Our New {old} Coop

We've been going back and forth trying to decide whether to build a new coop for the chicks or to put together something smaller and temporary until they are old enough to move in with the big girls. I figure the lumber and time alone would get a little pricey so I scoured Craigslist last weekend and found what we thought was a pretty cool coop at a steal of a price. We could tell by the picture that it was a pretty wonky coop but we loved the character.

Once we got it home and had a closer look, I could tell that we overpaid for this coop. It was literally staple gunned together! A strong gust of wind would have taken this thing down. Lucky for me I have a very handy husband who was able to give it a little TLC.

It's a lot smaller than our existing coop so it fits nicely in the chicken yard. Once we got it to a state where we felt it was livable, we moved the chicks out and they have been in heaven ever since. The coop has three levels, four levels, and all kinds of little ramps up and down for them to run across. It reminds me of a dollhouse (I'm not sure how functional it will be for full grown hens though).

The boys literally spend hours each day sitting next to the coop and watching the chicks.

The older hens didn't notice the new girls at first but once they finally did, they've been keeping a close eye on them. 

We will keep them in their new coop until they are big enough to meet the older girls. At that time, they'll be able to free range during the day and go in to roost at night. Until then, they seem perfectly content in their new, if a little awkward, digs.