The Chicken Coop de Ville

It would have to be a blazing 100+ degrees on the week that we are to complete the chicken coop and let the girls experience life outside of a TV box. Sheesh. The good news is that the coop is 95% done, and allowed for us to place the "Spice Chicks" safely out in their new Coop de Ville last Sunday. They still don't have a roost, but are using our ladder and some chairs as makeshift roosts. The entrance to the coop is the equivalent of trying to enter solitary confinement at Alcatraz - sporting multiple locks and doors. If anything gets to my girls, it deserves a free meal for brilliance.

The girls are now over six weeks old and, after three days in their new pad, are beginning to feel very much at home. They are enjoying their dirt dust baths in the coop corners and (probably the most entertaining) establishing their pecking order. Chickens have personalities. I never would have believed it myself, but they do. And they are much friendlier than I ever anticipated. Take a seat in a coop chair, and it won't be long before you have visitors landing in your lap and settling in for attention. The only one we really have to keep an eye on is our large Delaware girl (Ms. Delaware, pictured bottom right) who has an uncontrollable fetish for teeth. She can't resist a strong peck at the mouth which has bloodied the mouths of Grace, Jack and myself on a number of occasions. It hurts!


Faith no longer stands back to observe the chickens. Oh no....she's seen her siblings pick them up, and now she bravely does it herself, lifting chickens a few inches off the ground and then releasing them.

The chickens always put a smile on my face when I see them all lined up at the screen door waiting for visitors or for Mama to give them the O.K. to free range a bit around the coop. The satisfaction is setting in that we haven't had a single loss, everyone is gaining weight and feathering out lovely, and the coop is for the most part done. I've also found great pride in our dog Hatch who is doing very well with the chickens, often standing guard a good distance away. His presence alone, makes me more confident that a hawk won't be dropping in for take out when we are around.


We are still working on names, but to date we have Ms. Delaware, Ginger, Zebra, Sandy, and Spice Chick...a wide variety, clearly. We still don't have names for the Silkies who are going "poof" with their white billowy feathers. They are looking terrifically hysterical! Jack often says "Pish-Posh!" to things, so we've thought about naming one "Pish" and one "Posh". Any suggestions for two white puffballs are welcomed.

And now I promise, to spare you all from more chicken posts and move on to...ooooo...hold on.....going through a contraction...other more...pressing...matters.