Meet the Gals
When we were first entertaining the idea of chickens, I had envisioned a quaint hen house with scalloped trim and a white picket fence. Ideally, they were to roam the back yard at their leisure and be cooped up for the night.
My vision didn't quite come to fruitation for many reasons:
Pre-made coops are expensive
Chris has limited (although getting better) carpentry skills
As soon as the chickens were delivered we met the neighborhood hawks
And the voice of Ray Lamontagne singing
"Papa's in the kitchen, mama's in the field
Murder in the hen house, mud flung high upon the wheels
Rooster in the dooryard just leaning on the horn
Wind so sweetly drifting through the ripening corn"
instantly came to mind.
We quickly realised we needed not only tall sides, but also a top to protect the girls from becoming lunch.
SO...the coop is a work in progress. It needs trim and some paint or stain. There are two windows for them, a perch, and four nesting boxes. (They are still teenagers and won't start laying until July/Aug.) I think they are happy with their space.
This particular breed are known as Kentucky Reds. The white one may or may not be a rooster. We aren't sure yet. We did see an episode of dirty jobs on sexing chickens, but we aren't sure we are up to the job. Time will tell, right?