Chicken tweaking

So as new chicken owners, Cindy and I obviously have been doing a lot of observation during this first 48 hours.  We were happy to see that chickens are very happy eating kitchen scraps.  We gave them some cut up strawberries and apple yesterday.  Both foods were welcomed by our new feathered pets. We looked up the list of other things a chicken can safely eat, the list is quite long.

I also identified an issue with the way we have the food and water laid out, more or less side by side on the one end of the run.   Having both items so close mean the chickens are going to spend a lot of time in that spot which in turn means a ton of chicken shit will accumulate as well.  There was enough mess there that I actually picked up the coop and moved it already last night to get the birds on fresher grass.

The solution to this issue would be to stick the food on the opposite corner from the water.  The problem is we got a feeder that is suitable for a flock of 30 birds, not 3.  It’s too large to get past the roost bar that is located on the first level so there is really nowhere to go with the feeder.

I saw two solutions.  One of them is to get a smaller feeder that will fit over the roost bar.  The second is to relocate the roost bar.  I am more of a fan of option number two.  The lower level roost bar is not in a very practical spot, right next to the food and water dispensers.  The chickens have to awkwardly duck under it to get to their food and drink.  I am thinking about removing the bar completely and relocating it towards the end of the auxiliary run which would give us more options on the lower level of the main coop.

This morning Cindy came out to see the chickens dumped all over the ramp while sleeping at night.  They have two options when perching at night, one puts their ass over the wood shavings, the other is bombs away onto the ramp.  At least so far they seem to prefer the latter position.  I hooked up the long hose near the coop to clean water instead of the raw well water it usually spouts so it can be used for both watering and coop cleaning duties.

I’m sure there will be a lot of learning and slight adjustments that will occur in the next few weeks.  As far as Cindy and I can tell the chickens appear to be content.  We sat outside last night and ate black bean brownies near the coop just to hang out with them and the dogs.  It was peaceful.

I have not had any interest whatsoever on the brand new “old” Chinese fir coop, not a single email, text message or phone call.  We did however discover last night that Cindy and one of the dogs can fit inside the coop if need be.  The coop also has at least served a role as a garage air freshener for a few days with it’s pleasant cedar-like aroma.