Well, tonight is the first night the girls are away from home. It seems strange to not have them squawking in the back porch. BCF jr. is very concerned for them. He prayed that God would protect them from "predators" and that they would "survive". He is six. After conferring with Mr.BCF over the nighttime temperatures and some missing security components of the coop (did I mention that we have a coop?) we decided it was time and we were ready. Said missing components are being replaced by a skimming net and a couple of straps. I think I married MacGiver. Mr.BCF/MacGiver built the coop on the Victoria Day Weekend with the help of his farmer-in-law. They worked steadily and made a beautiful home for our foul. It is called an "ark" and looks like an alpine cottage to me. There are two floors;the top for nesting boxes, roosting and snoozing and the bottom is a run. A ramp connects the floors and retracts at nighttime. It has nifty doors with latches for accessing chickens and eggs. The roof comes off in two sections for easy clean up. Best of all, the whole shooting match can be lifted and carried to a new location for fresh bug foraging. The girls have spent all week in the run during the day. They scratch and peck and make happy little chicken noises. They even dig little ditches and sleep in them (it's cooler?) I'm sure that I can see their beaks turn up slightly. But the sure sign of coop contentment was that at the end of the day, when it was time to come in the house, they went scratching and squawking and flying the whole way. I'm ready for them to stay out there. Let's hope the neighbourhood predators aren't.
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