A Small Backyard Chicken Pen

We have a mean rooster. The kids named him, but I'm not sure I should post his name on here. The kids don't get why I don't want them to tell the people at church what the rooster's name is.....but awhile back some other kids from church were visiting with their families and THEIR kids came up with the same name! (At least it's not just MY kids....I find some comfort there).

The name....is what a mean rooster might do to one's finger if you were to stick it at him. Starts with a P. Ends with -er.  Got it? ;)

So anyway, if we are ever going to leave for a few days, we need to have someone come take care of our animals. No one wants to run away from the rooster(as my SIL did when dh told her a few years ago a different rooster wouldn't bother her--ornery!). No one on Craigslist wants the lovely heirloom breed Delaware rooster. We really don't want to kill him and eat him until we get another (nice) Delaware rooster. So we're stuck with him.

My husband gathered some scrap wood and fencing and such he had collected and got busy building. I got to do the honors of painting. :)

Here is what he came up with:

I am trying that water bottle to see if the rooster can figure it out. So far he is just pecking at it ever so often. It said it was for birds as well as rabbits and such.....I know there are nipple-type waterers available for poultry but haven't seen any IRL yet to see how much they cost. He also has that pan of water in the corner, but I'd like to take it out and give him a bit more room.

I've got a chick feeder in there that is serving the purpose...unless it rains.  I am certainly open to suggestions there too.  I would prefer to have something fairly waterproof that I can fill from the outside and that won't necessitate my opening the door of the pen every day to fill.


Here is a look at the inside, the best I could get. There are a few boards there for roosts, and a door on the far end to collect eggs. I have since put the hens in but they've yet to figure out to lay their eggs in the right place. (bummer)