Wednesday, November 01, 2006

The Chook House

Here are some pictures of inside the chicken house. This fall I cleaned all the junk out of this shed and moved the chooks all in here. It's a lot smaller than where they were, but it will also be a lot warmer in the winter months. At night I close the door and in the morning the water is still liquid even though everything outside is frozen solid. In colder months to come this may not always be the case, but I can also put a different bulb in the light fixture, one that will produce heat and not just light as the fluorescent bulb in there now does. I measured the inside of the shed and it's about 6'5" wide by about 7'5" long, so about 48.5 square feet and in the daytime they go out into their run, then a few days each week I let them out into the yard later in the day so they don't go to the neighbors place.

This little shed used to be beside my mobile home, wired with electricity. Then I decided to build on a second addition so the shed had to be moved to a different spot, so the wires were cut and have never been redone. It would be nice to have the light and plug ins working, but not a big deal. I have an extension cord running out there that I plug the light into and this has been working very well for several years now. So, the bulb in the ceiling doesn't work, but the green light fixture hanging above the roost does. I see the mice have been chewing on some of the wires so I must tape them up to be safe. Also I had it hanging from the ceiling, but it came down, so I think I'll put a screw in the ceiling to hold it up there. One needs to do little repair things here and there.

Here, on the roost, is Youngin' my Bantam rooster, as well as Bantam hens and the large brown hens who's breed I don't know.
In this pic you see on the shelf above the roost, the Americana x Sex Link rooster with a Bantam hen and 2 Americana x Sex Link hens. This rooster is much bigger than Youngin' but is afraid of him. Poor young fellow spends a lot of time on that shelf or running for his life.
Pigeons. One day a few years ago I went to feed the chickens and found a pigeon in the chicken house. She stayed, I named her Angel, and she multiplied... LOLNest boxes left from when I raised show rabbits. They come in very handy for laying boxes for the chooks.
I got this feeder at the auction last spring for around $7 or 8. It comes in handy. The resident "chooklet". This little Bantam is the youngest of the flock. It was one of 4 and I don't know what happened to the other 3, but this one is a tough little critter.

2 comments:

Wildside Musing said...

Thanks for sharing the photos of your chook house!

(And must say, you got a really good deal on your feeder!)

Alice (in BC Canada) said...

You're very welcome. Think they'll be warm and comfy this winter?

Yes, I did get a great deal. I haven't been to the auction in a long time, not since spring, but when I do go I get good deals or I just don't buy. I see many people pay more for stuff there than I've seen it new in stores. They get so carried away with the need to win. It can be very entertaining to watch. :o)