by Seasonsgirl
The chickens should be happy now… we spent the whole weekend building them new laying boxes and perches. My mom and step-father came up to help us. It was a bigger job then I thought, but it is done now and the girls now just need to get used to it 🙂 They now have 9 new boxes and 3 old ones as well as 7 new perches… The old girls (Rhode Islands) hutches were falling apart. They were getting old so they needed to be replaced. They kept a close eye on us while we worked…
They were not too happy to give up their old ways and even got the new buff chicks to help them make a stand in front of their old houses…They were not happy to be made to move… But they moved and let us get on with our work.
The rain held off each day until we got done and then provided enough rain to get things wet and water my garden. Last night was the girls first night with the new boxes… they didn’t seem to happy and some wouldn’t even go in. After a while we went out and had to pick them up to show them where to roost now. Today one had layed in the new boxes and three others had laid in the new buff girls house we left in as it provides additional space for boxes and the new girls roosts. We needed to build new boxes and perches so all 16 of the girls have space to lay eggs and perch at night. It also makes things easier to clean.
This is the old hutches we had….
Now it looks like this…
We had a couple girls exploring it today and getting used to the setting. I felt bad as the Rhode Islands basically grew up since 3 months in those hutches, but it was time to get some nicer living for the ladies who give us delicious eggs. (Even if they aren’t the most beautiful things 😉 )
Only thing left to do is finish one ladder to the top boxes and add the clear sides panels to the outside of the run. I am happy thing are moving along, the weather is cooperating, and we had good help (thanks Mom and Bob). Tomorrow we hope to get that done along with getting hubbys shop back in working order. In other news we finally got some tomatoes that had turned red and I just had to eat a cherry tomato right off the vine… yum there is nothing like your own garden 🙂
Seasonsgirl 
🙂 very glad to hear that they have a nice new house to live 🙂 & that things are going well for you and your husband! 🙂
Hope this week will be great as well! 🙂
Thank you.. things are progressing and that is all we can ask for 🙂 I hope your week will be great as well 🙂
yes, thank you very much! 🙂 we had a birthday party today and now I’m a bit tired, hope this will be a calm week 😉
Birthday part that is tiring… who turned what age?
Hope you have a calm week too 🙂
yes 🙂 it was tiring but glad I wasn’t organizing it, it was my hubby’s niece, she turned 5 today and there were a lot of kids and mine was excited and jumping every where, we had to leave immediately after they cut the cake because he was tired (nap time) and he was screaming at everyone and asking me to hold him
we left and he went to sleep in the car 😉
Poor tired kiddo 😦 Glad you had fun despite the need to leave 🙂
Great job. They look awesome! It sounds like you have a plan and things are progressing well 🙂
We had a cool weekend with highs only about 70 degrees. The cattle loved it and I did too! I gathered up my girls and Matt and we weeded gardens / pastures and did “yard work” that we had neglected for too long. It is nice to get those projects done.
Good luck finishing up!
Anne
Thanks Ann… I figured it need to be functional not necessarily pretty 😉 I am happy things are progressing 🙂
Sounds like you had some beautiful weather… just perfect for outdoor work. So glad the kids and Matt helped you with the yard work and you got things done also.
Hope you all have a great week 🙂
Every time we clean or do something in the hen house, they kind of strike for a day or so and leave fewer eggs. And, no matter what we provide for nest boxes, they seem to all like the same couple of boxes. Kind of funny.
Yes they all seem to like the same boxes and perch… tonight they seem to be trying to find their ‘spot’… we will see how it goes… glad to hear you have had success with changes… hope we will too 🙂 It is comical 😉
Looks great! Chicken coop remodel is on our list of to-do’s for this week, too 🙂
Coop…coop, darn iPhone 😉
I fixed it 🙂
Good luck with it… It is worth it when it is done 🙂
The girls don’t know how lucky they are 🙂
Thank you 🙂
As soon as they get used to all of the new everything will be fine. I put fake eggs in my new boxes last year and mine use all of the new boxes now. I have 29 layers now and probably 12 bitties that I hope will be laying this fall. I have about 10 old hens that need to be culled but I just don’t have the heart to put them down and their so old we would never be able to eat them.
I took your advice and got back out the fake eggs we used before and out them in the boxes. I am hoping they will learn the new space today they just tried to crowd one of the baby girls boxes…. I don’t think I could kill a chicken either that was not edible enough….. it just seems not right. Thanks for the advice 🙂
Hope they get used to all the new soon and you get lots of nice eggs. Hugs
Me too we only got 2 yesterday and 3 today… they seemed to be freaked out by all the construction. I am hoping they will get back to normal soon too 🙂