Today we got enough done on the coop that tonight the chickens are in it for the very first time. They looked startled and confused when we put them in, and didn't move around much.

Not sure if we should leave 'em in there for a few days to get used to the place or not...but I'm not super comfortable with that idea since the window isn't in yet. (Some people say to leave the chickens closed in a new coop for a few days so that they will learn to recognize it as home, and naturally go in at night to roost.) Without the window in yet it's dark, and ventilation may not be super good (although we did cut a few ventilation holes)...so we'll probably let them out tomorrow for the day.


According to my research, you need approx. 10 inches of roost per chicken for standard sized chickens. Since our coop is technically for 8-12, we put in enough roost for 12 (120 inches). That way if we find that there aren't enough chickens to warm the slightly-too-large coop warm this winter, next year we'll have room to add 6 more without needing modification.

Also, according to my research (where I found multiple suggestions--always---I took the one that worked for our "guinea pig" chicken--yes we tried out perch sizes using a real chicken---or I took the average measurements) we put 12" in between perches (vertically) and placed them no less than 12 inches from the wall. We have three levels-one at 12", one at 24" and one at 36". That way they can choose their roost according to preference and pecking order. (Also it's important to have roosts higher than the nest box perch so they won't roost there--the nestbox roost is at about 23".


We'll need to buy a different waterer--the one we got doesn't hang well, it has a flat handle. So for now we're using the 1 gallon waterer that we were using before. That's a 30 gallon metal feeder in the picture.

Here are the additional photos, as promised:

Today, our town (nearest incorporated town, that is) had its' fireworks display,which was nice. But we are planning our own, small display for tomorrow...

As is common in areas where the woods meet a mowed section of land, there are a lot of wild berry bushes on our property. (Wineberries according to my research). Up until Sunday I thought that they were all raspberries wineberries, but it looks like S. found some other ones. They're ripe already (unlike the raspberries wineberries which are just starting to set berries) and are they delicious.

We've tried for years (unsuccessfully) to start Moonflower (Ipomoea alba) from seed. The seed requires either soaking or scarification. Amazingly, despite our failures, we had never tried soaking them. So, this year I ran an experiment. I tried starting them two ways---the first I soaked in water overnight and placed in a ziplck bag with a damp paper towel. The second I just put in a ziplock bag with a damp paper towel (that was how we sprouted bean seeds back in elementary school in order to learn about the parts of a seed--cotyledon and so on. I figured what the heck, it had to be pretty foolproof if they were using it in elementary school....)

Sure enough, not just did we have luck with the soaked seed--but every seed that I had put in a ziplock bag with a damp paper towel germinated. Some of them were soaked, some were not. Some were in the light, some in the dark.

Didn't even matter. Eureka! As far as I can tell we had 100% germination. After they were sprouted I put them in a little bit of recycled potting soil (ie old..) in reused tofu containers (small, deep plastic rectangular trays for those who are not familiar with them). Worked like a charm, and when they got too big I potted them up to old plant pots that we had kept for just such an occasion.


We started the process a little late in the season, so it might be september before they bloom, but with any luck they will. I think it's just about time to plant them outside, though. (I hope the chickens and ducks don't try to eat the little plants...)

Have you ever had much luck with Ipomoeas from seed? (we started some 'Grandpa Otts' morning glory this year too.)