A while back we finally decided on the location of our coop. I wanted it close enough to the house that I didn't have to trudge through two feet of snow to get to in the winter. I also wanted to be shelted from wind, rain, sleet and snow when collecting the eggs. The location we chose was the wood shed.
It is a mere couple steps from our back door and has more than enough room to spare. I loved that the large fiberglass insert would provide lots of natural light. And best of all, we designed it so the entrance to the coop will be from the inside of the shed. The only main problem was that there is no floor in the shed. So that is where building has begun. But first, we needed to rearrange things to make room for the coop.
When that task was done, me and the oldest were able to get started on the floor.
While hubby and my other daughter (with a little bit of help from the boy) went outside and began hammering in the posts for the chicken run.
Things have been moving at a snails pace even though the chickens are growing quickly. I'm hoping to have them moved into the new place in less than two weeks but will continue to post photos and updates as the coop progresses. Meanwhile, the weather has finally cooperated and we had a bit of sunshine and warmth today, so think I'm going to put up the chicken wire tomorrow and let the girls outdoors to play for the first time. The ducklings have been out inspecting it already and have given their approval.
Speaking of ducklings, I had a horrible scare last night. Me and hubby were standing down at the pastures visiting the horses unconcerned about the ducklings as I had left them frolicking happily in a puddle near the barn. When out of nowhere, they came rushing past us and straight into the pasture. Chase reacted instantly. He begun rising up and coming down hard on the ground trying to stamp on them and kill them. They were leaping around in a panic in the tall grass crying out for me, while I was screaming for them to come back to me and hollering at Chase to leave them alone. The gate to the pasture was too far away and I had no way of getting over the wired fence. I was terrified. As were the ducklings. And if his behaviour indicated anything, so was Chase. He kept stamping the ground, and the ducks kept screaming. I thought he had killed them for sure. Then miraculously, they saw an opening and came flying toward me, out of the pasture and into safety. I immediately circled my arms around them and they literally curled into my embrace so relieved to be safe. As soon as I could though I stepped back and made them walk off to ensure no broken legs, wings or any other injury could be seen. Unbelievably, they were fine. It was shocking considering it was Chase who tried to kill them. He out of all our horses is not fazed by anything. Nothing frightens him. Accept, apparently, little ducklings.
My poor ducks though, I thought I had lost them for sure. But they were unhurt and lived to see another day. Which was a good thing because today was the day they decided it was time to learn how to swim. They have been perched on the deck looking out over the pond for several days now, and today, finally, was the day they decided they wanted to swim in it. Ducklings will only swim in water where they are able to touch the bottom. So this big step really showed how big my babies are getting already. Oh, and they loved gobbling up all the little tadpoles they could find (yes, the little buggers came back)!
My poor ducks though, I thought I had lost them for sure. But they were unhurt and lived to see another day. Which was a good thing because today was the day they decided it was time to learn how to swim. They have been perched on the deck looking out over the pond for several days now, and today, finally, was the day they decided they wanted to swim in it. Ducklings will only swim in water where they are able to touch the bottom. So this big step really showed how big my babies are getting already. Oh, and they loved gobbling up all the little tadpoles they could find (yes, the little buggers came back)!