First Egg

Strange squawking and squatty behavior drew us to the coop where we watched Mahogany our Rhode Island Red make her nest a little deeper and rounder to her liking.  She fussed and fidgeted  for two hours before leaving the nest where we found her first perfect little egg.
Ken had cut out the doors to the just last week they must have known that it was time to get down to business.

Overhangs

Overhangs, mini roof, awnings, we need to protect the openings from the elements, mostly torrential rains during the summer. We made the first one over the large door in front. It turned out ok, more support than needed for the flimsy corrugated metal roof. I plan the same for the front and a four foot cover over the two long ventilation cutouts on east and west sides.

After the cutouts were made and covered with cloth, Ken said "what's to stop raccoons and cats climbing up to where the chickens are roosting right behind the wire and terrorizing them?"
He wanted to fence in the four foot overhang for a second level of protection from predators.
So we compromised and made the four foot bump out an 8 foot one and roofed the whole thing on both sides.

That gives us three protected runs now instead of one and Ken feels better about safer chickens.

Chicken Coop Ventilation

What I do know is that it's killer hot and humid down here in zone 9 Florida. Last year was the hottest ever. The coops we looked at had practically no ventilation and in danger of becoming an oven during the day, I cannot imagine a hen laying in those conditions.

Years ago I went to Hommosassa springs. We stayed in cabins that were all screened in but with no air-conditioning. It was very comfortable, of course the springs were bubbling icy water which cooled the surrounding air, but still, it was nice, slight breeze, hearing the wind and insects in the trees, very comforting.

Whats on our side:

• The future coop spot is mostly shaded during the day with the most shade cast in the afternoon from very mature trees.
• It's a relatively open space so air can move freely around it.
• It's mostly green ground cover (weeds) which is cooler than other ground material around here.
• The shed is a good size so hopefully will have more breathing room and interior air movement.

Whats not on our side:

• Humid, stifling, moist  heat.
• Record high temperatures.

I found this article which makes good sense to me by Patandchickens from Ontario: Cut more holes.
Also I found great info on fresh air housing in this little book: Fresh Air Poultry Houses.
It sounded about right to me.  I don't want to waste energy and hardware cloth on mistakes and have to re-panel the whole thing.

So, one square foot ventilation per chicken with a projected flock of 25 to 30 chickens will base my calculations on the number of openings Ken has to cut out.  I have to account for the roosting bar supports taking away space, but I want the northern exposure bigger because its so much cooler.

We cut the the full wall openings yesterday and stapled wire cloth on the openings. We also cut out the peaks of the shed which are the highest points. Now we have four direction ventilation. We screwed wood trim over the cloth to doubly secure it.  I love it inside now, very airy and light. It's coming along nicely, but we keep revising the plan as we go along.








More ventilation November 26th







I closed the door and worked in there the other day, it was nice breezy and comfortable. I will add more cut-outs in Spring when it warms up. Right now I think this is enough until the chickens get bigger and full-feathered.

Shed Landing

Rooster Names

Rooster Names:  In case I get a Rooster accidentally...



Budder
Howie
Roozevelt
Crowder
Patton
Spotty
Yoda
Chappy 
Cottwald
Trigger
Big blue
Hoops
Flyboy
Captain
Spooney 
Logan
Brewster
Kinney
Freddy
Seamus
Scotty
Argo
Pablo
Iggy
Glam
Buster
Amblin
Roger
Ollie
Bruiser
Toughgun 
Yella 
Ambo 
Hondo
Yooboo 
Homey
Jackson
Roger
Chippy
Desmond
T Bird
Chevy
Caddy
Trucker
Wiseman
Gheko
Major
General

October 22 

Govenor
Cash
Reacher
Angus
Zolly
Bowie
Wonk
Poppy
Tyson
Wexler
Roadie
Train
Outlaw
Sparky
Mack
Marshall
Bangor
Wisdom
Wexler
Scruffy
Csibo
Boulder
Driver
Shade
Rocky
Parker
Rambo
Jeep
Wired
Hardway
Teele
Border
Champ
Freddie
Rockhead
Tuffie
Jackson
Bishop
Manny
Judge
Markey Mark
Beowolf
Sharkey
Sockeye
Foster
Canton

Buford
Razer

Names for Chickens

I'm sure my future chickens will get named, so I thought I would create a list of possible names I will call them. I'm keeping the names short, two syllables max. Well, maybe they will have a fancy official name, like Magdalena Von Orpenhacker who will soon become just Maggie.

Winnie
Fluffy
Soho
Foof
Betty
DeeDee
Maggie
Dearie
Itsy
Copper
Bluesy

That's a start anyway.

Feefee
Dagmar
Yodel
Shecky
Punto
Maya
Tilldy
Merrie
ChiChi
Magda
Hazel
Bertha
Pola
Blanka
Lily
Zoe
Petra
Kinga
Gretty
Dora
Mira
Ruby
Poppy
Millie
Bonnie
Cadi
Molly
Gracie
Elsie
Daisy
Lacey
Feebee
Rosie
Ellie
Maise
Jessie
Skyla

I'll need more chickens and a bigger coop.

Layla
Willow
Robyn
Rio
Yuna
Veevee
Nelly
Viva
Beegee
Khaloo 
Maddy
Sugar
Bindy
Chappy
Wonky
Fanny
Dusty
Sandy
Viola
Iman
Austine
Mazzy
Shady
Sunny
Fruitbug
Boozy
Goflow
Marcy
Glam
Shanti
Birdy
Bossy
Curley
Mossy
Flutter
Pom
Spooney
Kinney
Raja
Ollie
Minky
Moohoo
Babaloo
Chrystal
Squatty
Bingo
Bali
Coco
Zulu
Jollie
Sparkle
Netty
Trish
Roselle

I can't stop, they're such cute names

Trixie
Tempest 
Anouk
Clio
Trudy
Bronwyn
Tessie
Cilla
Isolde
Pippa
Tally
Lilou
Tansy
Gunda
Trudy
Hedda
Zora
Britta

October 21

Chica
Ashey
June Bug
Kipper
Kiki
Mora
Quirkey
Sweetness
Lovey
Donut
Wisty
Wopwop
Wookie
Wimbley
Glambam

October 22

Jezebel
Buzzy
Saucey
Smarty
Chikky
Senday
Nikita
Teacher
Beauty
Alice
Bette
Ethic
Indy
Dolly
Frankie
Prim
Sideways
Dope
Lazy
Nik Nik
Aretha
Cheryl
Gladys
Lottie
Sophie
Dottie
Nova
Peesey
Pinky
Trouble
Madam
Joleen
KitKat
Paris
Schecy
Wisdom
Moonlight
Scruffy
Nutso
Piney
Birchbark
Triva
Shade
Pransky
Poppy
Jeep
Wired
Patty
Boozle
Domino
Gertrude
Ruthie
Strappy
DingDing
Noisy
Ashley
Tuffie
Girlie
Macy
Plenti
Bestie
Honey
Velvey
Star
Filly
Oprah
Clarise
Parker
Cassie
DeeDee
Dubby
Slippy
Toffee

The shed

We looked at mail order coops, custom coops, local coops, blogs on conversion ideas. I have a large shed already I wanted to convert, but the location isn't good and it would be too expensive to move, it's huge 12x24.
So we looked around town at shed places and they were expensive! $2000 to $5000 but they were well built.  I thought it would be more fun to convert a little building than re-invent the wheel and build from scratch, I'm not that handy.
The other day Kelvin from the shed company called to say they brought in a little 8x10 repo that was a rent to own, used, bare minimum base model (which is what we wanted) so we ran over there to take a look. We're thinking it's a perfect fit.

I want Chickens

I've wanted chickens forever!
Now at the top of the bucket list, it's finally going to happen.

This was the spot in 2010
Bare, barren waiting for Chickens.