The New SCoop

June has arrived with all that comes with it. .

Harvest. .

Baseball. .

Birds and Blooms. .

Camp plans. .

Water fun. .

And with lots of weekend events upcoming on our calendar. .

THIS weekend. .

we spent working on a project.

The chickens have been growing by leaps and bounds. .

This little chick coop, loaned to us by our friend. .

is about to become obsolete here.

And we have been checking out different coops and plans on the internet for weeks now.

When you are verbal about what you do in life. .

it is amazing the way events will turn. .

LIKE. .

this trailer full of chicken coop parts. .

FREE. .

to keep them out of the landfill.

SWEET!

Saturday  morning found us out in the temperate weather deciding on a location. We discussed the possibilities and decided to position it near the tree row. .to provide treats and shade. Jeremy trimmed the trees a bit. .You can see the kids' treehouse, so they will have an up close and personal view of the flock.

Grant was around long enough to help out a little before he went to his job on the harvest crew. And he was soooo happy about it. And Miss Thing. ."helped" while wearing her stylish PJ's until nearly lunchtime. .and then only changed because we told her she couldn't go into the restaurant like that.

And, alas, NO one is immune from helping. .

I considered declaring that I was supervisory staff ONLY. .but I KNEW that wouldn't fly. .so I donned my post hole diggers. .and my quiet and gentle spirit (teehee). . 

and reported for duty.

The crazy thing is. .

that we were working off the ideas in our heads. .

two pictures I had printed off the internet. .

and the free materials we had available. .

And thank goodness for internet access. .

so we could quickly google how large to make a nest box!!

We have 10 surviving chickens. .Out of 12. .

Not too bad. 8 hens, and 2 roosters we think.

So we needed between 2-4 nesting boxes. .Jeremy designed a stack of 2 on top and 2 on bottom.

This little door on the side opens up so we can easily collect the eggs from the outside of the coop. Cami is watching the activity from the opening where the chickens will walk up into their home.

Yesterday, they finished the chicken ramp. We hope it isn't too steep for them. .

There are little boards to help them keep their footing as they go up. We decided it would be nice to have the coop up off the ground, like some photos I had seen. .and would be easiest to situate it right on top of the fencing.

In retrospect. .Plans would have been good.

By the end of the day, when Jeremy would say, "Oh, I shoulda done that a little different." I just had to smile! I'm not sure either one of us REALLY knew what was going to happen before it happened. So the fact that it turned out at ALL is probably nothing short of miraculous.

But it all came out OK. .

Well, if the chickens like it, that is.

And they have a night or two more in the little pen before we know.

We ran out of paint. .and needed a bit more lumber to enclose the platform under the coop. It will have doors on it and will hold the extra feed and chicken supplies.

And as soon as we finish a couple of spots in the fencing. .

It will be ready to move the chickens into. .

and hope for the best!!

I'll definitely keep ya posted. .

And, since we discovered YESTERDAY that Devin can take a chicken or two to show in open class at the county fair. .

This girl had better WATCH OUT!!

Or Devin had better watch out. .

I'll keep ya posted on that too!!

Have a blessed week. .

And thanks for stopping by to see what crazy family has been up to!