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Little Green Girl (aka LGG, in her little green jacket), Debbie, and I went on a field trip last week to check progress on Bruce’s chicken coop. This would be fun.
LGG hadn’t seen the baby chicks and, just as important, hadn’t met Carl. Shortly before we left, Bruce called. Could Art come over to help him and Matt get the coop roof on? Absolutely. Here’s the positioning of the coop, which sits under Bruce’s deck.
We scurried in to get a hen’s-eye view…
Bruce showed us the shingles he’ll apply to the exterior. I’ve said it before: This is one classy coop.
Chicken math: How does one determine how much room is needed? First, get this book, which Bruce calls his Chicken Bible.
Then run the numbers. You can offer as little as 3 feet per hen in the coop and 8 feet in the run, but the health of your flock could suffer. So Bruce is providing 4 square feet per hen indoors with 10 square feet per bird in the run.
The coop is 48 sq feet and the run is 120 sq feet
Currently he has 8 chickens, but he has space for ?
(flashing back to 5th grade math here–correct answer is 12)
Little Green Girl was excited to meet the actual hens who’d be living in the coop as soon as the weather warms. Currently they’re still in their brooder inside Bruce’s house.
Hey, let us out.We’re getting big and we know you’re building us a mansion.
She got to offer palms full of feed to the adolescent hens. They gathered ’round happily.
Bruce encourages holding the hens as a way of socializing them. Pleased to comply.
Quite the growth spurt since Feb 8.
Checking out the warm closet where Bruce is starting some of our pepper and eggplant seeds for this summer’s growing.
And, of course, Carl. He makes everyone smile.
