Lancelot Acres

YAY! I'm getting a new chicken coop!

WOOHOO!

I am so excited.  DH was going to build me a new chicken coop this year.  The old one is, well, old...and small, and drafty...

We'll keep the old one as it's out of the way and I can raise guineas in there easy enough. 

I really wanted a new coop for my hens though.  My little flock of 'pets'.  DH was going to build one for me this year, but then we came across one online for $400.  We'd have that much $$ into one if we built it, and this one is insulated (my chickens won't know what to do in an insulated building LOL).  Anyway, we have to pick it up about 2 hours away, and it will not be an easy drive home.  It will be heavy to pull and hard to set up, etc. 

I am just so excited.

It looks like a little kid's playhouse, and it has two separate rooms inside, so I can keep babies in one side, if I need too.

Well, that is my excitement for the day/week/month.  LOL.  I can't wait to get it.  We'll have to wait for the weather to dry up a bit though.  It's been rainy here and the ground is saturated...it will be hard to get into the area where the coop is sitting now.

My chickens aren't going to know what to do with themselves!  LOL.  Of course, they'll probably just keep going back to the old coop.  They've been in there for so long, I don't know if they'll take to the move as well as I'd like them too.

I thought if I kept them locked in the new coop for a few days, that they'd return there after that?  I guess we'll just have to wait and see.  They've never had another coop, and my Malarki (rooster), Blacki and Buffy (banty hens), have lived in that coop for over 5 years.  They are my oldest chickens, the rest of them came along after that.

We will have to build a pen for them, attached to the new coop.  Do you all have a pen?  Our current coop has a pen/run that is attached to the coop.  It's a covered pen, so they can get outside, but still be safe from predators (neighbor dogs, hawks, raccoons, coyote, etc).  Our chickens are free-range, and it is rare that they are locked in during the day, but occasionally, if we are going to be gone all day, we'll leave them locked up and safe. 

Do you all have any pictures of your coops on your blogs?  I'd love to see them.  I'm looking for ideas on how to build the outside pen area.

Hugs,
Lisa

Wonderful!

{ 09:12, 2006-Mar-14 } { Posted by southernbelle }

I'm yahoo-ing with ya!

Coops

{ 11:00, 2006-Mar-14 } { Posted by spinninggrandma }

Great that you will have a new coop. I would suggest keeping them locked in for about a week. But don't be surprised if they keep going back to the old one. Just have patience ... catch them at night, put them back in the new one. Eventually, they will 'get' it. And your new ones that you raise will think of this one as home sweet home.