Two Finds in One Morning

Yesterday morning we found our first little Cuckoo Marans egg in the new coop. They are known as the "Chocolate Eggers." Yup, the girls are now entering their point of lay. This means Farmer Rick needs to hurry up and build some nest boxes!

Perhaps the more unexpected find, though, was this large stone artifact at the intersection of several of our trails near the new coop, where I have undoubtedly walked right by it a zillion times. I am not sure if this is an early biface or a blank that was to be later made into something more refined.

Several decades ago a nearby field was excavated by the Texas Archaeological Research Lab of UTSA, and yielded many artifacts of Native American encampment. We suspect that our land, too, was a camping ground as we find the dark and angular limestone rocks used in their "ovens" and signs of worked chert. Back when the two creeks flowed, the place where I found this would have been a prime hunting spot.

Many times I've looked here for artifacts, and of course I only did the finding when I wasn't looking!

Coop Ramp and Enclosure

Tuesday Farmer Rick finished the ramp and a small chicken wire and t-post enclosure for the new flock's first exposure to the great outdoors. (Notice the chickens-with-disabilities wing rail for Ahab).

The idea is to make sure they don't wander too far and that they learn how to come in at dusk before you let them have total free range.

Creeeeeeak....
Hey, there appears to be a big hole compromising the safety of our coop!

Bruno, the Brabanter rooster cautiously checks it out.

Nothing stops Zena the Appenzeller Spitzhauben. They seem to be a feisty breed. Outta my vay big boy, zee day's a vasting!

After most of the girls are already out scratching, King Avelino the Gold Laced Polish rooster slowly ventures out gallantly brings up the rear with a loud crow. All is well, my fair subjects, enjoy your explorations!

Tuesday evening, we discovered all the chickens had somehow escaped the enclosure, leaving us to chase and catch them to put them back in the coop.

Wednesday morning Farmer Rick raised the height of the enclosure. Wednesday evening Elvis and Ahab had escaped. These are the most unlikely explorers. Elvis can't see (because of his Polish pouf) and Ahab hobbles around (he came with a broken leg) so we found where they had weaseled under the wire and fixed that.

Tonight King Avelino and Bruno made it over the fence, presumably where it sagged. Farmer Rick will be adding t-posts so it doesn't sag.

This flock definitely has a different personality than our others!

Coop Move-in Day!

Today Farmer Rick finished the main coop, and got it ready for move-in!


He brought over Avelino, the head rooster, a Gold Laced Polish, for a quality control inspection.

Avelino is named after a young budding rock guitarist that accompanied his foster mom to pick up the Rhode Island Red roosters we did not order. They are some nice folks I met through Freecycle. I could instantly see the hair style resemblance and decided the name was perfect.

After passing inspection, we moved the rest of the flock over. While the bedding was fresh, I put up my feet so the chickens could feel safe while exploring their new home.

Here's the feeding and watering station.

FR whipped up this roost before sunset, and Zena is checking it out.

Now we can celebrate having our bathroom back. Here's to finishing the first phase of the coop! And guess what we're using for the toast...

...none other than Rex-Goliath, the Giant 47 Pound Rooster Chardonnay!

Coop Roof Compromise and Some Details

After the framing for the temporary shed roof started going up, I started liking it more than my original vision of a salt box gable roof. I couldn't see putting Farmer Rick through building, then ripping off, a perfectly good shed roof and then having to build all those trusses.

There comes a time for compromise...like when your bathroom is filled with nearly full grown chickens!


Right before the roof went on both of us realized we'd forgotten an important detail--the overhang on two of the sides. So Farmer Rick added the supports with some Simpson Tie joist hangers. If you haven't discovered the wonders of the Simpson Ties hardware line, you should check their products out. The system combined with wood is like tinker toys for grown ups and can be easily reused, lending to their recycle-ability. They also ensure a strong connection.

The windows and vents give the coop lots of natural light and ventilation.

The shed roof is only a little higher on one end, to shed rain away from the front.

We'll need to support this end with posts once it's got the weight of roofing.

Looks a little Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie style from down in the creek. Will look awesome clad in some recycled lumber.

The coop is nicely sited to be shaded at the right times, making it fairly passive solar. The only thing that could have been better was if this live oak was a deciduous tree to let in more light in the winter. That gray stuff in the oak branches is ball moss, which is epiphytic, like an orchid, drawing its nutrients from the air, not the tree.

I won these antique barn hinges in an online auction for .99 cents. Can't beat that!

The door threshold has been installed. Unfortunately we will have to sweep and mop to get the mud from last week's downpour off the floor.

Here the plywood roofing foundation has been nailed down.

And the last window installed.

The recycled tin roofing has been nailed to the plywood. This would make a nice deck with a view of the hills. We will have to research how to do this.

Since we haven't found an antique hasp latch, we spray painted a new one. We use dog leash clasps during the day, and locks at night, figuring raccoons can't use keys. I hope we are not wrong.

There is no plumbing on this side of the creek. FR drilled a hole through the wall and put a small segment of garden hose with an on/off valve so we can fill the chicken waterer daily from inside the coop.


Next will be building the roosts and hanging the feeder, and other small details. We will hopefully move the larger chickens out tomorrow!

Coop Door

We've learned the quickest way to bring rain in an exceptional drought is to be on holiday or begin any sizable project. Or both.

I went out to document the coop door construction and got caught in the shower.

The only dry place to hide was under the saw horse table after we stashed the tools there first. It was a little cramped.


But the fickle sun came back out, and Farmer Rick began constructing the coop door.

The inside of the door is plywood, like the rest of the coop.

But the outside is rough cedar recycled from our neighbor's deck. The painted side was turned under. 'Cuz the chickens said they will like it better that way.

What a nice rustic door! I'm so proud of Farmer Rick's ever-improving carpentry skills.

Just as he got it shimmed--with me on the inside of the coop to help hold the door--the clouds let loose again. Um, there is no roof yet, so there was no alternative than to crawl out the chicken door without messing up the shimming. One problem though, there is no handle yet on the chicken door. By the time FR got around to kick it open, yours truly was drenched.

We ran down the hill into the creek, and I decided to take the steep embankment up, only to slip and slide in the mud, making it less of the shortcut I had hoped it would be. FR got a little wet.

I got a whole lotta wet.

But it was fun. Sorta. It would have been more fun without two dislocated ribs.

The sun came back out.

The door got hung. These are temporary hinges until we find some antique barn hinges.

Here's the door from the inside.

There should be a rainbow above, we are that close to moving the chickens and reclaiming our bathroom. Next step is building the temporary roof.

Enclosing the Coop

Dude, what is taking so long? Aren't we supposed to be in a coop by now?

This week Farmer Rick has been enclosing the coop framing with new 3/4 inch plywood. This will likely be covered on the exterior by recycled wood later for a nicer look.

We are very proud that most of this building is made of recycled materials. I'm not sure how the chickens feel about it.

It's starting to feel very solid thanks to the plywood.

Even the temporary wall gets some.

Some of our recycled boards have a nice, weathered look. You can see we've used them in specific places where they will show, like over the door...

and also over the hardware cloth joints for added strength.

Here's a nice detail of the old wood on the inside vents.

The south wall is blocked from the harsh afternoon sun by a grove of trees, otherwise we would not have put in the windows. You can see the hole where the chicken door will eventually go.

They will have a pretty nice view entering the coop. Now what's left is building the chicken and people doors, and putting on a temporary roof before we can move the chicks out of our house.

Hurry up! It's getting very crowded in here!

Plan B

There comes a time in every chicken coop builder's life when they must consider Plan B... especially when chickens are filling both your bathrooms and soon threaten to run you out of your own home.

Introducing...the temporary wall making things nice and square, not to mention chicken-ready, while we figure out how to build curving walls. For feng shui, and all that.


Farmer Rick whipped that wall together this afternoon. I think the thought of having to hose ourselves off in the back yard has lit a fire in his carpentry soul.

Looking good! We had a temporary dividing wall in our other coop to be able to separate some of the breeds to begin with. But in the end it was one happy family and we were able to take it down. So this will be helpful when we have to put the different aged flocks together.


Hardware cloth goes up.

I love projects that don't involve digging!--Farmer Rick

There will be a plywood partial wall at the bottom, and battens over the studs to further secure the hardware cloth.

We were so worried about the security our first coop from predators we camped beside it the first night. That's when I threw my back out so badly I couldn't bend over for a week. L7 the chiropractor said as he forced it back into place. We have an air mattress now. I am wondering if they make baby monitors that can handle 75 yards? If we install a zip line across the creek, I could be there in a New York minute.