Henhouse Construction

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I want to thank everyone who suggested bribing our chickens with oatmeal. This is the first "treat" they've found tempting. I'm glad Robb and I had worked with birds in the past, because it prepared us for their panicky behavior. Our poor chickens. They are so terrified of us. They all cram into a cowering heap, behind their feeder, and try to bury themselves in the corner of their brooder box. It's a pathetic spectacle.

Robb has continued working on our chicken coop. He's added the nest boxes, on the left of the structure. They'll have a hinged top, so that we can collect eggs without having to crawl inside the henhouse.

You can see some spare hive-boxes, piled inside the henhouse. We're planning on splitting up several of our colonies of bees, and housing them with friends. One colony will go to Allie, who lost her bees when one of her neighbors sprayed her hive with insecticide. She's located a more secluded spot in her yard, and plans to try again.

Comments

Keep working with them, picking them up, holding them, you'll be surprised how friendly they become. I do love your coop. It's so colorful, and clearly built to last.

The front of our hives were almost scary today. Poor bees, been cooped up because of the rain, and they came out in clouds this afternoon. We so need to split...again! Just need the rain to hold off for another 24 hours!
Amber said…
I sat in bed with mine snuggling around my neck for a couple of hours. The next time they saw me they came running!
Another treat that mine like is the chick starter mixed with a little hot water and some yogurt. Be careful about giving them anything but starter in the beginning, because they need grit to digest anything else.
When they are older, you can give them mealworms.. they go nuts for that, but again, they will need grit (get parakeet grit from any pet store). Mine are now 6-7 weeks old and they run to me whenever they see me coming. They think they are going to get a treat!
I'd live in your henhouse...it is tres chic. Does it have running water and a bathroom?
Keystone Khans said…
Our back yard chickens are approaching a year old, and they are very friendly. If we step into the yard while they are free ranging, they all come running to see if we have any treats. When ours were tiny, they LOVED plain yogurt and would eat it from our fingers. They don't need grit for that so we gave them a little almost every day. We also made sure to pick every one up every day and hold them. Now we feed them scratch from our hands to keep them interested. And the eggs are the best we have ever tasted.
sarcasmo said…
That coop is BEAUTIFUL! Nice construction, creative, great colors :) Prettiest coop I've ever seen! Thanks for sharing.

Di, Hixson TN (AQ)
Stefaneener said…
Sounds great. Our chicks are going to have to get used to going in and out of the coop soon. Too bad the dog chased and scared two of them. I don't know what we're going to do.

The bees are really struggling with the rain, I'm with CVS -- you can practically see them partying when the sun shines!

The coop is looking great.
Nancy Lewis said…
Beautiful henhouse, and I loved the photos of the baby chicks!

I'm starting a series on my blog that will feature people in the city who have poultry; can I interview you or would you consider a guest post? http://faultlinefarm.blogspot.com

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