Nesting Box Complete

Well, as you know by reading the previous blog entry, I did not make the deadline to make a nesting box before the chickens laid an egg. I was in the process a few days before, so one day after, I finished up. I think I mentioned this before, but I have a very hard time designing anything that I don’t have the items to build with already on hand. What I mean by that is I have to look at my wood pile, in my garage, to figure out what I am going to build. With a blank piece of paper, and an unlimited budget for wood, I have no idea what I would think, draw and build. I need to work on that someday. But for now, I design and build with what I have. Most of my materials are the used decking and the scraps from the palates and such I got from MCBH.

Roof

Box

Assembled

Everything went together fairly easily. My only problem was just as I was getting ready to bolt it on to the coop, I started to lose sunlight. A few flashlights later, and it was connected. I am pretty happy with it. One funny side note. While I was building it, Jenn said “wow that looks kind of big.” Well, come to find out she thought what I was building was going inside the coop. Once she figured out it was going to be an addition to the coop, she was happy with the product. I am going to have to do some slight water proofing to the roof of the nesting box. The re-purposed wood had some drill holes in it. What a great excuse for another blog in the future.

Complete and installed

View inside with some cedar shavings

Geneva was hungry the other night before bed, so I offered her one of her eggs. This was the first times we cooked one of our own eggs, and yes, that is a small cast iron pan. They are about 60% to 75% the size of the eggs we have been buying from the hatchery, but I think in a month or two they will be up to full size. Geneva said they tasted really good.

First consumed egg

So this competes the buildup phase, now on to the maintenance phase. As long as we can feed our chickens we will have a steady source of protein. Geneva has also taken over as the morning caretakers of the chickens. I am still going out with her in the morning, but she is filling both the water and the food each morning. She is 6 now, they are hers, and until she leaves our house, the chicken responsibilities are hers.

The whole enterprise

Ladies inspecting the new addition

I hope you have enjoyed the updates, and please let me know if anyone has any questions this blog is not answering.

Update: We have gotten 4 eggs so far. The first 2 were in the main coop, before the nesting box was installed. The next 2 were in the nesting box. I hope they have figured out, that's where they go.

 

 

Future Chicken Coop Model