Click the photo to see it larger.
May 2010. My son, my daughter's boyfriend, and I (l-r). Friends of mine moved to Peru to be missionaries and couldn't take their chickens with them. Chickens = free, Hen house = not so free.
My son (right) and my daughter's boyfriend (left) working in the fog.
Walls framed, roof on, door framed. I had a gnarly log that had been laying around for a while. I ripped it in half with a chainsaw and used it to frame the door.
The previous owner of the hens helps out. I spent the summer in a cast after breaking my ankle while fighting with a drunk. (It's OK, I'm a cop, and I was on duty)
Lucy supervises as I stack rocks around the foundation to keep her from getting under the house.
The finished hen house with wood door hinges and a manzanita door handle. All of the lumber you see in this photo was milled with a chainsaw.
Zoey the dog loves to go in the hen house when I clean up or collect eggs.
8 girls on the main roost, Lucy and the babies on the food bin. Looks like there's cleanup to be done.
Babies on the main roost, most of the big girls outside.
The nests were empty when I started. The hens are very curious. The Black Australorp is fully feathered and pretty now.
My kids (both in college) playing with the baby Ameraucanas in the house.
The hens share a little salad with Zoey in the snow.
View of my house from the street. This is before the hen house was added. The hen house is just up the hill from the yellow log splitter on the right of the photo above the white truck.
I recently added levers so the pop door can be opened and closed from inside the hen house.
Some of the girls take a walk in the snow. Haven't had more than about 2' of snow so far (Mar. 2011). Maybe we'll get off easy this year.
May 2010. My son, my daughter's boyfriend, and I (l-r). Friends of mine moved to Peru to be missionaries and couldn't take their chickens with them. Chickens = free, Hen house = not so free.
My son (right) and my daughter's boyfriend (left) working in the fog.
Walls framed, roof on, door framed. I had a gnarly log that had been laying around for a while. I ripped it in half with a chainsaw and used it to frame the door. 
The previous owner of the hens helps out. I spent the summer in a cast after breaking my ankle while fighting with a drunk. (It's OK, I'm a cop, and I was on duty)
Lucy supervises as I stack rocks around the foundation to keep her from getting under the house.
The finished hen house with wood door hinges and a manzanita door handle. All of the lumber you see in this photo was milled with a chainsaw.
Zoey the dog loves to go in the hen house when I clean up or collect eggs.
8 girls on the main roost, Lucy and the babies on the food bin. Looks like there's cleanup to be done.
Babies on the main roost, most of the big girls outside.
The nests were empty when I started. The hens are very curious. The Black Australorp is fully feathered and pretty now.
My kids (both in college) playing with the baby Ameraucanas in the house.
The hens share a little salad with Zoey in the snow.
View of my house from the street. This is before the hen house was added. The hen house is just up the hill from the yellow log splitter on the right of the photo above the white truck.
I recently added levers so the pop door can be opened and closed from inside the hen house.
Some of the girls take a walk in the snow. Haven't had more than about 2' of snow so far (Mar. 2011). Maybe we'll get off easy this year.