Remember the little chicks I wrote about in my previous post? Well, they are not so chick-like anymore. In fact, they practically look like full-grown chickens now in just a couple months' time.

They outgrew the storage tub we had them in very quickly, so my husband built a bigger box to keep them indoors until it got a bit warmer. In no time, they were too big for that, too.

In the meantime, we built a coop in the backyard. We have three acres, and my husband chose a spot nestled in a stand of trees with lots of vegetation around the coop for the chickens to enjoy.

In the interest of being economical about building the thing, we used all free materials -- old wood fence takedowns from jobs my husband did recently. (A lot of stuff around my house is made of old fence parts. That's what happens when you're married to a fence installer.) The only thing we paid for was the box of screws.

We "finished" the coop and fenced yard for them (it still needs some work, but it was at a functional point) on a Saturday evening about 9. So, under the cover of darkness, we transported the chicks one by one from a fenced area behind the house to their new home. I'm sure it looked pretty odd -- my daughter and I running in the dark with chickens in our hands. That's 19 trips to and fro.

They were very happy in their new home, especially the outdoor area, where they spend their days.