Nikki and Stephanie ordered 5 chicks in the mail early in the summer. They started off being raised in the house and moved to the garage after about 6 weeks. They spent the night in one of the dog crates and I built a little chicken tractor out of poultry netting and PVC pipe that was light enough for one person to move around to different spots in the yard, but sturdy enough to keep curious cats and dogs out.
Over the 4th of July we inherited 3 full grown hens from the Ward family. At that point I started digging out an area in our garden to build a semi permanent chicken coop and run. It took a week to get everything measured out and level. Nikki talked to friend that had just disassembled their kids swing set and we decided to recycle some of their 4×4 wooden frames. We painted the wood and pocked up some more lumber to start building our 6×12 chicken run with built in coop. The chicken run is still being worked on, but the entire run and roof has been framed in. The coop is completed to the point where the hens are now staying in it for the night and are starting to use the built in nest box.
The chicken coop includes a web cam with night vision infrared capabilities so we can keep an eye on them during the night when they are in the coop. Anyone can check in on them at http://chickens.ourhobby.com. The username and password is guest. If you are using Internet Explorer select Active X mode or Mobile Mode. Any other browser, select Server Push Mode or Mobile Mode.