Snow Storms 2 & 3

The girls waiting the storm out inside their coop

While we had a pretty mild winter this January and February, the weekly snow storms of 8" and more in March and April have made up for it.  After shoveling out the chicken yard and coop, I had a little thought to myself...  why am I doing this?  I love the chickens and they are part of the family, but I'd rather be inside the warm house playing with the kids.  I also know the chickens don't like the deep snow and end up spending the days in the coop waiting for the snow to melt.  

Coming out for a walk after the snow

The coop during the storm

With a little notice for the next storms, I started covering the roof of the chicken run with some old carpet.  It worked nicely and actually kept the snow completely off the floor of the run.  The chickens came out during the snow and ate a bit of food and nibbled on the snow.

A nice dry chicken run

Chicken Run Updates

I had to move the food tube away from the back of the cage to keep from feeding the squirrels!

A couple photos of the run.  I noticed that the chickens were devouring the food.  I had recently changed from the Layena Crumbles to the Layena Pellets.  At first, I thought the chickens were eating the larger food pellets at the same rate they were eating the smaller crumbles.  But one afternoon I was watching the chickens from inside the house and noticed the neighbor hood squirrel was grabbing the food through the fencing!  The chickens weren't gorging themselves, the squirrel was stealing the pellets!  Needless to say, I now have start paying attention to how I was placing the food tube against the back of the fencing.  

Evidence of the chickens escape attempt by digging a tunnel under the coop!  ;)

Another note about the chicken run is the bottom of the run.  When I built the run, I placed stapled wire fencing along the bottom of the frame and under all the rock.  Click here to see the buried fencing.  After reading about several people who did the same kind of thing to keep predators from digging under the coop IN the run.  I noticed today, that the chickens were actually digging inside the coop!  I never thought the wire fencing would be used to keeping the chickens from digging OUT of the coop!  ;)

Chicken run upgrade

Mermaid spreading some hay in her new run

Being a bit new to home ownership and yard responsibilities, I asked around for advice on what I should do to the grass for the winter.  The advice I received was to aerate, fertilize and over seed.  So, I called a guy for yard aeration, and ran to Home Depot for grass seed and fertilizer. Once I got all the seed out, I was about to let the chickens run the yard like normal...  then I Googled "chickens + grass seed" and found out that chickens LOVE grass seeds.  The only thing they love more then the seed, is crisp green baby grass.  

So.... with that info, I realized I needed to quarantine the chickens for a while the grass comes in and get established.  I didn't want to keep them in the coop all the time, so I ran back to HomeDepot for some lumber and hatched a plan (wink wink) to open up their run a little.  I build a short fence along one side of the coop to the fence.  Then I took one of the wire walls down and built a door the same distance to the fence.  When the gate/door is opened up, it allows the chickens out of the smaller run but closes them into the larger fenced in run. 

I'm sad to have to keep the chickens from grazing the yard, but hope the it doesn't take too long for the grass to grow in.  I'll keep you updated on how they like the bigger run and how long they are kept from the yard. 

New coop/gate door opened

New coop gate/door closed

New shorter fence

Chicken Run - Completed

The chicks hiding under the ramp the first few moments in their new run

I got the chicken run completed this weekend!  I was a little worried about the chicks finding their way back into the coop, so I put some feed on the ramp.  I went out just before bedtime and the feed was gone and the chicks were in the coop.  :)   I put their feeder outside and water inside to also help promote going back and forth.

Add wiring on top

Door assembled

Chick feeder in run

  I also installed the feeder below the roof of the coop.  I want to keep the feed as dry as possible.

Wire added to east side

The chicks hiding under ramp in their first few minutes in the run

Chicken Run - Day 1

Chicken run - After Day 1

I got some time this week and got a head start on the chicken run.  I have been letting the chickens "free range" out in the back yard over the last two weeks.  I've let them out from 20min up to 4 hours and they really seem to enjoy exploring the yard.  However, I do need to get their run completed so they can go in and out of their coop on their own.  The run is basically a 4'x8' rectangle about 42" high.  I am going to enclose it with welded wire to prevent predators. (I saw a raccoon infront of the house just this week).  I am also going to add rock and gravel on the floor of the coop for moisture and chick poop drainage.  I will add a door for human access too.  I dont foresee spending a lot of time in the run, but I want to be able to get in there if need be.

This was a pretty expensive trip to Home Depot.  I had to buy 50' of 4' black welded wire $60, 7 bags of river rock $30, 7 bags of gravel $30 plus some extra 2"x4"s.  I also bought an electric staple gun which is AWESOME!  Its so easy to use and only cost $27.  I am a staple fiend now and it makes attaching the wire to the wood very EASY.

Step 1 - Build frame and staple the wire around the bottom

Step 2 - Add river rock

Step 3 - Add gravel

Step 4 - Add soil

I am pretty please with the progress today.  I need to build the door, then paint all the wood, then I will finally staple the wire fencing.  I'll post more photos as I get more work done.  Cheers!