Another Saturday, another day fidgeting with the chicken coop. This time it was making a feeder. We wanted something that wouldn't get knocked over even when we drive the coop around. Also: extra storage. I found no end of ideas on YouTube and this one seemed ideal for our setup. I did a first cut of everything, tried it out on the coop, went back to the shop to fine tune and then installed it. Hopefully the chickens don't mistake it for a roost!

Oh, and the chickens are now full-time outdoor residents as of last night. We had a string of 40 degree nights and then last night and going forward are all upper 50's and 60's. That and they have a lot more feathers now. I, for one, will be very happy to have the sounds and odor of chickens well out of the house! To commemorate their first night out Zane and I set up the tent and camped out next to them. I heard the chickens start to stir at about 5:15 this morning, Zane slept in a couple hours later.

This afternoon we opened the coop up and let the chickens roam the yard. Well, they stayed within 20 feet of the coop and from time to time would scurry back for security. After a couple hours they even made their way to our compost pile ... treats aplenty!

A little while later I made a movie of them trying out the new feeder: Movie. Five at a time seemed to be the max, each time a sixth tried to wedge in one of the chicken would jump on top of the feeder and disrupt everyone. Eventually they sorted it out: five on the ground and one on the stairway, leaning over.