Winterizing the Coop

It's starting to get cold around here. While it's still comfortable during the day most days, it's becoming pretty chilly at night. We thought it was time to start winterizing the coop. 

A couple months ago, we traded in our wood chips for peat moss. 

It's compostable and so much easier to clean than the wood chips.

 Bryan also built the girls a new roosting pole.

 I think it works out much better than the shutter that came with the coop.

 We traded out the lattice sides we used for the summer months with the wooden doors that also came with the coop. We did some modifying to one of the doors though. We cut out a smaller door that would allow easier access to the eggs once the girls start laying.

 

I thought I would add a decorative touch. 

  

Speaking of eggs, our two oldest girls will be 5 months old in a couple of days. To help the girls know where to start laying eggs, we were told by several people to put fake eggs in the nest boxes.

  

Since the other girls are at least a month younger, we decided against putting a light in the coop this winter. We thought we would just take our chances this year and see what happens. 

We might not have any eggs until Spring but we're ok with that.

 Next year when all of our girls are established layers, 

it might be more cost efficient to set up a light in the coop.

For now, we're patiently waiting for that first egg...