A new storage cabinet and the second night for the girls in their new home

Having emptied the chicken patio we decided to make some changes. I have had the wooden storage cabinet for three years and it doesn’t owe me anything. My husband thought I would be better off with a plastic storage cabinet that would be easy to keep to clean.

He decided that my wooden cabinet would make a good log and kindling store and could be kept behind the chicken shed with my chicken bin and the compost bin.

He had seen a storage cabinet that he thought would be good for me so we went to look at it yesterday. It was perfect as it also had the advantage of being so tall that the girls wouldn’t be able to perch on top of it. It came flat packed.

My new storage cabinet

My husband assembles the cabinet

My new storage cabinet is in position

My storage cabinet is filled

I love how nosey Peaches and Barley are. They also look so small against the height of my new cabinet. I have decided to keep the little coop nest boxes on the patio for now as there is plenty of room for them, they are to the right of the cabinet and Peaches, Barley and Honey are still laying their eggs in them.

Everything is now back in the big shed

The chest freezer is on the left, the hot boxes on the right and my husband has shortened the shelves from the old shed and put them in on the right hand side.

The shelves are recycled and filled

There will probably be lots of fine tuning but everything is in for now.

Behind the chicken shed

Behind the chicken shed there is space to store some things out of sight. There is my old storage cabinet, now a log store, the dog/chicken crate is hanging above it then there is the compost and chicken bin.

At bedtime the girls were beginning to get the hang of where to go.

As dusk approached Toffee and Emerald started looking in the new shed

Toffee tries out the ladder while Emerald watches

Emerald bags the top perch

We have four girls in

Toffee is on the move

They are in position

We were actually really pleased with how last night went. We didn’t use any seeds and they started thinking about going in by themselves. I think because the door was open, after some of the girls went in, others would have a change mind and pop out again. In the end we herded them in again and shut the door.

Tonight we will keep the door shut and even if we have to herd them still, they will learn to go through the pop hole. I think once they do this they will start to go in on their own and stay in.

We also thought we would put another perch or a shelf up that is higher than the top rung as they all want to be on the top rung. Once again it is Toffee and Honey that can’t keep a position at the top.

This morning when they came out all was normal and the shavings hadn’t been scratched out. I think the novelty has worn off which is good because it is much tidier. Overall I am really pleased with the progress and feel that it won’t be long before they are going in on their own.