Hot Chicks in the City

It's been a scorcher lately! Well, for Victoria anyways, which is like a cool spring day if you're from Kelowna, Merritt or Osoyoos (10 points if you can pronounce the last one if you're not from BC). I thought I should photo-document the recent additions to the coop after talking about them last post.

Alright, so here we have the front view of the coop. You'll note the lovely red paint job with the window painted in on the door. To the left of the coop there is a metal roof, providing some shade and/or protection from the rain when the rains inevitably start. If you look closely, you'll see a 4L milk carton hanging just inside the hinges to the door. That is the egg-shell/oyster-shell/calcium supplement dispenser. We cook the eggshells, crumble them, and put them in with the calcium supplement pellets (CaCO3 or limestone for my fellow geology enthusiasts) and the oyster shells, so that the eggshells are strong enough. Bill & Alejandro found a very weak-shelled egg the other day, so we think they need more calcium. Behind the calcium dispenser is a new food pellet dispenser, also made from milk cartons by Alejandro. It's a gravity feeder, so we just have to fill it up every couple of days or so, and they have fresh feed whenever! Also it limits how much they get at once, so Oprah doesn't go flinging it all over the place like the pig she has been lately. Bill also put up a lovely picture of some kittens in the coop, so the ladies aren't too lonely. The fake-window also has a flowerbox on the outside now. It's pretty adorable. The flowers in it are plastic, but that means they'll look lovely all the time. The roof has been waterproofed with a metal sheet, and is nearly 100% in place! In the lower right hand corner, you can see a blue tunnel/pipe that is part of the trail to the free-range area featured in the next photo. They have no problem going to and fro through the tunnel & the trail along the fence, and the cat-door through the fence. Chickens are quite adaptable little creatures.
Okay, so here we have the fence & trail, with Farrah & Oprah going through. The bigger ladies (Oprah & Elaine) have a bit of a squishy time getting through the door, but they make it through.
This is the run-area where the ladies get to graze to their hearts content. They have a shelter (which is a humped piece of metal roofing) in the yard where they can escape the heat, a little laying box, and also some water (the essentials). The neighbours throw in clippings from the garden and some other composty things so that the chickens get a nice well-balanced diet. The alterior motive (well one of them..) is to get this area garden-friendly by next spring, so that there is more planting space. The chickens have been doing an excellent job of digging in the dirt and scratching the weeds out.