Success!

We did it! Our first family "project". We built the coop and the chickens are in! We put them on a really "weedy" spot in the yard and right away they started scratching! I'd say they've already scratched 1/3 of the weeds up! At that rate they'll have our whole 5 acres cleaned out in no time!

The kids think we are building a club house--not a chicken coop!

Derek, my handy man!



This is a door that swings open so I can get the eggs without getting pecked! (or atleast that's the idea!)

Those are sure some funny lookin' chickens!

This video is the best! Here is Derek trying to catch our rooster! Our rooster stands a good 3 feet tall--he's taller than our dog and the last time we handled him was when he was tied up and we untied him long enough to throw him in the shed and shut the door. Needless to say, I knew this was going to be good footage so I got out the camera!

So here they are--enjoying their new coop! See my hen, she's lost some feathers on her neck--maybe from stress? I can't remember if she came that way--so it could have been from laying eggs--I know they are supposed to pluck out their feathers to make the nest...

It looks like my rooster is staring down my dog!

P.S. a friend of a friend posted a comment about my "ill fated cockerel" and apparently there is one more way to kill him (just in case you were planning on killing your own chicken this could be very useful information :), you pin them down with the handle of a rake over their neck and jump on both sides of the handle. Wow--I wonder which way Derek will pick! To be continued....