Celebration of Eggs - January 5th - 11:00am - Lisa and Jim's

Coop Co-opmates - 

You and your households are invited to a Celebration of Eggs next Saturday, January 5th at 11:00am. 

We'll cook an egg dish with egg's we have collected during out week of coop care. 

We can also share egg recipes, have some Q & A about chicken chores and discuss egg distribution plans for when production increases, cost of feed and other supplies and compost.  

I hope this is all a good time for everyone! Please RSVP and if you can't make that time, maybe suggest another time. I think it would be good if we could all get together. 

Thanks!

Lisa and Jim

I'm not sure if people are reading this, but in any case, I want to let you know that I am taking care of the chickens this week (24th--30th).  I've also been leaving the chicken door closed on days that are below 20 degrees.  The chickens aren't too keen about going out much when it's that cold, and it keeps the inside of the coop warmer.  Once we get a curtain, we can leave the door open except on super cold days.  I got three little eggs today--in the nest boxes!!

Nan

Important Announcement!

I found our first egg today at 4 p.m.!!!  A little brown egg was lying in the straw next to the waterer. I put some treats in for the chickens and almost didn't see it.  It was cold, so it must have been laid earlier in the day.  No one was home to show it to except Julia, John & Helena. (Axel was napping.)  So I gave it to Helena.  Hope that's okay with everyone.  It was just her size!

I'll put up the nest boxes tomorrow.

Julia took a photo of Helena and I with the egg, and she will try to post it.

Nan

CALENDAR

Do we have a calendar setup yet?
I'll plan on doing it 12/31-1/6 again.

COOP-CAM

Jim has been researching a wifi camera that would could setup to view the coop or the run. We could watch and share the coop, from any computer!

Any thoughts?

We are getting low on food. What is the process for getting food? Who buys it? And where. And is anyone collecting money or keeping track of what is being spent?

- Lisa

Darwin,

As people sign up, I change their status to administrative.  You should be able to do everything on the blog now.  Go wild!

I forgot.  I had planned to take care of the chickens two weeks in a row--so no one needs to sign up until the 10th.

Nan

I cleaned the coop today, a day early.  A friend was stopping by to see the coop and I didn't want to show it off when it was dirty.  I put the waterer and heater up on bricks because the chickens were kicking so much straw into the waterer that I had to clean it out everyday with the handle of the pooper scooper.  Hope that helps.  I moved things around a little bit, and tied two empty water jugs to the top of the feed bin to keep Mildred from getting it all poopy.  I let the chickens out in the yard, and got to show off Briar's herding skills for my friend--who filmed it on his camera!  If it turns out, I'll put it on this site. 

I started putting grit in the feeder at one end, and soon we will need to do the same with the oyster shells.  Sometimes I forget to throw down some grit, so it might be good to also have it available in the feeder.  I put the feeder against the wall so that the chickens had a little more room to amble about in the coop.  And I moved the light a little.

So there we are!  Who's up next on Monday?

I wonder if we have some neighborhood pranksters.  Julie found my outside water faucet turned on with water gushing out.  Then it happened to hers.  Then the chicken coop clean-out door propped open and the carabiners taken.  Let's keep a careful watch, and maybe I'll rig up a motion-detector light on the coop.  I think I have a spare in the basement.  And we have to get another carabiner with a twist lock on it.  Darn it!

Chicken Chores Calendar for December:



Nan:     11/24--12/2

Nan:    12/3--12/9

12/10--12/16

12/17--12/23

12/24--12/30

 

 

 

 

A few photos of the chicks during their early days with us.

The Chicken Coop

Neighbor Nan had a pile of salvaged lumber that she was going to use to build a garden shed.  But a chicken coop sounded like much more fun.  The whole base and skeleton of the structure cost very little, but we did have to buy windows, some plywood, shingles and siding.  We also had to buy all the materials for the pen.  The end result is a nice coop for a reasonable amount of money.  It was painted beautifully and looks lovely in its little backyard setting.

The egg of it all. 

It all started with a few casual conversations over the fence between neighbors.  "Wouldn't it be cool to have chickens?" The more we talked, the more it actually sounded feasible.  Four households with adjoining yards got together and began to have chicken meetings.  One family had the perfect spot for it in their backyard behind the garage.  Another of the neighbors had carpentry skills and a bunch of salvaged lumber.  Others provided enthusiasm and research and the gathering of supplies.  We all chipped in money to get it started.

The most difficult part of it all was getting licensed and inspected.  After overcoming huge hurdles such as incomplete information, bad attitudes from city entities and a very hostile electrical inspector --we got our permit! The coop was completed by then, but as it was late in the season, we only found one place that still had chicks.  The members of three households set off in two cars to Ramsey, Minnesota.  There we picked out some six-week old chicks to bring back to St. Paul and start a new life under the benevolent care of the Coop Co-op!