the chicks are 3 weeks old and look like....well, they look like chickens instead of fluff balls! they're almost all the way covered in feathers, except their fuzzy little baby heads and bellies. and they're all still alive!they've been living in our house for 3 weeks and haven't made too much noise at all, but, they have been making poop (not too smelly, but chocolate-chippy according to Ladybug). and now that they like to perch on the walls of their inside home, there is POOP on my floor (see bird at left demonstrating pooping-on-the-floor perching).
that poop needs a coop!
not to worry, the hubs and I have been working on it every weekend for a month! the chickees will have a new home by the time the temperature is just right for them to be outside.our design was inspired by a fancy coop from a home & garden magazine a friend gave me and several build-a-backyard coop books we checked out from the library. my FIL is a designer...(of pipes, and now coops), so he helped us figure out the structure of my mind's masterpiece.
here's our progress so far (i'm just a little proud...cause I've put in some woman-power hours):
the frame
the back side screened
the side screened & the chicken run door attached
the nesting boxes added above storage area
the nesting (EGG) door attached
the roof on
shingles attached (yes, that was all me, thank you thank you very much)
this weekend we're tackling the door for the coop and the chicken run escape door below. I have been loving this construction stuff and am excited to have a new place for chicken poop!