That Would Be Capitol

Its after Christmas and the eve of a new year so perhaps a little late to talk about new Christmas presents but I just invested some of my Christmas funds in the Flock Exchange. I went to visit Farmer John out near Villa Rica where he raises plymouth rocks, silkies, faverolles, rhode islands, and some other types in his backyard. I picked up 3 amigas:

Brigitte, A salmon faverolle. They’re originally from France. I hadn’t heard of them before but I liked the look of the grown hens and roosters with their beards. They get pretty big.

Peregrina, a plymouth rock. An American breed that will be black and white and red. The de facto New England chicken.

Mao, a silkie. This is the breed that I was initially interested in getting. Farmer John had several, some that he said had taken second place at shows.

I guess I can name these since I can tell them all apart. The Henrietta Flockers are already keen to see who has come to stay in the coop but these small chicks have to live inside under a heat lamp for another month before John said they can be moved to the coop. In the meantime the coop is being enhanced with a dividing wall so Henrietta Flockers can still roam the yard but these new chicks will hang out in the coop enclosure until they’re old enough to fend for themselves and the Flockers are used to them.

There were still some gaps at the end of the coop where the roof angles down so I thought I should fill those in. I could put the wire fencing in there but I couldn’t think of an aesthetically pleasing way to do that and still allow the roof to swivel up. Then I thought it might be nice to give the coop some local finishing touches so that it fits into its surroundings here in Grant Park. In my backyard and the neighbors backyards we grow lots of bamboo. It seemed like the perfect material to fill the gaps because its easy to cut to size, free, and looks nice. So I took a long piece of bamboo and cut it up at the knuckles.

I then cut each of them down to more or less fit along the angle between the roof and the top of the coop. They’re glued in place with wood glue but I might find a more permanent way to attach them. Then I’ll test painting them in watersealer so they’re protected and match the coop.

Also added a new ramp. The big hens are much more interested in going in and out of the coop since I added it.

Twizzler is going to like it.