Isobel Burden Meets Omelettedala

A few words about the coop

As principal builder of our strange little chicken coop (diagrams and photos available upon request), I wanted to submit a report.

First some history. We looked all over for plans for a coop that was not too big, not too small and generally affordable. We finally found a Web site that had download-able plans for a small one that I could tell was within my limited carpentry skill set. Turns out the plans were only about 80 percent complete -- a classic bait and switch. Ever since the download I've been getting e-mail from the site trying to sell me more complete plans and other chicken-related bric-a-brac. Still, it was enough to get us going and I was able to fill in the gaps and make a few personal adjustments. But the coop does have shortcomings.

For one thing, it's not very tall (the peak of the roof is under 5 feet), and it's mostly a hardware cloth enclosed and expensively roofed run with a small nesting/roosting box at one end. So far, our young hens are not all that interested in nesting boxes since egg-laying is still months away. I put one roost in the nesting box and affixed a couple of others in the run area. That may have been the first mistake, because our ladies much prefer roosting out in the run. Since that's the least secure area of the whole coop (we imagine weasels burrowing in to wreak havoc), we went out the first few nights and crouched into the poop filled run to pull them down and stick them into their nesting area where they could be safely locked in for the night.

I could see this crouch and move routine would not be an acceptable evening ritual, so we talked over a way to make the whole coop into a predator-safe zone.

We considered burying a hardware cloth barrier into the ground around the coop, but I figured if we were going to dig a trench around the whole 10 ft. by 4 ft. footprint of the coop, we should use that to improve drainage and add a little landscaping trim around the base. We opted out of burying wire and instead ordered a yard of granite chips which The Dirt Doctors delivered, quite professionally, to a tarp near the coop. That turned out to be just enough and a little extra to fill a 12" wide and 8" deep trench around the coop. (Don't bother with the math, it doesn't work.) That should keep out any weasels. We're still worried about bears who could lift the whole coop off it's foundation, but they'd just eat the chicken food, most likely, and then go their merry way.

Digging a trench to those specifications is a lot more work than you might imagine, by the way.

We let the hens out after the digging and before the gravel delivery and they were pretty fascinated with the little racetrack we'd built for them. They obliged us by running around it a few times, finding newly exposed bugs and grubs that were invisible to my eyes, but not to their keenly focused head cameras.

Sidebar: When I watch the chickens, I love how their movements are so precise and programmatic. It's almost robotic, like a digital sensor somewhere tells servo-motor A to swivel head turret B 36 degrees to right, then engage pivot C 60 degrees down, then initiate single peck program, then return to original position. I can hear the servo-motors in my mind as they operate and sometimes I try to replicate them while I watch. The chicken seem to disregard all such mockery.

Anyway, we've now got a chicken coop with a gravel moat to repel any predatory huns. Maybe we should equip it with vats of boiling oil that can be poured down onto foolish weasels that test its defenses.

Dreams of Dust

We let the chickens out of the coop for the first time yesterday. With vast acres of backyard at their disposal, they didn't care to go far. Queen Omelettedala, the biggest and bravest of our brood, took the first steps out onto the fresh grass, heading straight to the dusty garden plot beside the coop. The rest followed her lead, and there they frolicked for the next few hours. The Broussard fam all gathered to watch the hens fight for the best dust bathing locations. The best location for each chicken was coincidentally always where another chicken was already sitting. The spectacle of wings pumping dust clouds like bellows to chimney smoke was pretty hypnotizing. And as if they were not already in hen heaven, Mom brought out some strawberries for them to munch on, which they seemed to enjoy. But I must say, nothing has triggered wild ravenous competition like the single cutworm that Omelettedala dug up in the garden. No more by-hand cutworm squishing for me!

Happy Birthday Blog

So, surprise! For my 58th birthday I get a 12 pound/12" pan Little Giant hanging poultry feeder and a double wall fount 3 gallon Little Giant waterer and this shiny new chicken blog to help maintain. Oh, and yesterday we picked up the four sweet juvie hens who have quickly become the center of the universe of 233 South St.

I'm sure there will be adventures to come, so stay tuned.

Day One of Chicken Parenthood

To all of you who encouraged us, doubted us, or weren't quite sure how to react, the Broussards are officially newbie chicken owners.

For those of you who don't know how this all began, I will provide a brief summary. After struggling to decide on a meaningful way to spend my summer, I confronted my dad several months ago with a possible solution. Raising chickens, I explained, would give me something to do and allow me to be home, spending time with friends and family over the summer. It would also be a great educational experience to complement my environmental food studies major. The fresh eggs and garden fertilizer were perhaps the most persuasive elements of my proposal. And by the end of our Instant Messenger conversation, I could tell Dad was on my side.

My mom was not as easily enchanted. She assured me that chickens were "creepy" and "evil" (even cannibalistic!) and that she would gain nothing from the experience except perhaps some menacing nightmares. Fortunately, Mom softened up to the idea after Mrs. Morrison, family friend and neighbor, responded enthusiastically to the idea and even offered to help out during winter months. I think an article in Organic Gardening magazine on Vogue backyard chickens (and their equally chic coops) also helped my case.

My dad and I made coop building into a collaborative effort (though, I admit, he handled most of the detail work) and worked in spurts throughout the month of June. This afternoon, we slapped on a few final structural necessities before it was time (at last!) for the (much-anticipated) chickens to move in.

I was surprised at what a talking point the chickens have proven to be. Turns out there are a lot more backyard chickens in the area than I realized. In fact, we even found out that the family across the street has been quietly raising hens for at least a year now. I've been lucky to have so many people share their backyard chicken experiences with me. Wendy Thomas, who blogs about her chickens at http://simplethrift.wordpress.com/, was an especially great resource and kindly answered our questions, calmed our newbie fears, and even gifted us with four chickens this afternoon!

Here's to chicken parenting!