Last blog we left off with three sides, a roof and a floor. Bear and John Dear were working hard to get things finished up so the kids could move out to their new house. This is the next chapter in the blog of coop.
Bear and the kids were doubtful of our ability to pull off finishing things up last night. Bear and Jambalaya were sharing their reservations.
John Dear plowed ahead with the door framing despite all the criticizim from the kids.
But, Bear insisted that Dad's optimism was silly.
She finally decided to pitch in and help out despite her doubts.
Bear supervised Short Round cleaning up and getting everything ready for when the wire goes up.
But quickly got distracted by other important jobs needing done.
I think It's looking good so far, and really hope the kids appreciate all of John Dear's hard work.
Here you can see the ventilation along the eves of the roost house. High up to prevent drafts while still allowing air flow.
Here is the roost house ready for it's door. bear inspects John Dear's hard work.
As evening sets in the kids give up on John Dear and decide they want to go back to their run in the kitchen. Chewy dog waits patiently for her turn in the yard.
I decide to give in and let the kids inside for one last night as it is now obvious despite our best efforts, the coop will not be ready for them by sun down.
Bear decides she will celebrate being right with a bowl of moms amazing popcorn. Pretty sure she shared some with the kids too...
I decide to out smart the kids for one more night by putting a baby gate across the top of their run so they will stay put. That lasted until they were full from their dinner snack... and I was safely out of the room. When I walked back into the kitchen this is what I found.
So much for out smarting them. I am pretty sure Peppa was the ring leader of this coo. I decided to go ahead and leave them for the night, since they had obviously won this round. At 6 am I promptly relocated the sleepy kids back into the run with a full feeder of food. That lasted until 8 am when Peppa boldly opened our bedroom door wondering where I was and why she had not been let out yet.
I tell you it is rather startling when you are half asleep, know no one else is in the house, and see the door open. Especially when no one appears to be there. I got up to see what was going on only to see Peppa's fluffy butt dashing across the floor like she had been caught with her foot in the cookie jar. (Something I wouldn't doubt in the least.) I took her hint and let the crew out for the day. After all half the flock was running around my kitchen at that point, so all I had to do was open the back door.
With the new added insensitive of Peppa's threats to simply waltz into our room and wake us up every morning if we didn't hurry up and finish her coop, we promptly resumed our work.
John Dear finished up the doors and I checked to see if I would be needed before heading out to the neglected garden for some much needed TLC.
After being reassured that John Dear would holler if he needed a hand, I gave Little Bit some loves then headed out to the garden.
I was happy to see the Potatoes are finally up.
I finished thinning the first crop of Radishes, and went ahead and sowed the second crop in the empty spots where my sprouts are mysteriously missing (pointed look in the direction of the cool kid gang).
There are also teeny tiny Brussels sprouts, Turnips, Broccoli and Cauliflower sprouts starting to pop up just as we harvest the last of the winters Cole crop. But nothing worth photographing yet.
The Garlic, Lemon Balm and Mustard are all looking great. The mustard is putting on seed pods and the first crop of seeds will be ready before we know it!
All in all it still really doesn't look like much yet.
After my few minutes of work in the garden I wondered back over to the coop to check on things. John Dear and Bear had just finished the chickens door.
They were just testing out the door as I walked up.
Looks good! But will the kids like it?
Satay and Doro check out the view from their new home.
Violet takes a break from dinner to admire the sunset from their new front porch, while Jambalaya takes quick peek of their new yard.
Chewy Dog and Man Child inspect the days work.
You can see that we have the bottom roll of wire up now, and one side of the plywood on. When it is done the entire coops run will have the chain link, plus poultry wire. The poultry wire goes clear down to the block and will go clear across the top. The sides will have plywood attached right down to the block, this way no critters can sneak under. And with the poultry wire and the wood sub roof the top should also be plenty secure. The poultry wire is snugged up and attached to the chain link and the metal run frame. The front and back will have removable plywood panels that we can attach easily in evenings for added security and then remove again in the mornings for extra ventilation in the summer.
The goal is to create a secure enough coop run that the little roost house door can remain open night and day at least in warmer weather, so that the kids can come and go freely and safely. This will make up for the tiny roost house and prevent them from getting cramped. There is little worry of critter looting, since Chewy dog is on patrol, but... better safe than sorry.
Bear inspects the feeder supplies and formulates a plan of attack for the next phase of operation coop.
Bear does a victory dance as we close the kids in for their first night in their new house. I am not sure what they think of this whole spending the night outside bit quiet yet. But with Chewy dog vigilantly on patrol, I have no worries they will be just fine their first night in their new home.
So there you have it, the open air coop with an enclosed roost house, as it stands tonight. All in all not bad for a weeks worth of work if you ask me.
Stay tuned for the finished product, complete with real roosts (not the current temp one), PVC self feeders, poop free watering, oh ya, and a finished roof (likely a tarp for now).
And then it will be back to the garden for us! We have seeds pilling up that need to get in the ground.
Oh ya, and if you have lost count of how many outfits Bear has gone through in the course of the building of the coop, don't worry, so have I. I can promise you though that how ever many outfits you saw here, she wore at least twice as many.
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