New Chicken Coop

When we moved to our new house there was an old chicken coop in the barn that was in decent condition.  I wanted to build another better one but figured this one would work until I got around to building a new one. This ended up happening sooner than I intended because the old chicken coop was not very secure and the neighbors dogs got in and killed all our chickens. So, building a new chicken coop moved up on the list of things to do. I actually finished it several weeks ago but am just now getting around to posting about it. I decided to attach it to the back of the shop so it would be close to the house but in the pasture and it would be cheaper and easier to build by not making it completely freestanding.
We wanted to build a bigger coop at this house just in case we decide to raise more chickens in the future (we usually kept 10-15 at our other places).  So, I ended up building this coop 16'x8' which is big enough to hold 40 chickens. Currently we only have 20 chickens. I built it really secure so no varmints or dogs can get in. The way to keep dogs or other things from digging under to get in is to have extra chicken wire overlap the bottom of the coop or run and have it lay on the ground, then cover it up with dirt. That way when the animal tries to dig in, they hit the wire and can't get through it.
If any of you local people want to buy eggs, let us know.

New Chicken Coop and Run

Inside

Watching Chickens

Growing up

The girls keep getting bigger and older. We have a preschooler and a toddler, not two babies anymore! We changed Clara's crib in to a toddler bed this weekend. This is about the same age we moved Esther to a toddler bed. She has done really well so far, she hasn't gotten out at all, even when she wakes up. We'll see how long that lasts though. We are happy that we won't have to worry about having a crib or pack n' play when we travel or visit people. She is very proud and keeps talking about her big girl bed.

Clara posing in her big girl bed

Esther continues to impress us with her knowledge. She recently has learned her right from her left. I'm not sure when kids usually learn that, but 3 seems early. She always asks which way we are turning in the car, so she learned her right and left that way. She will tell us which way we are turning now. If you ask her, she will correctly identify her left and right hand/foot.

She also is really interested in her letters. She always asks what letter something starts with. Once you tell her she will then name off a lot of other words that start with that letter. She also asks you to spell and write words. She recently started spelling her name and Clara's name. She never wants to do it when you ask, but I managed to get some of her spelling on camera the other day.