Hey guys, we are still alive and our 41 year marriage is still intact, in spite of a big blow up over nest boxes, of all things. But this has been months of planning and work. Plus, long days of gardening.
I thought I would put a sneak peak. We are nearly done. Still have to finish henhouse (vents, door, painting etc). Working on making sure ventilation is good. Nest boxes will go outside the henhouse. He won that round plus the Better Nest Box purchase. ( I think the near $500 for that the box and perch popper is a waste, but hey, he was dubious about us buying premium birds from a breeder versus
Tractor Supply chicks so it is even steven at this point - birds having run $500. The things we are passionate about, right? Lol
We ran 1/4" 19 gauge vinyl coated wire, and extended it 2' down for an apron (still need to run the apron around the solid walls of run). A mouse couldn't get into this run. We have black and yellow kingsnakes and I don't want them in the run, or foxes, or mice....although they will free range during the day when they grow up.
Opted to put decking under roof, and although this seems excessive, we put 2" insulating foam board between hardibacker panels on the back walls of the run. Why? The back walls face the west and the heat was palapable even in cooler weather, now no heat seeps through. Mitigating heat has been our focus. We have a solar vent fan, and still working on where to put vents in henhouse. Automatic door arrives tomorrow, but honestly, I am wondering if a door was even necessary considering how tight the run is.
I am keeping track of expenses and will do a run down when done. We are at $4200, but that included a few tools like skill saw, metal cutting shears, etc, that we needed. And if I had my way, no Better Next Box, but hey, let that one go.
Considering, the greenhouse was stripped to it's metal frame, and then reworked, and we had priced henhouses/coops that ran a good $2-3K before reworking the greenhouse, I think we are doing good, if you subtracted power tools and nest box, we would be under $3K.
If for any reason down the road, we don't have chickens anymore, it will be super easy to convert it over to a work shop; which is why we went ahead and did the roof up with the decking and kind of overbuilt some things.
My husband got me the cute Velociraptor sign for my birthday. I turned 60 earlier this month, and the chickens and run etc are my birthday present. I love my man! In spite of his nest box preferences.
Next on the docket: a shed to store all the chicken paraphernalia in.
Chicks arrive first week of June. Getting excited! We will brood them in an unused 5x5 grow tent in the house initially. I can see them outgrowing that fast, but for now, it is the best option. Of course, we will coral them the first days when they are tiny.
Edited: the back walls of the run are positioned for optimum wind block. Only one panel on one side to the south, and two on the north side for winter wind block, although we may need to put tarp up on north side in winter. It may look a tad off, but it was done with purpose.
