The Custom Chicken Coop

 When discussing the possibility of chickens, I asked about a coop.  Andy said he had drawn up some plans for them.  I was expecting to see a little one-page rendition of how the picture would look.  Turns out, I completely underestimated my structural engineer spouse - he proceeded to show me 6 pages of drawings (made with a ruler and all types of notations that just make my head spin) complete with cross-sections...  After I okayed this and revised the budget a bit, he went to work!  This all happened while he was studying for the bar exam.  Working on the coop was his mental break from case after case of reading...in a month we'll see how well that paid off!

Below - yes, we started out with 3 baby chicks.  Then we decided that just wasn't enough.  (Really, who could blame me???  The cost of a coop is quite ridiculous - even if it wasn't an Andy Maas original...and all that for 3 little chickens that wouldn't supply enough eggs for our entire family?!?)  Andy found a feed store down in Malvern that sells chicks, so we went to pick out a few!  I was anticipating 3 more more - the rest of the family was envisioning many more!  We ended up with five more...yes, 8 chickens total...holy cow!  They lived in a stinky box in our garage for a few weeks until they were old enough to be outside...in their house...that wasn't yet completed!

 Definitely a group effort - Andy would give us little assignments to complete while he studied all day.  Then he would come home and work for an hour or so after dinner and then retreat to his cave to study more.  The kids LOVED painting (and their are white footprints on our driveway to prove it!) and did an awesome job!

 We love playing with our little chickens!  Highlight of the day was taking them in the front yard to run around!

 The naming of the chickens...the kids were entralled with the idea they would get to name these little friends.  They came up with blackie, whitey, goldie, etc.  I couldn't handle it!!!  These pets need a real name - something that means something - NOT a color!  (especially since they were babies with baby feathers)  It took a few weeks, but we came up with awesome keepers!  We would name one...wait a few days trying it out according to each chicken's personality...and then decide it was final.  I won't give you pictures of each little chicken, but I will share their names.  Drumroll please....
1 - Princess Buttercup (Princess Bride - we all love the movie)
2 - Nanny McPhee (again love the movie ((read: colin firth)) and she seemed to take care of the others.  she would squawk when we took any of the little chickens out and wouldn't stop until everyone was back in the box together)
3 - Junie B. Jones (from the books - this little gal is spunky!  When she runs, it is a complete zig-zag pattern with no rhyme or reason!  so funny to watch her)
4 & 5 - Pocahontas and Sacajawea (both are Barred Plymouth Rock hens and needed Indian-type names.  These are some of our favorite females from history!
6 - Little Red (either Hen or Riding Hood - Annie was desperate to have one of the chickens with a color name.  Little Red Hen is a book I often quote about all needing to pitch in because many hands make light work...so I could go with this one!)
7 - Kissin' Kate Barlow (from Holes - a book I have read-aloud to the kids and another favorite movie.  She has turned out to be the SOFTEST chicken imaginable.  She is very docile and we all love to hold her - her feathers are shiny and almost purple - definitely attractive, just like the real Kissin' Kate!)
8. Miss Betsy (Ross - she is 'supposedly' an Americana and should lay blue/green eggs.  My favorite female in history is Betsy Ross - I love the American flag and still tear up remembering our visit to see it in Washington DC.  She is a most beautiful hen and has been the favorite for a long time...Ben is holding her above)

The finished coop!  Wait...not quite done, but mostly there!  The box on the left is the egg box where there will eventually be little spaces for the hens to have quiet, private time to lay with eggs.  The window was $10 on craigslist and our super easy way to let the chickens out to roam around the yard.  (Yes, at dusk, they return home to bed!)  Inside is a heat lamp and a fan - with a little thermometer that reads inside the house so we can make sure they stay warm/cool enough.

Inside the coop - on the left is the food box, built from leftover scraps.  We can pour almost a full bag of food in there and it will last for several weeks.  A few weeks later, Andy made a tube going down to the ground so if the chickens are hanging around outside, they also have food.  On the right is the watering container - again, with a tube and spouts going outside below the coop - pretty cool contraptions if you ask me!  You can also see the perches on the left - the chickens like to be as high up as possible...  

                                       

 Above - we love to feed the chickens, leftover corn on the cob is a favorite, so is watermelon and cantaloupe!  A few weeks later, Andy built a chicken run so our little hens can leave the house and be outside when they want, not just when we let them out.  We now let them roam around the yard 2-3 hours each day.

 Emily loving on Nanny McPhee, by our huge squash plants...that only had male flowers!!!  For several weeks the kids kept trying to tell me that one of the hens was really a rooster.  I didn't believe them.  More and more evidence was pointing to the fact that Princess Buttercup was most definitely NOT a princess...starting about 430 in the morning and lasting throughout the day.  Were you aware that roosters crow ALLLLL day, not just before the sun comes up?!?  Once our neighbor could hear her/him, we knew it was time to make a change...

 Andy posted on craigslist, asking if anyone wanted a rooster and would be willing to trade for a hen.  He found a taker in Cleveland and drove our somewhat aggressive 'princess' to her new home.  Kids are saying goodbye...he returned with a smallish looking hen that supposedly was already laying eggs.  We kept her secluded in the garage for 3 days until introducing her to the rest of the group.  Each day, she layed an egg!!!  It was awesome!  She is very docile and sweet, and we love our Princess Buttercup so much!  (Sidenote - I was the one who was most adamant about getting rid of the rooster...I was also the only one who worried about his happiness no longer living with us.  The home he went to had 9 hens but a little coop and not much yard...would he still be happy?????  I still think about him at times and hope he is loved by his new family.)

Yesterday, October 1st, Ben went to look for Princess's egg in the coop - and found a tiny brown egg as well!!!  Someone else has finally started to lay and we are all so excited about it!!!