On Saturday the chickens were moved from their indoor Pack & Play brooder to their permanent home – the outdoor coop. The chickens are five weeks old and seem fully feathered to my new-chicken-keeper eyes so we decided it was time for them and their constant, unending pooping to move outside.
We put down a nice thick layer of pine shavings in the coop and installed the heat lamp to provide a bit of a warmer spot for them to sleep at night. They seem really happy to be in the fresh air with plenty of room to run around.
Pine shavings in the coop.
Hooks where, eventually, the big feeders and waterers will hang. For now we just moved their little brooder feeder and waterer into the coop.
The pneumatic struts held the clean-out door up wonderfully! Note the blue blanket over the coop; that’s to keep heat in while they are adapting to being outside.
They won’t need the nesting boxes for awhile, but they are packed with straw.
Nick covered the floor of the run with straw as well.
With all that done, everything was all set for the girls.
We transported them from their brooder in a big cardboard box.
One of the Amerucanas was the first into the coop.
Austra White checking out her new space.
Nick enjoyed placing the chickens on the low roosting bar. Later I took them down.
They all seemed very happy in their new space. We checked in on them several times, naturally, and they quickly got to work scratching, pecking, eating, pooping and drinking.
They look beautiful, and so does the coop! Can't wait to get to this stage…we are at 3 1/2 weeks. Poop smell and dust are getting to me, but also our black australorp peeps insanely loudly every time she sees me, in an attempt to get me to pull her out of the brooder for cuddletime. I have to sneak quietly into the laundry room or she will see me and start in. It just tugs at my momma heartstrings–very sweet, but very hard to ignore!
Very cool! Glad they love it and you're happy too. That's the real win!
Mine are still in their watermellon bin brooder with day trips in the tractor at 2 months. Building your own coop gets you exactly what you want, but in a much slower timeframe. Darn this nasty spring weather!
Not sure where I saw it (Sunset? Interweb?) but someone had planted edibles on their coop roof. Reminded me of your tomatoes. 🙂
Congrats – the coop looks awesome! I'm sure the chicks will enjoy. We are building the same one & have already helped a friend build it as well – it's a great design. The pneumatic struts are a smart idea – might have to borrow that idea for ours. 😉 Hopefully, the rain will stop here & we can finish soon! The chicks are at 7 weeks & it's time for them to move out! 🙂
I noticed you had 2 adult hens then introduced 4 younger hens to the coop. Did you have any problems introducing the younger hens to the older ones?
It is great that you moved them! I need to do this with my hens soon! Thanks for sharing!
The coop looks great! I really like it! 🙂