A Christmas Gift in Midsummer

Late in the winter, while the trees were still bare, my chicken girls started getting a little attention... all the wrong kind of attention, actually: in a matter of about two months, we went from 9 girls to 5 due to predation. We also lost our little raven-black rooster, Edgar, to a hawk (he was the first to go). Something furry and gray then started sneaking into the coop whenever I'd forget to go out there after dark and close it up, and one by one I was feeding the local wildlife an organic chicken dinner just about every-other-week.

The rub was that I'd actually gotten a battery-powered, solar-timed automatic chicken door for Christmas, but there was a lot going on at that time and it was just hanging out on top of the fridge, waiting for it's turn on the to-do list.

This weekend, it got it's turn. After a whole new wall panel and a guillotine-style door was installed (in less than an hour!), my girl went to work with the finishing touch so the chicken girls would feel right at home with their new back door...

So now my feather girls are released at 9am and closed up safe and secure at 9pm, and as soon as we learn more about the programming we'll switch to the door opening at full daylight and closing at dusk. The only problem we have left to deal with now is where the heck they're laying their eggs out there now that they can get out first thing in the morning!

Oh, and as for our diminished flock, we've taken care of that, too...

Six new "peeps," including two Easter-eggers with fluffy cheeks! Currently residing in a brooder generously shared with us by Uncle Larry & Aunt Karen- and I'm telling you, that fence lid they added pretty much saved my chicks right after we got them. Their introduction to Suka was her looking down at them from above as she was standing on it. Audrey and Henry now know to be extra careful about closing the garage door behind them!