This has been a funny week for the girls.  It basically boiled down to one chicken and a great short story:  The Mystery of the Missing Eggs.  Where was Royal? Why isn't she laying eggs?  Why did the chicken cross the alley?  Shall we do some sleuthing and find the answers to these questions?

Whenever I'd come home, I'd be down to 6 chickens.  Missing one.  EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.   It was always Miss Royal.  I'd walk around the block looking for her, and by the time I'd end up back home, she'd be walking around the yard like she was queen of the flock.  Yesterday, I finally found where she was.  She had been flying the coop and walking over to where the old coop was.  She was homesick, I guess!  She also stresses out really easily, so I wonder if she still hadn't recovered from us uprooting her home, and moving her into a strange, albeit nicer, location.  I chalked up her recent lack of egg laying to her being stressed.

That answered the question, "Why isn't Royal laying eggs?"  Much to my surprise, when I picked her up to move her, I found 18 eggs buried in a homemade nest, where Royal had been secretly laying!  Can you believe it?  I did the fresh egg test, and all but 2 were good.  I've kept an eye on her all day, and she never escaped.  She did act like she was having a tummy ache, though, and her egg today was soft shelled. I'm keeping an eye on her to see what's up.

Now...the question we've all been waiting for...Why did the chicken cross the alley?  Because my neighbors have really cool shrubs for my chickens to hide under!  Okay, that's a joke from this summer. They really don't cross the alleyway anymore.

And that, dear friends, are the mysteries solved with my chickens today.
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There is no building left to be done to the coop!  As long as I've planned and worked on it, it seems like finishing came REALLY quick.  This morning there was no roof, the chicken door wasn't functional, and the people doors couldn't be fully closed.  There was no light, and the swing wasn't in yet.  Tonight, that is all in the past!  Hubby installed the roof and locks, and I installed the swing, the chicken door, and the lights.  I LOVE IT!  It's even better than I thought it would be!

Obviously it isn't finished.  I'm keeping the rusting look, but I'm decorating.  I bought some really cute curtains.  I have more lights to install.  I bought some cute chicken pictures for the walls.  It's going to be so nice!  And the flooring will be sand.

I'm not sure when the fence will be installed.  I hope we can start tomorrow.  The sooner the fence is finished, the sooner the girls can move into their new digs.  I can't wait.

My chicken friends and neighbors are impressed at how my coop is secured.  Some have called it the Fort Knox of chicken coops.  There is a reason!  One of my biggest fears with my chickens is that a predator will get in there.  I have lost one chicken to a predator, and I do not want to lose another.  I've been researching how to secure the chicken door on my new coop, and this is what I found.  I think it's a great idea!

My poor chickens.  Neighbors started complaining that they were wandering around the neighborhood instead of staying in the yard, and they were getting unhappy, understandably.  Not only were my neighbors unhappy, but my chickens weren't as safe as I'd like, since we live in town.  They have a coop and a pen area.  It's large enough for my brood, but I always feel sorry for them.

As I've alluded to in the past, I create pallet furniture.  I have loads of free pallets from my brother's business.  Instead of tossing them in a landfill, I recycle them into really cool couches, table, footstools, bars...signs, chandeliers, bottle openers...you get the picture.

With these two facts, of course I decided I could build a Chicken Mansion! er...coop...

Hubby and I started out by building a frame.  The coop is 7' long and 5' wide.  The height slopes from 7' in the front to 5' in the back. After the frame was constructed, I started cutting down pallets.  Hubby decided I was responsible enough to use the reciprocal saw...that makes pallet cutting MUCH easier!  Of course, I did have some pretty good blisters, but that was a small price to pay for the ease, perfection and quickness of the pallet dismantling process.

I started siding the coop at this point.  I added a "window" opening and vent holes for light and breeze.  These have been covered with chicken screen to keep predators outside.  We happened to find a bifold door and a screen door in our basement; those have been repurposed into the front door and yard door in the coop.  Inside I have already placed the shelf for the brooding boxes.  I'm also in the process of working on the roosting bars.  I found a really cool piece of wood in my pile that I will use as a swing.

Once the coop is finished, I plan to add a front and side yard to the coop.  This should give my girls a good area to roam.

This has been a learning process, but also a lot of fun.  Minnie, our big dog, enjoys the coop, so I've decided to use our scraps to build a matching dog house for her.  As I get better at this, I'm going to be making small coops for people who want to save money and the environment using self sustainability and chickens in their backyard.  I hope to work with a local agency that works with formerly homeless families, to help integrate the families into self sufficiency.

So, that's what's kept me busy lately!