Movin' On Up

Our fat bottom girls will be arriving on Friday, er perhaps I should call them full-figured. Technically they're called heavies. I don't think that sounds very flattering though, I certainly don't want to be called a heavy. Anyway, they will be nice, big, robust birds that can handle the cold winters here. To accommodate the pleasingly plump gals we need a sturdy roost. One with wide enough perches so they can sit on their feet and prevent frost bitten toes.

But I also need to be able to easily clean under the roosts since that's where most of the droppings will end up. The engineer came up with this clever idea. Viola!

Saturday night was predator check night. We left a can of open tuna in the hen house. It made it through the night unscathed so we decided it was safe enough for our motley crew to move in.

The new roost seems to meet their satisfaction.


Food is suspended from the ceiling at the right height. This will help keep them from slinging it all over the floor.


Water checks out, too.


They found the shavings board to be fascinating. It slides into a groove in front of the door to keep the shavings from falling out when the door is opened but can be removed when I want to clean the coop.

They have so much more room to run around I think it will cut down on the fighting.

Or not.


Zorro, the somewhat fearless leader, seems to think it will do.


"Thanks for the pad, Dad."