Posts tagged ‘Coop’

Dec 10

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2009 Recap in Red

Starting at top left: blueberry bushes this fall; chicken coop and rain barrel; summer night dahlia; audrey grace dahlia; red rubber shoes; double peony; radishes; raspberries and blueberries; raspberry tart; vine ripen tomatoes; veggie harvest

Jun 2

Pets With Benefits

Our chicken coop

We finally finished the coop last night. Of course we still have a few finishing touches to add but it’s good enough for now.

The hens are living in their new home and are still a bit scared. This is expected since they came from a farm with farm noises and now live in town with loud town noises. We’re a couple blocks from the train, a hwy, the post office and main street – it can get pretty loud.

Every hour they seem to get a little more comfortable with their new home and venture a little further out. They’re slowly getting used to us and no longer squack and attack us when we enter their coop.

It appears we have a quiet passive hen and a fiesty loud one. It’s great to see their personalities already.

Scared chickens

We named the hens Henny Penny and Hazel. Penny is the copper colored hen while Hazel is the brown one. They’re both Silkies and were born about this time last year.

They’re not used to climbing up ramps, having a hen house, or sleeping on roosting poles. So, I need to make a couple modifications to the ramp & hen house to make it a little cozier for laying eggs.

I’m sure we’ll get it right one of these days. Until then, we’ll just take it one day at a time.

Baby chicks

We also have two Silkie chicks in the house; we weren’t sure if either of the hens we brought home are the mother and didn’t want them to freeze to death outside. Even though it’s pretty warm during the day it can get pretty cold at night. We also like having them in the house since they’re cute.

I put together this brooding box to make sure they are warm and safe. The wire top is to keep Pepper (cat) away from the chicks, even though he could care less.

I’m sure this isn’t the last time you’ll hear about these guys. I love having pets and I was able to justify (and get approval for) chickens since they also provide eggs. They’re a pet with benefits.

May 28

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Almost Ready for our Silkies

Coop w/out a hen house

We’re getting a little bit closer to being done with the chicken pen/coop. Just in time for our drive over to my mom’s this weekend to pick up three Silky hens.

I still need to install a lock on the door, pick up the their little roosting/nesting house, add the cement block floor and add the roofing.

There are also the finishing touches like making a ramp and getting all the supplies.

It’s all worth the effort since I now LOVE this part of my yard. It went from being the spot I avoided (except to lie in the hammock) to a charming little private spot with chickens. I even managed to keep the poppy alive during construction.

May 23

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Recycling an Old Door into a Chicken Coop Door

Finishing the chicken coop

I was talking to my mom on the phone the other day about my chicken coop. As I was describing how cute it was, she expressed concern about the door to the coop since they once had a problem with raccoons trying to push through the bottom of one of their doors. It appears those crafty fellows will stop at nothing to get in your coop.

It just happened to be by accident that we were using an old heavy duty interior door as our coop entrance. I’m one of those fortunate people that has an antique dealer living next door – with an endless supply of old doors. I love old doors. So when ever I need one or she happens to be giving them away, I’ll pick one up. I have an old door for my front gate and now my chicken coop.

Anyways. You’ll see by the picture on the left that the door isn’t finished yet. I still need to paint the door white, add the hardware cloth, add handles and locks and mount on the coop. But here’s what we did to transform the door from an interior door to a chicken coop door.

So we have a door to our chicken coop that’s sturdy enough to keep those unwanted critters out, we started with a sturdy solid wood door.

1. If you don't like power tools then enlist the help of someone who does - cigar optional.

2. Cut out the center of the door using a saw, like the one you see below. At first we thought we'd have two open panels but when it looked bad, he cut out the entire center panel.

3. Add additional supports at each corner to ensure the door doesn't sag over time. Then removed all old hardware.

May 13

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Is the Chicken Coop Ever Going to Get Done?

Safe from the elements (at least the wind)

At least I got started on the chicken coop this past weekend. Some of you may be wondering why we’re putting the coop in front of such a nice big window and up against the house. Well, the view from this window is a 4′ chain link fence then my neighbor’s dirt pile, dog and bright blue house. Their kitchen window also looks directly into this window – we sometimes wave at each other in the morning.No need to worry about the dog getting the chickens, she could care less about birds and actually prefers possums and raccoons (yay). I’m still going to plant some bamboo along the fence to keep the chickens in our yard and block the neighbor’s house.

Don’t get me wrong, I like my neighbors, I just don’t want to look at their house anymore.

I also put the coop here because the dirt is horrible (for plants) and it’s somewhat sheltered from the elements. So it’s perfect for chickens! I also like the idea of being able to watch the chickens from inside the house.

I hope to start working on the coop again tomorrow since I need to get it done before the weekend is over – it’s crunch time! Picking up chickens the last weekend of the month.

Picture above is looking at my house and chicken coop while picture below looks out my window towards the neighbor’s. The hammock is mine but the fence and everything behind it belongs to them (including the rock/dirt sifter thing). I’m planting the bamboo in front of the fence to cover it and create a little sanctuary.