Chicken Update 8/13/2015

Here are a couple of pics of our new Chicken Cruiser (also known as mobile chicken coop) the Husband build over the weekend.  It's a pretty slick contraption, standing about 4' tall, it's 8' long, and roughly 4' wide.  It's designed to nestle into our garden beds, which are about 4' wide and 16' long.  The nest box is under the tarp in back and is accessible via a small hatch the Husband built.  It's mobile if there are two people to move it. 

The idea with this kind of coop is you use the chickens to "cultivate" the garden beds.  We have dried grass clippings and weeds on top of the soil, which attracts a plethora of worms and bugs.  The chickens dig through this, mixing it with the soil,their poop, and any compost we might have added.  Any weeds or weed seeds are consumed during this process as well.  It's a win-win situation - bed is weeded, cultivated and fertilized; chickens do natural chicken things, eat, poop and lay eggs. 

And, may I introduce our newest Ladies?  Here are the Priya's (Geek points if you recognize the name.  Hint - it's the same theme I have with the other hens.)   We picked these up on Monday night.  They are about 5 or 6 months old?  Something like that.  The hen in the middle we suspect is an "Easter Egger" breed.  The other two...not so sure what they are. 

Hen box on the left with fake egg, the perch is above the hens.

Which brings me around to the Big Announcement!  Here are the Most. Egg-spensive. Eggs. EVER!   

Yes!  The Priya's are laying eggs and these were the first two!  One or two of the Hens has the nesting box figured out.  One Priya is just laying them on the ground - right under the perch where they also poop. Bleh. 

So if these gals at 5+ months are laying eggs, our original hens are probably not far behind!  Husband is working on a nesting box for the big coop today.