If anyone has been following this blog, you probably noticed that I disappeared this summer. At first it wasn't deliberate, but life was busy. And then...it was deliberate.
One of the last posts I had up (not counting meal plans) was about the construction of our chicken coop. We finished the coop, the girls moved outside, and I was waiting on the weather to cooperate to get some good pictures of the finished work to share. I finally got those pictures, and was writing the post, when the unthinkable happened.
A stray dog got into our backyard.
For those that know me in real life, you've probably heard the story by now. For those that don't...I still get heavy hearted thinking about it. And that's what has kept me away from the blog. Because I'm still not entirely ready to write it all down.
But I'd like to get back to my meal planning posts because they really do help me. And I'd like to get back to my house update posts because they are fun.
So, my precious first flock is gone. We have plans to rebuild for next spring. We have plans to make the coop even more predator proof. Because methods that work against nocturnal predators proved useless against a determined neighborhood dog. But you may not see much about that until next spring.
But hopefully with this, I will get over that emotional hurdle the blog has represented, and I'll get back to the posts I enjoy.
Showing posts with label chickens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chickens. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Building a Chicken Coop in an HOA
This spring has been busier than we expected, so while we originally planned to custom build a coop we ultimately decided to order one. Planning for chickens while living in an HOA has been a little tricky due to size restrictions, but I also know that we're lucky our HOA allows chickens at all!
We ended up ordering this coop from CCOnly.com:
By our calculations, our 3 girls should be fine in here, especially since we plan to get a portable run to use when we are outside with them. One of the things I like about this coop is that if we do end up deciding they need a larger run, we can add on an extension relatively easily.
Of course, since we back up to open space and we have seen coyotes, foxes, and hawks frequently, we will be predator-proofing. Our plan for that involves digging down and out about a foot, laying 1/4" hardware cloth (to prevent anything from digging up into the run, like rats, voles, etc), then building up a foundation of CMU blocks with hardware cloth along the sides. Then the coop base will sit on the CMUs, with the hardware cloth from the foundation coming up and connecting to the hardware cloth on the sides of the run. The trench will be filled back in, and I'm considering laying pavers along at least one side so that there's a solid place to stand in the winter when the yard can get muddy from snow melt. We also got solar powered predator deterrents that use little red lights to mimic eyes. I'll write more about those once we install them and I know if I like them or not!
The coop also must be painted to match the house (one of our HOA rules). The body of the coop will be the same gray-blue as our house, and the trim plus the framing around the run will be off-white.
So, that's the chicken coop plan right now. It's been a constantly evolving plan, since we originally planned to custom design, then the coop we originally planned to purchase from CCOnly went out of stock while we waited to get HOA approval, and now we're waiting for a weekend with no snow on the ground so that we can get the process started! I'm looking forward to learning from the whole process, and giving our little chickens a nice home in our backyard.
We ended up ordering this coop from CCOnly.com:
By our calculations, our 3 girls should be fine in here, especially since we plan to get a portable run to use when we are outside with them. One of the things I like about this coop is that if we do end up deciding they need a larger run, we can add on an extension relatively easily.
Of course, since we back up to open space and we have seen coyotes, foxes, and hawks frequently, we will be predator-proofing. Our plan for that involves digging down and out about a foot, laying 1/4" hardware cloth (to prevent anything from digging up into the run, like rats, voles, etc), then building up a foundation of CMU blocks with hardware cloth along the sides. Then the coop base will sit on the CMUs, with the hardware cloth from the foundation coming up and connecting to the hardware cloth on the sides of the run. The trench will be filled back in, and I'm considering laying pavers along at least one side so that there's a solid place to stand in the winter when the yard can get muddy from snow melt. We also got solar powered predator deterrents that use little red lights to mimic eyes. I'll write more about those once we install them and I know if I like them or not!
The coop also must be painted to match the house (one of our HOA rules). The body of the coop will be the same gray-blue as our house, and the trim plus the framing around the run will be off-white.
So, that's the chicken coop plan right now. It's been a constantly evolving plan, since we originally planned to custom design, then the coop we originally planned to purchase from CCOnly went out of stock while we waited to get HOA approval, and now we're waiting for a weekend with no snow on the ground so that we can get the process started! I'm looking forward to learning from the whole process, and giving our little chickens a nice home in our backyard.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Welcome Kathryn, Clara and Kaylee!
We've been planning to get chickens for a while now, and we finally did it! We have coop plans in the review process with the HOA (more on those details later) and a brooder with three chicks in the guest bathroom. Say hello to the new additions to our family:
We got two Araucanas (also known as Easter Eggers) and one Welsummer. They were supposed to be about a week old when I brought them home on Monday, but we're pretty sure the Welsummer is at least a couple days younger than the Araucanas because she is so much smaller and her feathers aren't as developed yet.
A while back Sean and I decided that if/when we got chickens, we were going to name them after strong science fiction female characters whose names start with a "k" sound.
This is one of the Araucanas. She quickly asserted herself as the dominant chick, so she is Captain Kathryn Janeway (Star Trek Voyager).
The other Araucana. She is named Clara Oswin Oswald (Doctor Who). She's already proving herself a handful, loves to try to fly whenever I'm cleaning the brooder and wants to be in the middle of all action.
This is the Welsummer, Kaylee Frye (Firefly). She's a sweetie and loves following Kathryn around.
Surprisingly, Fleck has adapted to the new residents fairly well. The first day she was a little freaked out by all the cheeping, but the second day she hung out on the guest bed most of the day listening to them. We have a baby gate up between the guest bath and the guest room, so she couldn't get in. I also closed the bathroom door if I couldn't be in the room with the animals. I don't think Fleck would do anything, but she is a cat so I don't trust her completely with my chicks.
The chicks are so much fun to watch! I'm looking forward to the weather warming up so we can get our coop built and move the girls outside. I'll try to post somewhat regularly about the chickens, it shouldn't be too hard with all the pictures I'm taking of them!
We got two Araucanas (also known as Easter Eggers) and one Welsummer. They were supposed to be about a week old when I brought them home on Monday, but we're pretty sure the Welsummer is at least a couple days younger than the Araucanas because she is so much smaller and her feathers aren't as developed yet.
A while back Sean and I decided that if/when we got chickens, we were going to name them after strong science fiction female characters whose names start with a "k" sound.
This is one of the Araucanas. She quickly asserted herself as the dominant chick, so she is Captain Kathryn Janeway (Star Trek Voyager).
The other Araucana. She is named Clara Oswin Oswald (Doctor Who). She's already proving herself a handful, loves to try to fly whenever I'm cleaning the brooder and wants to be in the middle of all action.
Surprisingly, Fleck has adapted to the new residents fairly well. The first day she was a little freaked out by all the cheeping, but the second day she hung out on the guest bed most of the day listening to them. We have a baby gate up between the guest bath and the guest room, so she couldn't get in. I also closed the bathroom door if I couldn't be in the room with the animals. I don't think Fleck would do anything, but she is a cat so I don't trust her completely with my chicks.
The chicks are so much fun to watch! I'm looking forward to the weather warming up so we can get our coop built and move the girls outside. I'll try to post somewhat regularly about the chickens, it shouldn't be too hard with all the pictures I'm taking of them!
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