Just as I thought I knew as much as I could about chicken keeping, I learned an important lesson, the hard way: Good drainage is critical for your coop location.

Our yard is quite small. We have a couple of acres, but it’s mostly a steep hill. The coop is built at the edge of the back hill. 2009 was a relatively rainy year, and the water flowed down the hill, directly into the coop. Every time it rains the water collects in the coop and creates a mushy, muddy, stinky mess. Good thing for my gals that I don’t mind some hard labor. Every time it gets muddy I don my muck boots and shovel out a layer of stinky mud. Chickens are notoriously wasteful of their food, so all the layer ration gets flung out on the ground and mixed into the mud. It smells awful when it’s wet, just a cloying, sickly smell. So, I have to shovel it into a wheelbarrow and haul it to my compost pile, and bury it.

If you’re considering a coop, keep drainage in mind. I am looking at my options, maybe digging some drainage tunnels behind the coop. Unfortunately it mostly rock and shale, so it’s going to be some hard digging!

OK, it’s been a long while since my last post. I’ve been having so much fun with chickens that I neglected this blog terribly. I will provide a high-level status update!

• Pro-chicken legislation failed; BUT
• Anti-chicken legislation was deferred indefinitely!

I still have my beloved girls, and they are full-grown and beautiful. Despite the cold weather, they have begun laying. Yesterday I had a record day: 6 chickens, 6 eggs! Now that they are up to production I am able to share the bounty with my neighbors. I am delighted to report that they love having chickens in the neighborhood, so my girls are safe from the law. At this point, the only reason I’d have to give them up would be a neighborhood complaint. I will post daily updates from now on!