Chickens chickens!

It's been a long week of chickens chickens! We realized we weren't ready when they got here, but I don't think I realized just how much behind the power curve we were at that time.

We lost 6 of the original group, most likely due to the cold they had to deal with while being shipped, bringing us down to 9.

Well, we stopped by the Tractor Supply store to pick up some more feed and they had just gotten in a bunch of chicks (and ducklings). They had two groups of straight run chicks (and ducklings) and two groups of pullets (all female).

After a little convincing, we decided to add a little color to our Buff Orpingtons by bringing home 3 Ameraucana and 3 Rhode Island Red pullets. (We would buy the straight runs but don't want to annoy our neighbors. We personally like the sound of a rooster.)




With the addition of 6 more, much younger birds a new box had to be made. I grabbed three lengths of barn wood and slapped something together using butt joints, screws and rough barn lumber.



The bottom of the box is shiplapped and the sides are staggered so one board secures to the two boards perpendicular to it. (The dimensions are about 2'x3' and the sides are 18".) A light sanding just to knock the splinters down and inside it went to house the new girls.




The funniest thing is that Shae likes this one so much more than the one using milled lumber. She likes the rustic appearance I guess. That's ok, I have lots of barn wood to go through yet.