After a week in their cozy $4 plastic bin, we thought it might be best to buy a larger temporary home II for the chicks. It’s temporary because Scott really wants to design and build a home from scratch for them….that’s LOVE. If you’ve never ventured into the world of custom chicken coops, be prepared for your mind to be blown. They are extravagant. In fact, I think this guy’s home is smaller than these coops. It will take time for the mega mansion coop to be built, so we’ve bought a coop at a local shop instead.

The chicks love to fly up to the top of the plastic bin and perch right on the ledge.

But since their butt hangs OVER the edge, they tend to poop on my floor. And on shoes.

And then unknowing suspect will put on shoes without looking. Yuck….I know, sometimes shit happens.

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The chicks are growing fast! They’re beginning to lose their fuzzy baby down and growing soft tiny feathers.

Frenzy Cutie-Pie:

Oreo has the funniest expressions….

And if you hold her just right, she’ll fall asleep instantly….like within 10 seconds. I wish my kids would do that at night. Uh, well, I wish *I* could do that at night.

This gal right here?

Does the same thing.

I’m the Chick Whisperer.

We finally named the last two chicks, the boys’ best friend named one Starly.

My boys named the biggest chick Olivia Super-Star.

Have my kids been watching porn??! Where’d they get those names!??

Our New Chick Palace

First thing you need to do is to protect the chicks from predators – hawks, coyotes, alligators, extra-large rodents that give me heebie-jeebies, snakes. Friends have told us to dig and create an underground chicken wire barrier. But we just didn’t think chicken wire would be strong enough to protect, oh let’s say, a panther, from digging under and getting our precious chicks.

So we went with cinderblock. Big, thick, heavy-duty blocks.

Measure, dig, bury and level. The whole thing has to be level so that the chicken coop won’t be sitting all wonky and stuff.

Then you lay flat square blocks on top. As your dog stands guard against any of the said predators.

The new Coop Palace sits on top of the blocks.

This isn’t the ideal coop for us, but it’ll do for now until Scott builds the Coop Mansion.

Line it with pine shavings.

Then it’s time to get the chicks and show ’em their new home.

They arrive in a pink limo. Coco::sniff sniff::

“Oh, that looks kinda scary being up so high!”

“Yup….mighty steep!”

It was littlest one, Frenzy Cutie-Pie that was the bravest to venture down the steps. The rest were too chicken.(har..har…har….)

Our Buddha garden statue stands guard. Those scary extra-large rodent forms don’t have a chance against the mighty Jolly Garden Buddha!

The next morning, we found THIS in the coop.

A small, hairy spider with a freakish face painted on its back that looks like it’s smirking at me. My friends on Twitter and Facebook told me it’s a Jumping Spider. I don’t like spiders. Apparently this one jumps, has green fangs and is hairy, has 8 eyes and can kill BEES.

train Buddha to keep spiders out of coop, we must.