The chicken/rabbit run is finished! Matthew and I worked hard last weekend to finish it up before everyone came over for the Easter egg hunt. I am really happy with how it turned out:
The run is 16 feet by 20 feet, so its more than big enough for all the girls plus little bunny Lulu. Our plan is to attach a ramp to Lulu's hutch so that she can come and go as she pleases. Until then we have to get her out and put her back in by hand, which can sometimes be quite the adventure (rabbits are FAST)! But its worth it to see her running around and kicking her feet up...she is clearly enjoying her new found freedom.
She has been digging a bit, which does have me worried that she will eventually dig her way out of the run. It wouldn't be the end of the world if she got out into the yard, but if she dug under the back fence that would put her right out onto a busy road....not good! So far she seems to just be digging holes to lay around and relax in so I have my fingers crossed that she will be content to stay where she is.
Now about those chickens. They are definitely not adjusting to freedom as well as Lulu. They spent most of their first few days like this:
Its almost as if they think they will suddenly become invisible if they cram themselves far enough into that back corner. We leave the door to the coop open all day, but even still it took them a few days to get the nerve to jump out and explore the run. They *still* (a week later) haven't figured out to get back into their coop. So every morning I open the door and move their food and water to the ground, and every evening I go outside to gather them up from their peeping pile on the ground and shove them into the coop. They haven't quite gotten the hang of getting up on their roost either, even though I have shown it to them numerous times. Sigh. This morning Matthew helped me build a little ladder for them, so hopefully things will finally click into place and they will figure it all out. We are all really enjoying watching them explore their new home - I am still convinced that chickens are one of the best forms of entertainment available!
The run is 16 feet by 20 feet, so its more than big enough for all the girls plus little bunny Lulu. Our plan is to attach a ramp to Lulu's hutch so that she can come and go as she pleases. Until then we have to get her out and put her back in by hand, which can sometimes be quite the adventure (rabbits are FAST)! But its worth it to see her running around and kicking her feet up...she is clearly enjoying her new found freedom.
She has been digging a bit, which does have me worried that she will eventually dig her way out of the run. It wouldn't be the end of the world if she got out into the yard, but if she dug under the back fence that would put her right out onto a busy road....not good! So far she seems to just be digging holes to lay around and relax in so I have my fingers crossed that she will be content to stay where she is.
Now about those chickens. They are definitely not adjusting to freedom as well as Lulu. They spent most of their first few days like this:
Its almost as if they think they will suddenly become invisible if they cram themselves far enough into that back corner. We leave the door to the coop open all day, but even still it took them a few days to get the nerve to jump out and explore the run. They *still* (a week later) haven't figured out to get back into their coop. So every morning I open the door and move their food and water to the ground, and every evening I go outside to gather them up from their peeping pile on the ground and shove them into the coop. They haven't quite gotten the hang of getting up on their roost either, even though I have shown it to them numerous times. Sigh. This morning Matthew helped me build a little ladder for them, so hopefully things will finally click into place and they will figure it all out. We are all really enjoying watching them explore their new home - I am still convinced that chickens are one of the best forms of entertainment available!