I need to secure my bench better. It rather defeats the purpose of a fold up bench if the chickens roost on the edge and poop on the top any way. I think a hook and eye will do the trick.

And yes, there is still cardboard on the path. I will eventually get decomposed granite to put down, but it is too hot to think about it now.

I saw a few posts about using an old tire to make a dust bath area for chickens, so when I had my vehicle at the shop, I asked if they had any old tires I could have. They did and gave me one!

I filled it with dirt, diatomaceous earth, wood ash, and sand, as recommended. It has been sitting at the end of the covered run for some time now. The chickens like to perch on it, but I have yet to catch one dust bathing in it. Next to it, yes, but not in it. Hmm.

I love automation. I’m so easily distracted, it is easy for me to forget to do what I should when I should. And when I do forget, it causes me anxiety, so everything I can do to reduce the anxiety is a good thing (I have over 20 daily alarms on my phone when the kids are in school)!

The automatic door on the coop is awesome. After the sunrise, it opens up and the chickens come out, and at dusk, it closes again to keep the chickens safer. I don’t have to remember to open and close the coop. (And I love that the chickens put themselves to bed well before dusk. So neat.)

Now the heat has me stressed. It is still cool at night, but the day time “feels like” temperature has hit the 100s frequently. I have a fan in the coop, but if I leave it on all day, the temperature is actually higher around noon than if I left the fan off. But if I leave the fan off, by about 3pm the coop heats up to 100. And if I leave the fan on at night there is a chance of the chickens getting too cold. So I bought a temperature controller and an oscillating fan. When the temperature reaches 80 degrees, the fan will start, and help cool the coop. Then when the temperature drops back down to about 80, the fan will turn off. And the fan can be disassembled and cleaned so I can keep the dust build up off (since I read that most barn fires occur when dust collects in fans and overheats the motor).

I installed this a couple days ago, and since then we have had the most glorious 80 degree days. Too cool to actually trigger the fan. I’m not complaining; to test the fan I finally figured out that if I hold the temperature sensor in my hand, the controller will kick on. All good!

I made the first chicken run door and we put it up! It made doing health checks easier because after we checked weight, vent, and feet, we could separate the chickens who had been checked from those who hadn’t.

I’ll spread some more seed in the area and we will keep this door closed for a couple weeks to let the seed sprout. Eventually I’ll have three runs, once I get the other doors done.