Chapter 263: Chicken Coop

Xia Qing spent three days building a chicken coop measuring thirty square meters in area and three meters in height.

Like the sheep pen, the coop's four walls are 370mm load-bearing walls; the roof uses wooden beams and purlins, with wooden rafters laid on top, three layers of reed matting spread over the rafters, a layer of waterproof cloth for insulation over the matting, and synthetic resin tiles as the outermost roofing layer.

Green Lantern chickens are the most important poultry in her territory and must be given top-priority protection. Xia Qing is a professional construction worker; the coop she built won't collapse unless hit by hail the size of fists, battered by winds above Force 8, or rammed by a force-type evolver like Sheep Boss.

Besides being sturdy and solid, Xia Qing also solved the problem of the chickens going in and out of the coop, so she no longer has to carry the chicken cages morning and evening to collect and release them.

She left the coop one door—for her to come and go—and one window—for the chickens to come and go.

The coop sits on the west side of Xia Qing's courtyard, making it the west room, so the coop's door is set in the east wall, convenient for Xia Qing to enter and feed the chickens, collect eggs, and inspect the coop's safety. To let the hens lay their eggs in peace, Xia Qing built an entire row of straw nests, so even if all six hens lay at once, none of them has to wait in line for a nest.

The coop's small window is set in the west wall, one and a half meters off the ground.

The wasteland courtyard to the west of the coop was originally cleared by Xia Qing for growing vegetables. After discovering the hillside planting zone, Xia Qing moved the seedlings to the hillside terraces, and the western courtyard has been left empty ever since.

After finishing the coop, Xia Qing put up fencing around the entire west courtyard and covered it with insect netting to raise chickens in, ensuring the chickens have plenty of room to move around.

After repairing the aluminum alloy doors and windows she'd salvaged from the ruins and installing them on the coop, Xia Qing released all eleven chickens and one goose into their new home.

At daybreak, the chickens will jump through the coop's window into the chicken run to move about; after dark, they'll jump back through the window onto the coop's perches to sleep. When a dangerous rain or other danger comes, Xia Qing only needs to close the window to lock her precious Green Lantern chickens safely inside the coop.

That Red Lantern goose? After confirming it not only lacked any special evolution ability but was even more cowardly than Black Feather, couldn't guard the house, and would even contaminate the Green Lantern chickens' droppings, Xia Qing had already contacted Zhong Tao to trade the goose for points when they came by.

After shutting the chickens in the coop, Xia Qing called her companions Sheep Boss and the wolves that were recovering from injuries and illness over, led them on a walk around the chicken run, and carefully instructed them, "You three must walk around the chicken run like this a few times every day. You can't let thieves steal and eat our chickens."

Stopping in front of the coop door, Xia Qing pointed at the door and told the one sheep and two wolves, "This room is for the chickens to live in. They're too weak—if they run out, they'll be caught by eagles, weasels, foxes, lynx, and other animals. So once this door is opened, it must be closed immediately. Don't let any chickens escape."

"Watch how I open and close this door." With that, Xia Qing demonstrated how the door worked for the one sheep and two wolves.

If it were only the two wolves, Xia Qing would simply tell them not to open this door—they have no curiosity and would definitely obey. But Sheep Boss won't listen; it considers itself the master of this territory, and any place within this territory, it must be able to enter whenever it wants.

If it can't get in, it'll throw a tantrum, and no matter how sturdy this door is, it won't hold up to its headbutting.

After demonstrating several times, Xia Qing called on Sheep Boss first. "Boss, come over and try to open it."

Sheep Boss squinted its eyes, not moving a hoof.

Xia Qing wasn't annoyed with it either, and called on the Broken-Waist Wolf. "Broken-Waist, come over and try to open the door, will you?"

This door is basically a simplified security door, so for the attentively listening Broken-Waist Wolf, it posed no challenge at all. It stepped forward, raised a paw to paw at the handle, pushed the door open and went into the coop, then pawed the door to push it outward and walked out.

An iron block hanging from a rope on the door frame used its own weight to pull the door shut.

"Excellent!" Xia Qing immediately praised the Broken-Waist Wolf. "Broken-Waist truly lives up to being a brain-domain evolved wolf—smart, with first-rate learning ability. You got it right on the first try and didn't let any chickens escape. Here's your reward."

Xia Qing handed the Broken-Waist Wolf a piece of dried roasted meat. The wolf raised its head, signaling Xia Qing to stuff the jerky into its pouch. After Xia Qing had hung this pouch on the wolf before the third dangerous rain, she never took it back.

Not that she didn't want to take it off—it's that the wolves consider it their private property now and won't give it back to Xia Qing, so Xia Qing only removed the healing stone from inside.

Xia Qing stuffed the jerky into the pouch, ruffled the Broken-Waist Wolf's thick fur, and called on the Sick Wolf. "Lao Er, come over and try."

The Sick Wolf also completed the task smoothly, raising its clear wolf eyes to look at Xia Qing. Xia Qing immediately stuffed jerky into its pouch. "Good job, Lao Er. Truly a wolf with a few more years under its belt—first-rate learning ability. But from now on, be careful when going in and out, and don't let any chickens escape."

The Sick Wolf, having gotten its jerky, wagged its tail and grinned.

Then, without Xia Qing needing to call it, Sheep Boss stepped forward and completed the task, walking up to Xia Qing and raising its big head. Xia Qing immediately stuffed a ration into its mouth. "Our Boss is also excellent—the smartest sheep there is."

After the inspection, Xia Qing's face went cold as she looked at the three creatures in front of her, her voice stern. "Whoever opens this door and doesn't close it properly, letting the chickens out, will be punished. If Sheep Boss opens this door on its own, it'll be fined rations and get a beating."

"If Lao Er opens this door on its own, no meat porridge. If Broken-Waist opens this door…" Xia Qing stared at the calmly-faced Broken-Waist Wolf and threatened fiercely, "If Broken-Waist opens this door, the patch of fur missing from its back will never grow back. Understand?"

Sheep Boss, with its punchable expression, stared at the door behind Xia Qing while chewing cud, but Xia Qing could tell it understood.

The Sick Wolf sat nearby looking obedient, while the clever Broken-Waist Wolf had already started checking the medicated patch on its back.

Xia Qing was satisfied, and handed each of them a basket. "Alright, I'm going to cook. You three go patrol the territory and catch bugs. When you get back, we'll eat."

After the Broken-Waist Wolf could move around, Xia Qing assigned it tasks too—patrolling the territory daily, exterminating bugs, and feeding the chickens and fish. Yesterday, it even brought Xia Qing back a nest of mice that had just moved into the territory, and led her to the spot where it found them. Xia Qing praised it highly and rewarded it with a piece of jerky.

After the two wolves and one sheep left, Xia Qing took out her phone to check the time, and glanced at the red squirrel's location while she was at it. The little fellow had been scared off by the alpha wolf and hadn't come to her windowsill to drink water for three days now.

At this moment, it was staying in a tree hollow it had newly found in Mountain 49, Zone 3. This tree hollow was in a tall Red Lantern pine, and the hollow was a full fifteen meters off the ground. The red squirrel probably figured a high hollow would protect it from wolves, so it had moved all its stored food from the two hollows below five meters into its new nest.

Xia Qing had climbed up to check while it was out gathering food in the morning, and there were still no peanuts in its nest.

The next morning at ten, the patrol and supply-exchange truck arrived on the road running between Territories 1 through 10.