Chicken Update!

The older chickens are now 19 weeks and the younger at 13 weeks. It's been an adventure getting through their life stages. From raising them in a box with a light on them to keep them warm, to wing clipping and now egg laying within the next few weeks for the older chookas.

When we we started all of this we had no idea how busy our lives would be, so building the coop and the chicken run/yard was a little (or should I say A LOT) overwhelming. We managed to add what was needed at the time and vowed to make updates later when the temperatures dropped to a more tolerable temperature for such a project. (You can look at earlier posts to see the change)

Well the time has finally arrived!

In steps the task of explaining my long drawn out plans to dh. I'm such a big picture thinker that my poor husband hangs his head when I have yet another element to add to the already huge plan. When I try to explain the "big picture", he often asks me, "Doesn't your brain ever take a rest?" I respond by telling him another long story about how all of this will come together and make our lives a little easier in the long run. Poor guy, he has to go to work to get some quiet time. :)

Here's part one of the animal enclosure - the chicken yard!





We were blessed to mostly use reclaimed wood for the bottom half of the walls. This saved a ton and "the plan" is to landscape in front of the wall and allow vines to grow over the top. This should help provide some shade through the scorching summers here.

Look at the bottom picture where the screened door is. We have found a wonderful addition to watering the chickens - a dripper. It's just like the ones used for rabbits. We have used one inside our house for the parakeets for a long time and I thought, "Hmm, if the parakeets can use it, why not the chickens?" Well, the chickens took to it like ducks to water, lol. Whew, and I must say it's SO much easier!

Here's a picture of one chickie using the dripper:



We need to add another one. With eleven chickens using this we go through two bottles per day. The great thing is that the water is CLEAN when they drink it. If you know anything about chickens or any other bird, their water can get absolutely disgusting within minutes.