Let's talk about chicks!

Every spring for many years my husband and I have discussed getting chickens.  For one reason or another we decided not to, but it's been a "dream" to have them one day.  Yesterday while Sweet Pea was at school I told the Littlest Gardener that I'd take her to the feed store to look at chicks, something I've done with my girls since Sweet Pea was little.  But, this time I decided I wanted to actually get some rather than only look.  So after texting, emailing and calling my husband at work - the poor guy - we decided that this would be the spring to do it.  I had been talking to my sister who lives close by and she decided they would get some too.  So we packed up our youngest (her 3 year old son and the Littlest Gardener) and off we went.  She and I both ended up with four chicks.

 Here they are in their new set up.  I thought about having them in the family room with us, but quickly realized that our nosy Gracie might tip the whole thing over trying to look in.  So I ended up putting the tub in our "office" on a wooden trunk where she can't get to them.

 They settled in quickly and were eating and drinking within a few minutes of being let out.

Everyone got to name one so you will probably guess who was named by a 5 year old and who was named by my Greek husband.

 This is Blossom, an Ameraucana.  They are sometimes called an Easter Egger and lay eggs that are either blue or green.

 This is Sunny, a Brown Leghorn.  They lay large white eggs.

 This is Stamatina a Black Star (Black Sex-link).  They are a hybid of a Rhode Island Red Rooster and a Barred Rock Hen.  They are supposed to be reliable layers and their eggs are brown.

 This is Chirpy a Delaware.  They lay large brown eggs.  So far she is the most outgoing and friendly and will quickly hop right up into our hands.

 When we are holding the chicks Gracie has to stay out, she is so friendly and just wants to sniff them.  I'm sure she'll eventually be as gentle and sweet with them as she is with our rabbit and the neighbor cats.

I've been changing their water frequently since they seem to like kicking their shavings in.

It was so fun surprising Sweet Pea when she came home from school, she was so excited.  I can tell this is going to be a fun family pet project for us.
Before my husband got home I started researching how I would like our coop to be.  I got some really great ideas from Curbstone Valley Blog.  This post in particular had some really useful information.  I remember reading this post a couple of years ago.  A couple of things that stayed with me was using the hardware cloth underneath as well as the sides and top of the run, and making the coop easy to clean with removable parts.  My husband and I began drawing up plans for our coop which includes having the door to the nesting boxes easily accessible from the outside and a run that we can stand up in to make it easier to feed and clean.  We plan to put the coop in the sideyard where we have raised beds which only have blueberries in them.  At least one bed has been unused for years and their is an outgrown playhouse, they will both go to make room for a coop and nice size run for the days when they won't have access to the rest of the yard.
I am very open to any tips, suggestions, recommendations, etc that any experienced chicken owners have.
All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.