The Chicken Hilton

Once all 12 girls were about 4 weeks old, Steve built a portable pen that we had in our barn. I could roll it out so the girls got fresh air and sunshine. The "barn' actually houses the olive oil press equipment, the bottled olive oil and a 'guest' bedroom.

whee...well, it did scare them to be rolled around....but it was fun for me!











At eight weeks old, all 12 'babies' went into the pen with it's Amish-made coop. We used vinyl coated chain link and dug it into the ground 12 inches for predator protection: the roof has shingles which is great for reducing the amount of mud from rainy days. Eight nesting boxes and my five only use 2 !! Notice that there is a cover over the nest boxes on the right side which lifts up for easy removal of eggs or cleaning the boxes. We have an interior waterer also and their feed is inside which keeps down the feasting by the wild bird population, mostly Juncos.

In July we realized that, as the girls grew, we needed more outdoor space, so we built the 'pasture' which is divided into two sections. One for grazing while the other one re-grows. I seed the pasture with a variety of 'growies': clover, oats, wheat, grasses, diakon radish, peas, and sometimes spinach.

We disassembled the "playground" after the hawk killed Blondie. 

Steve was kind enough to build me chicken project #9: another closed in addition to the coop pen so that the girls are safe from flying predators. In summer, they will appreciate the shade from the big water tank. I spread worms from the compost pile around this area for their scratch and peck pleasure.