diller photo. Sooner, though, we'll be installing nesting boxes and a small cut-out on the removable wall for easier egg retrieval.

After 10 weeks - maybe more - we finally got the jerks out of the house. In some perfectly logical way, we decided to do this late at night. Really, after weeks of trying to get the coop together and finally being more or less ready, it had to be done. Eric and I both took turns bringing them out. Some behaved better than others. Matzoh ball in particular was awful; the screeching, flapping, and wriggling was a little intimidating. I ended up covering up her head and running through the house - a strategy that seemed to work pretty well. Once we got them into the coop, the chickens were absolutely silent, like we had killed them. It was actually a little unnerving. But, the monsters settled in fairly quickly. After two or three days we finished the run, and they were free to explore the far reaches of their 3' x 10' run.