Monday, June 20, 2011

June 20 - C'est Fini!

Whew!  What a fiasco this coop has turned out to be!  Finishing up the paint was no problem, but the final assembly of the ramp, pulley system, and doors was way more difficult than we imagined.  I suppose that the 100+ degree temperature factored into it a bit.  Why do we live here again?  Hah.  This coop is actually called a chicken tractor because it's portable.  Actually, this specific design is called a chicken ark because you carry it using the handles like an ark.  Cute, right?  Anyway, the way the coop works is that you move it around every so often to keep the chickens over new parts of the lawn; that way, the chickens get to fertilize a new plot of land and eat more bugs and whatnot on the new plot of ground, but it also lets the previously inhabited plot of land get rain and sun to stay healthy.  This way, you can keep the coop from becoming this crazy stinky part of your backyard that you just have to avoid.  There are two doors that open on each end of the coop; the bottom door opens to the "run" (where the chickens peck around and walk around during the day) to access the chickens and their food and water.  The top door opens to the nesting boxes for easy access to the eggs.  Also, the two big roof panels come off, exposing the entire roosting and nesting area for easy cleaning!  At night, the little ladies will naturally climb up the ramp into the roosting area to go to sleep and lay their eggs, and we will go out and use the pulley system to close the ramp/roosting area, protecting the chickens further from nighttime predators.  The girls love their new home and are happy as can be. 

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