Learning the art of husbandry

The first few hours were a bit of a clammer. I had boxes as a sort of additional 'shelter' over the laying 'nests'. This worked for a while, but as soon as the girls' natural instincts started kicking in, they had to jump on top of the flimsy boxes to roost nice and high. This obviously did not work so well and the first 24 hours was me panicking as hens were falling off boxes, cackling in panic and just simply trying to find their feet for the first time in the not-so-proper environment I had to offer.

I learned from my mistakes that its best to keep it simple and sturdy. The make-shift stepping stone I made which was essentially a wooden board on top of two flat garden tiles/stones, meant to assist the girls with getting up to their laying boxes, was just causing them to clammer while they tried to get steady footing as they explored their new surroundings.

Hope and Love seemed to quickly figure out the food dispenser we made out of pvc pipe which was tied to side of the coop, but they were really struggling to figure out how to drink from the make-shift water dispensers I had made using plastic bottles and bowls. It was a terribly clumsy affair and the water bowls were constantly being stepped on and in and being knocked over. I was replacing the water at least twice a day due to accidents in the first 48 hours. On Nikki's advice I tried putting a brick in the bowl and this worked because after nearly 48 hours of only seeing Love drink once and Hope not drink at all, I finally caught them in the act. This was such a relief, however, I knew I would have to make a better plan soon.

Thankfully, all along, while I was panicking like a real mamma hen, my calm and collected husband was there to put things into perspective.

This set-up was a complete failure! So we learn....