With the recent loss of Margie, the rest of the girls have been hanging around the house, venturing only to the veg garden (gate's open now that it's mostly empty) occasionally to raid the compost heap. It was a hawk that got her, and now the chickens are understandably spooked by all flying things. So I told Tom we ought to leave some of the back deck's furniture out for the winter so they have something to hide under.
Tom took it a step further and made them a mini-coop on Monday. He has since added hinges to the two side panels to help us get to the eggs they sometimes lay in there. This'll be there for the colder months. I also removed some of the lattice that covered up the access to the front and back porches and back decks. You can see a bit of it in the bottom picture. It looks extrememly tacky without it, but at least the chickens have a safe place to go. And as Tom says, we'll do anything to keep them happy and laying those beautiful eggs.
5 comments:
What a guy! That looks like a fine supplementary chicken hut.
That's a fine shelter, but your back porch is going to become encased in ice & chicken poop, you realize, in just a very few months. ;)
Ahhh chickens, you gotta love 'em!
Oh, lucky chickens. And they'll be so much warmer too, from the heat from the house. I worry about hawks all the time. But without the rooster, the girls don't weem to worry much at all.
Artemisia: poop is always a problem on that back porch but what can you do, they love it there.
Meresy-g: so what do you think? Do we need a rooster? We had one, but he went for a midnight drive (a long story). We'll probably get more chicks next spring, and maybe we'll keep the boy, if we get one. Do you think a rooster is "necessary?" (They're certainly happier without one!)
Chicken condos. Does come with cable? :)
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