Soft Opening

The chicken run is done!  On Friday, I was able to get the final boards up and complete the fencing on the run.  After a run of poor weather and honey-do’s (see Bait and Switch), a beautiful day netted results.  The run nets out to about 20x30 behind our garage with a separate area for the coop.  We used cedar 4x4s topped with some solar lights for posts as part of the 5 foot high run.  The lights have a nice effect at dusk.

We celebrated by grilling burgers and corn.  I would like to say the corn was well received by the family but the kids were more interested in chucking their ears into the newly completed run than actually eating any of it.   This led to loads of entertainment as the chickens didn’t seem to realize the kids wanted to make it rain like Pacman Jones in Vegas.  The bird-on-bird fighting over the first few ears was a sight to behold.  Eventually, they settled in to clearing cobs in a shockingly effective manner.

In the end, I was thrilled to check a pretty major project off my list.  It feels great not to have a brooder full of growing birds and not have a place ready for them.  The birds seemed to dig their new surroundings and the kids love seeing chickens in action up close.  There might even be a grand opening if I can just finish the coop.

Andy