hehe, cool. they are about 4-5 week old right now. losing their down and growing their combs. i cant wait for them to be big enough that i don't have to worry about the owls.
i need to build a coop.. any advice?
Plenty of advice here. Chickens need to be tended to every day. The coop should be in 3 parts. !/2 the space should be outside space. Simple stakes with chicken wire so they don't get out. Cover the top with the wire so chicken hawks don't fly down and grab them. The inside space should be split in half. Feed space and egg laying space. A trough in the middle of the feed in one and a nesting/egg laying area in the other. Wall them separate with just a little door opening between them at the bottom that you can flap down. This helps you when cleaning and feeding since you can chase the birds out to do your work.
The nesting space should be divided into slots on a wall. Enough space for a hen to hop into and lay their eggs. A 1" x 1" rail across each level is enough to get them there. You don't have to have 1 space for each bird. 1 per 8-10 birds is good. They don't lay eggs every day. Since you will be collecting eggs every day they don't need their own separate nests. Lay down some straw in each cubby and don't worry about frequent cleaning. They don't shit where they lay eggs.
Feed them some good corn feed. Like above just a trough that they can pick at on the floor of their feeding area is good enough. The thing is to look for varmints that might get in there to eat the feed. Field mice and other critters want to get in there when they smell the feed. Look for these signs of burrowing holes and deal with them.
Once a week is enough to shovel out and lay fresh straw if your birds to space ratio is decent. Do give it a good cleaning. Chase the birds into the open area and shut the door so you can do your job. All of this should keep your birds happy and gathering eggs every day.
I finally planted on my deck. Never found herbs and went to tomatoes. An heirloom orange one with few seeds (they said) and some plumbs. Yesterday I planted them on my deck. Today there is a frost alert. FUCKING...Ugh. Mother Nature isn't very cooperative on Mother's Day.