Our new chicken house

After the other day's fiasco with Grace and the neighbours cat, we decided to get the babies a new house. With us going away for a couple of weeks, we needed something that would be safe for them, but also give them a little more room.

Vicky sent me a link to a great coop on Trade Me, and after speaking to the people who were selling it we decided to give it a go.

I went to pick it up from near the Airport yesterday and it nearly didn't fit in the car. Eeeeek. But I finally worked it out and got it home.

We decided to wait until today to put it up so the kids could help us and be part of the process.

Here's a glimpse of its assembly in photos.....

 It came in a big box. We first took all the pieces out so we could see we had them all, and could find them easily for assembly.

 I went inside to have a shower and some breakfast (very quickly!) and came out to find it half built...

 It was really easy to put together.

 Matt enjoyed using the drill with Andy's help.

 Sarah and Dan loved the box it came in. Here they are sheltering from the light shower that passed over.

 Then it was time to put the nesting box on. Again, really easy!

 And then we put it into the garden. You can see it has a little ramp to help our chooks climb to their bed/roosts.

 Tonight I tried to be patient and let them go to bed themselves. And was lucky enough to see Blah make the first move. I went back inside hoping the babies would follow her. But after a while I couldn't resist and went back outside. Blah and 3 babies were in the nesting box, so being the impatient wee thing I am, I picked up the others and put them into the roosting area. Later I went back out to see this...

 It's got a couple of doors on the side. This is one of them. I opened it up to get a picture and Saraie decided to come and investigate.

There is a bigger door, next to this which goes into the main 'play' area. I should've taken a photo.

Plus there is a door at the top of the ramp. I closed it tonight to ensure they stay in their 'bed' for the night. I'll do this the next few nights, just so they get used to this being where they sleep.

We are curious as to whether they will start roosting and if so when.

While it's a little smaller than I thought it would be, we love the 'bed' situation, it's very well set up. We're not sure how long it will last as it feels quite 'flimsy', but overall, we're really pleased with it!