Working on the Big Coop

With the loss of the box elder tree, the Big Coop gets very hot in the afternoons--all that southern exposure with the sun beating down on it makes for a toasty space.  So I've started leaving the door open during the day, but with the chicks getting larger and more adventurous, I needed something more than the old window screen I had stuck across the opening.  They've been exercising their wings and checking out higher perches, all very exciting stuff, and it was only a matter of time until they figured out how to leap up and over the screen.  Yikes.

So I broke out some furring strips and my trust hand saw, and my little Black & Decker cordless drill, and managed to put together a screen door.  So far, it swings open and shut and latches securely with a hook & eye closure.  The chicks are intrigued, but can't hop outside.  I doubt that it would be dog proof or anything like that, but I'm not too worried by that at the present moment.  I'm more worried about providing enough cross-ventilation, and it certainly does that.

A few more feathers, a few more days, and the chicks will be ready to make their first foray into the great wide world of the Coop Run.  I supposed I'd better get hopping and paint the coop and reconfigure the henyard.  I wouldn't want to disappoint them!