The baby chicks are ready for the great outdoors! They have been living in the "transition" coop the past few weeks, which is a rather small (but quite cute) little hen house with a tiny attached run. It is Atomic's house, and she has been none to pleased to share her home with six youngsters. And they are terrified of this big chicken who paces back and forth when penned in, so they frantically dart up and down when they see her coming.
The chicks aren't big enough to free-range safely yet, so every morning I let Atomic out and try to contain the babies. Atomic has usually eaten their food and knocked over their water by then, so I have to smooth some ruffled feathers and get everyone fed and hydrated. Then, in the evening, we have to wait until dusk when all the birds have settled in to locate Atomic and put her back in her coop so she'll be safe through the night and lay her egg in the nest box the next morning.
It's been a rather trying few weeks, so I'm happy to announce we have the big girl coop repaired. It still needs a rain cover of some sort, and I'd like to provide a bit of shade from the western sun, but it's large and secure, just in time for our trip out of town so the pet sitter doesn't have to deal with the craziness of too many girls under one roof.
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| Making repairs |
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| The igloo doghouse is a temporary donation to give the chicks some shelter from the elements until we can get a proper roof on. |
Jeff calls it the Taj Macoop. Not that it is particularly fancy, but because it appears to have its own satellite TV system! Not really, of course. That is a remnant of the previous resident who was a big fan of television, video games, and all kinds of electronics, judging by the items he left behind.
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