Flew the house and into the coop!

The "girls" as we have come to call them, finally flew the house today and moved into their backyard coop. I built the main part of the coop 2 summers ago and Chuck (Becky's dad) came by last week and completed the chicken door from the coop into the outside run. I finally got my butt in gear yesterday and when I got home from work I installed the perches and secured the run in order to keep out any hungry critters (besides myself and the rest of the family - of course!) Rebecca helped out and before it was dark out we had completed everything needed - including a chicken wire roof over the run so the girls would be spared from becoming the dinner of one of the many hawks or owls we have in our neighborhood.

This morning I escorted them into their new permanent dwelling. They were a little nervous at first but settled in within the hour. I showed them how to get out of the coop and into their run but never figured I would need to show them how to get back in! On my way home tonight we had some fairly heavy rain and I got home to a flock of wet but still quite happy birds scratching around the run looking for worms and any delicious creepy crawlies they could find.
I was able to locate a local farm supply store which sold hormone free foods so although I can't legally say my birds and soon to come eggs are organic, I will be able to say they are hormone free - all natural.

My only chore left is to build the nesting boxes for egg laying but I have a couple of weeks to get that done. I have already purchased the necessary materials so it will just depend on when I have a free weekend to complete the project.

I added 2 perches in the run along with some of our abundant rocks. I also added a shelf for the grit dispenser which is filled with ground up oyster shells. I also plan to surround the outside of the run (which use to be a dog kennel) with lots of rocks to keep any thing from digging under and into the run.

I realize we have had them less than 6 weeks but I have really enjoyed the little buggers so far and look forward to years of chicken farming.
The only downfall so far is the fancy polish chickens we purchased were a straight run which means they are not sexed after hatching so from what we can tell at this time we have a few roosters which we don't want. I guess we all know which birds will be on the dinner table first now don't we! :-)

Due to them all acting like little kids playing in the rain I also added a heat lamp to the coop to help them get dry and keep warm. It's amazing how much enjoyment a silly little bird can bring to your life - and for once my mom can't yell at me for playing with my food!!!!!!!!