The New Coop

Hello everyone. The chicken man has been busy so I have not got pictures yet but they will be posted very soon. This weekend I have had some good times and some bad. The bad time happened this Friday when I arrived home after work to find that 7 of my 11 chicks, that were doing well all week long, had died. I am not fully sure what happened but all the youngest ones didn't make it. At first I was thinking that the older birds pecked them to death but they do not exhibit any damage to elude to this conclusion. The rabbit that is in the next cage had found his way over and the carcases were flattened but this happened, I believe, post-mortem. After thinking about it I think a raccoon or cat may have pestered them until they croaked. I think 1 chick was actually missing by the perp. My CSI team members (Country Scene Investigation) and I will not stop until the culprit is found, tried, convicted and sentenced (shot dead).

After this discovery, I moved the remaining chicks to a new more secure location and stepped up work on the new brooder for the chicks. The 6 straight run chicks are doing well and growing like weeds. The coop was completed Saturday and chicken moved in that evening. The next morning we were told that they approved of there new digs by 3 eggs in the egg bins.

The run was completed on Sunday and Brando was given the honor of opening the new coop door to let the chicken explore the new run. Due to her impatient nature she ended up shoving the first one out and the others followed in suit. After watching them for a bit I see a need for a shaded area because they all seemed to hang out in the shadow of the building. This is next to come. I wonder how long the grass will hold out with these 6 chickens? A couple of weeks I suppose.

Like I said I will post pictures soon. Thanks for reading.