Back in the Saddle Again

Let's quickly catch up. We got our chickens from a farm in Santa Rosa in April 2013. They were only about three months old, small pullets -- bigger than chicks, but not full grown hens. We picked out four different breeds and rode home with them in cat carriers. Around July they started to lay eggs: four breeds, four different colored eggs. All summer and fall, we ate, baked and fried with fresh backyard chicken eggs. It was amazing!

Eggs by Chicken:
Little Miss Rowdy, Lady Matilda, Penny Moon & Sylvia Britches

Fast forward to November and Little Miss Rowdy (formal introductions to come later) decided she wasn't quite in the mood to lay anymore. All of the chickens slowed down egg production due to shorter days and cooler nights, but Rowdy stopped laying eggs altogether. We were worried at first something might be wrong but learned that for some breeds this is normal even if they are less than two years old which is prime egg production age. For close to three months, she visited the nest box only to sleep.

Almost exactly a month after the winter solstice when the days began to get longer, Little Miss Rowdy started laying her blue eggs again. All four chickens have started to lay more often.

Like Rowdy, the Twin Duplex blog is going to get back in the action. A lot has happened since we last posted -- Olive, an engagement, a new couch, fruit trees! Call it a new year's resolution.

Chickens! Part 3: Nesting Boxes & Roof

More photos of chicken coop construction. The third side includes a window and the nesting boxes. We also tried to make the roof as water-proof as possible so our little ladies don't get too wet in winter.

Overhead view of construction--the coop is going to go back near the yellow tub.

Katie and David work on the third side.

Fitting the nesting box.

Katie and Abbey designed the nesting box.

The roof in progress.

The third side with window before adding the nesting boxes.

Where are the eggs?

Chickens! Part 2: Initial Sides

After we visited six chickens keeping friends, we sat down to determine what features we liked the best and wanted incorporate into our coop. We used many books including our favorite which ended up being Art of the Chicken Coop by  Chris Gleason. It included actual construction plans and a lot of pictures. One key aspect was to be able to collect eggs without having to enter the coop or run. We wanted to put the coop at the stretch of ground at the end of the driveway, so the nesting boxes needed to be on the driveway side of the coop. We also wanted to be able to keep the coop open at all times so the chickens can go in and out at will (and no one would have to wake up early every day to let them out). Yet they need to be protected, so the run would have to be completely enclosed.

We are trying to build the coop out of mostly reclaimed materials. Patrick did most of the collecting from Craigslist and our neighborhood community association. We were able to collect all the wood and much of the hardware like hinges and door handles. So far our biggest investment has been on screws and chicken wire. Here are some pictures from the two days over the winter holidays where we built the first two sides.

Our plans and reference books.

Katie and Abbey framing the first side.

Using reclaimed wood for the first side.

Ripping wood to the right size with a table saw from the tool lending library.

Team work power drilling!

Patrick trimming the bottom of the second side.

  

Revisiting Summer

Seems like most people are experiencing pretty cold weather these days. It might even freeze tonight in Oakland. So looking through some pictures today, Patrick and I found this squirrel enjoying the fruits of summer. Here's looking forward to that Spring thaw!

Squirrels and insects probably ate more strawberries than we did this year!