The coop

The coop is finished. Hallelujah!

I didn't think I'd ever see the day. It wasn't that difficult, its just that I had to do most of the work by myself therefore it became a back breaker. Holding long boards while trying to drill screws is a real pain but I 'gotter dun'. I made it from discarded lumber and left behind stuff from Habitat for Humanity. It kept the cost down. I did put a real steel roof on it which cost more than I expected but I didn't want to have to do it again or have the roof blow off in some of the terrible storms we get here in Arkansas. Because it didn't take that many sheets of roofing, they all matched. The roofing manufacturer always has left over 'ends' from the rolls of steel that they will discount. A neighbor gave me the door from a house she and her husband tore down.

Chickens just love it, close and cozy, warm and out of the weather. I hung a heat lamp that also produces light as I was told chickens need at least 8 hours of daylight to keep laying eggs.

All the racket I created disturbed the egg laying process so they hung back a couple of weeks before it was business as usual. I sold all my eggs plus a quart of pickled aggs Sunday. Staying at the same place at the same hours on the same day establishes a routine that new customers soon become familiar with. My excess production went in about an hour and a half.

I get rave reviews about how great my eggs taste and that it reminds people of the eggs they ate as children. Can't get any better than that.

I planted a patch of grass for them to chew on during the winter. Because the winters here are not that bad, winter rye is all it takes to keep them happy. I just throw it out on the bare ground, water periodically to keep it moist and Voila! Grass. Chickens go nuts over it. That and leaves. They will scratch in a litter of leaves to the point that you'll have leaves from here to breakfast.