~ For people who are passionate about respecting the earth, walking in nature, observing wildlife, local diet, making do, repurposing, organic gardening, foraging for wild plants and fungi, natural health, scrumptious healthy cooking, renovations, DIY, crafting, raising children simply and mindfully, their dogs, taking time for stillness, and living in harmony with the seasons.
We celebrate Winter Solstice here at cabinorganic. During the darkest, shortest day of the year it seems that there is nothing more important to do than celebrate. It’s been over a month of doing morning and evening chores outside in the dark, as well as spending more time indoors—a strange shift in our daily rhythm after spending most of our time outside in the spring, summer and fall.
On this day we use minimal electric lighting and instead light candles and a fire. We spend the day baking cookies with a winter theme (star and moons, or snowflakes), read books about the Winter Solstice, make music, play outside, then we have a feast.
Buttery ‘Sun Bread’ is often involved.
Afterward dinner, we open a few Solstice presents and spend the rest of the evening visiting, playing more music, and enjoying our time together.
For us, Winter Solstice is about welcoming the return of the sun and longer days. It is also an appreciation and celebration of the dark. We do not fear the dark but welcome its gifts. Winter Solstice marks the turning of the wheel- a new year—a new cycle— beginning again. So we honour this day as our own New Year’s and end the night with bubbly and toasts. We also spend some quiet time during the day and evening, reflecting on the past year and making plans for the coming year.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a Happy Winter Solstice, Happy Holidays, and all of the best in the coming year!
I mentioned in the previous post that Chayton was smitten with the new baby chicks. It was love at first sight for him and there was no turning back. To wrap up these ‘catch-up’ posts on chickens and the coop, I thought I’d add a few pictures that show just how much this little boy loves—and enjoys spending time with—his chickens.
Chayton is now four-and-a-half and has had chickens in his life for two-and-a-half years. He seems to have a way with them, perhaps it’s just the fact that he is not afraid of them. He’s been pecked only a few times (when the chicks were still young and curious) and he just laughed. If they get too close to his face he just calmly pushes them away with his arm. We now have Henriette living in the house with us and he is getting hours of time each day playing with her and observing her closely. I am so happy that Chayton shares my love for our girls and for our simple life out here in the country.
We ordered our chicks a month before they arrived. Chicks are sent via Canada Post on the day they hatch and they arrive the following day. There were 27 tiny chicks in this box—all happy and hungry and ready to start their lives with us.
Chayton, 2-years old at the time, was enthralled. He loved the chicks from the first moment he set eyes on them.
As we took each chick out of the box, we dipped their beaks in water and then placed them in the pre-warmed brooder box near the food. They were to spend the next few weeks in this spacious home that Brian had made. We spent hours each day with them, talking quietly and handling them very gently. Chayton loved to feed them one kernel of feed at a time. We had a small parade of visitors come through—neighbours, friends, and family—they all came to see these adorable chicks.
This is the brooder box that we used. Brian used an extra-large rubbermaid bin that we already owned, cut two square openings in the top and then made simple wooden frames and covered them with hardware cloth. We put a layer of coarse sand on the bottom (about 1-1/2 inch). We prefer sand over other bedding materials, mainly because we have a lot of it, but I also love how it holds the heat (keeping the chicks warm) and is so easy to clean (I use a kitty litter scoop to sift the sand twice daily). The first few days, we place paper towering over the sand to give the chicks time to learn to distinguish food from sand.
We hang a heat lamp over one side and keep the brooder box in the cabin (basement) where we can spend lots of the time observing and enjoying the chicks.
Brian also built a tiny roost for them to play on.
They outgrew the brooder box fairly quickly. Within weeks we had them in the prepared coop. The low beam that Chayton is holding onto is their lowest roost. There are two more levels above this. After a few months, Grandpa changed this and made the three level roosts (pictured in the previous post), which lift on a hinge for easy cleaning.
The chicks grew so quickly and soon looked like miniature adult chickens. As you can see, we had three types of chickens: Columbian Whites, Rhode Island Reds, and Barred Plymouth Rocks. These are common dual-purpose birds (good for eggs and meat) and we love the different colours. We’ve had good success with all three breeds but found that the friendliest and most tame are the Rhode Island Reds (we have one living in the cabin with us right now—she’s a darling—I’ll tell that story in another post).
We love having chickens in our lives, and after three years of having chickens I could not imagine life without them. Yes, it means daily chores but it also means the freshest, tastiest (and healthiest) eggs I have ever tasted. They also add such fun to our lives with their different personalities and behaviours. We sell eggs to our friends and neighbours, which helps builds community relationships, and we take pride in having a clean coop with healthy, happy chickens.
On November 26, 2014, I left you hanging with an unfinished chicken coop. It’s time to fill you in on the details of how we got from there (below)… to our beautiful coop here (above).
Winter came and we had to put the project on hold. Once spring arrived we were ready to keep working on the project, and with chicks booked for April, we were motivated to finish setting up their home. We started with the interior: Brian painted the walls, installed eight nesting boxes (using recycled lumber), and Grandpa made the roosts (using an old metal bed frame, recycled metal and lumber).
I put up curtains to keep the chickens from roosting in the nesting boxes. It really works.
Our roosts are all at the same level and the entire unit swings upwards and can be held by the metal hook (top right) for easy cleaning. The droppings board slides in an out like a drawer and can be removed easily for spring cleaning. Each morning, I scrape the manure off of the board and into a bucket with a paint scraper. I also pick up manure off of the sand (and out of the yard sand) with a kitty litter scoop.
Then Brian and our then-three-year old son, Chayton, got to work painting the exterior.
I love the red colour and how it adds such vibrancy to the coop.
Brian used parts of an old jungle gym to create roosting spaces for the chickens out in the small yard.
Another major project was setting up the larger yard (accessed from a pop hole in the small yard) to give the chickens much more space to roam. As our property backs onto 150 acres of protected land, we need to protect our chickens from the fox and coyotes that frequently pass through. Grandpa used his backhoe to dig a trench, 18-inch deep, all around the larger yard’s perimeter. Then we constructed a fence using stucco wire and T-posts, and tied everything together with wire. Grandpa welded a main gate using an old metal bed frame and there is a provision for a larger gate (to accommodate a tractor) in the back area.
Grandpa Dale located another shed and put it beside the coop. Then the Lake family (remember Erin and Mitch?) gave us a metal outhouse (“Burton’s Pooper”), which was placed next to the new shed. They also gave us the metal skeleton of a canvas carport. Grandpa reinforced this with metal rods and put the whole structure on skids. Then he and Brian covered it with tin. All that is left to do now is to put some doors on it.
Jenna, Chayton’s sister, helped me paint the middle shed. By the end of summer I also had the pooper painted.
Later, Brian added shelves to the pooper and we now use it as rodent-free storage for feed and equipment. The teal shed (middle) has been used for chickens, goats, and even an injured duck (more on these later).
This is what the entire set up looks like today. We’ll add doors to the tin shed this coming summer.
We are loving the the colours, especially now in the winter. I’ll do another post focusing on the winter set-up as Brian covers the yard in plastic, turning it into a warm greenhouse for the chickens during the coldest months.
I hope you enjoyed the story of our coop. There will be many more posts featuring these buildings along with the interesting animals that live in them.
