John Alexander and I worked on finishing the chicken pen all day on Thursday and quit at dark. Stretching chicken wire tautly was not as easy as it looked. Up at 6 AM the next morning, we finished adding the final wire to the side of the cage, built a ramp, spread cedar bedding in the coop, and added a latch to the pen. A roosting stick was added inside the house, but nesting boxes and the front steps would have to wait until later.
We wanted the girls to get acclimated to their new surroundings during the day since we had to leave our house at 1AM to drive the RDU Airport for a 6AM departure to Denver. So as soon as the pen and Chicken Palace interior were ready, we prepared for the big move. The tin roof still had to be screwed in place, but that could take place AFTER Amber, Honey, and Molly moved in.
Temporary pen in transport, the girls clucked happily outside their new home. Stephen suggested that we wait to feed them until they had been moved, which proved to be a brilliant idea. Net in hand, Amber was the first to be scooped up and put in the pen to check out the new digs. Honey and Molly followed with little reluctance until Stephen attempted to soothe Molly before she joined her sisters.
OOPS! Too bad about those black pants, Stephen. JA and I hooted, Molly officially joined the girls and the gate was shut. A celebratory repast of chicken feed and fresh corn was enjoyed by all.
Soon after chowing down, the REAL CELEBRATING began. Because the pen area enclosed a shaded area under the pine tree (formerly full of Jerusalem artichokes), a loose dirt floor was the perfect venue for a spa adventure of unending dust baths. Clouds of dust rose from the pen as the girls nuzzled into the cool soil, scratching and throwing dirt with wild abandon.
Most of the day was spent exploring the pen, dust bathing, and exploring again. Their one exposure
to the coop’s interior occurred in the late afternoon as a thunderstorm erupted, JA scooped each girl into the side door of the coop where they stayed until the rain subsided. But as soon as the storm ended, they were back in the pen exploring again As we packed inside, we worried about what the hens would do as night fell. Would they willingly scale their ramp and head into the Chicken Palace for the evening? We all took ringside seats on the back deck to watch their antics as the roosting urge struck. As we expected, Amber was the first one inside. One sister followed and we all breathed a sigh of relief. But our lack of anxiety was short lived as the two emerged again. The next fifteen minutes yielded
a hilarious shell game of one in, two in, one out, two out, etc. FINALLY, all three girls were in for the night and Stephen crept out to the palace to peek in the window. His eyes left the empty roosting bar and scanned the length of the house to the other end where the large plastic buckets of chicken feed and scratch were stacked. True to form, chickens always seek the highest place they can locate to roost. There they piled, on top of the buckets where they slept.
Before we departed for the airport at 2AM, Stephen stole into the backyard, flashlight in hand, to leave feed and scratch for the girls so they would have fresh food when they “awoke with the chickens” in the morning. Our official “chicken sitters,” our fine neighbors Pam and Tony have kept the girls well fed and watered while we have been gone and as of 7PM this evening, the girls were all doing well. Yes, anxious as we were, we had to phone home to see how Amber, Molly, and Honey were doing. As you must have surmised, there were no eggs sited before we left to take John Alexander back to Colorado State. Now we have fingers and toes crossed that the girls wait until we return home so that we can record the laying of the first egg on film!
uite a record! In the past 6 days, she has laid 5 eggs. According to head mathematician, Stephen Atkinson, Amber's production rate is .833 eggs per day! You go, girl!!!!
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