Chicken Fever

Some of you may know that I recently dove back into the raising of backyard chickens. I had chickens a few years ago, but sadly, I only had 2 and a predator had gotten to them and killed them :(

After that we decided that, to get new chickens, we would have to build a new coop. Our last coop was designed by us, and we used only material we had on hand, and in hindsight, it wasn't the best of ideas.
This time around we are going to build a coop that comes with a plan. (I will share this with you when we get it started) We'd been discussing getting more chickens, because we miss them & we really miss fresh eggs. There is nothing like a fresh egg! But we sort of bought them on a whim, having walked into the local Tractor Supply store & they were having their chick days, and next thing we knew we were coming home with 8 Buff Brahma chicks...ideally we would have built the coop BEFORE we bought them, but we didn't (seems like we like to be strapped for time on projects, or they don't get finished.

We've had the chicks for about 3 weeks now, and they've been living in a guinea pig cage. Unfortunately they are growing SO fast that they are already cramped for space, and the new coop isn't even started yet. What are we to do? They are starting to want to fight each other?! Well, we still have the old coop (one of the few times our laziness has paid off) So yesterday I said to my hubby, what if we transition them into the old coop? It's bigger than the cage, even if its not big enough for them when their full grown?" He agreed, and I asked him to move the coop closer to the house, since they are so young, and our yard keeps turning into a swamp. Now the coop is right up by the porch, and I have to clean it!

Once we got the coop up by the house and open it up, we see a little nest in the corner...some wild critter had made its home inside...(I hope it's an old nest) so now I feel that I have to clean the coop even better, because we don't know what's been living in there & I don't want my babies to get sick.
So, now here it is spring, still freezing outside and a snow storm coming tomorrow and I have to clean and disinfect a chicken coop...hope it dries, and move the babies in so they are nice and warm before it gets too bad out...I have a LOT of work to do today! So I better get started! I will let you know how it goes! :)



6:26pm...Update.
I have gotten the coop all nice and clean and moved the chicks in. They now have plenty of space without stepping on each others toes. I was a little concerned that they would get too cold out there with only 1 heat lamp, so before I moved them, I did a test. I hooked up the light and put the thermometer directly under it where the chicks may stay. After a while I went back to check and the thermometer read 100 degrees, when its 40 outside. That result leaves me confidant that when the temperature drops at night, they can cuddle a little under the light and not get too cold.

Here is a picture of them in their intermediate home. They will live here until the permanent coop is done.