Hobbitt Hennery updated on page 3

[Wise Woman]

Yesterday we started on our chicken tractor. It is the first phase of our new coop project. Our coop will not be large enough to partition off a section for new comers, so we are building a separate tractor. It will be called the Hobbitt Hennery. LOL! We decided to buy as little as possible for this and to use up as many bits and bobs left over from other things as we could. So far we have bought one gallon of paint and one quart of paint for the trim. We will see how we make out.

Here are the pictures from yesterdays efforts. We decided to paint everything before putting it together. We are using 2x4s we dug out from under the shed, hardwire cloth from a couple garden projects, I have tongue and groove pine for the roof and we have various other things I will be using as well.


Here we go. We are making an A frame style tractor. 2x4's for the frame.

All painted!

Side support pieces cut and getting painted.

All painted.

Plywood for the roof/coop all painted. The painted part will actually be on the inside of the coop as the tar paper and shingles will be on the outside so I didn't paint that side.

Hubby has now decided that he wants a 2x6 for the roof frame instead of a 2x4, so he is going to buy one. We need 96" and he has 90". We have been scrounging to find a piece big enough, but no luck, so we will have to buy that.

So far so good!

 

[Wise Woman]

Here is today's progress. Hubby bought the 2x6 after work and came home and painted it. He also got the plywood cut for the roof and painted the ends of it. We got side tracked by a friend dropping by and by planting tomatoes and a dead drill. So hopefully tonight we will start putting it together.

 

[monica.stromberg]

Love the path! What a pretty light green, too. I will be watching to see how it goes for you!

Paradise Chickens
"Poultry in Motion!"

 

[Wise Woman]

Thank you! My husband is putting them in all around our property. We are going for an English Cottage in the woods kind of look I guess you would say. I love the green I choose. It is called Sagey and I am going to repaint my whole house with it! My husband is not amused.

 

[Travilah]

Love the stone path as well. May I ask where the stones are from? I would love some for my place.

 

[Wise Woman]

Of course you may ask. I have no secrets. Well, not too many anyway.

They aren't from anywhere. They are made from a cement mold that you can pick up at Lowe's or Home Depot. I dont' think they carry this exact one any more, but they should have something similiar. You mix the cement, pour it into the mold, wait 15 or 20 minutes for it to set up, remove the mold and do the next one. We do not have them set in cement or anything, which you can do, but we want the rain to be able to seep into the ground, so my husband just levels out the spot he wants to put them and when dry, he back fills the cracks with dirt. This works out pretty well for us and if you decide you want to move them, you can just pick up the individual stones and move them to where you want them or even take them with you if you moved. HTH.

 

[Going Quackers]

Looks like great progress! and i to love the colour my front door is the same one

 

[bryan99705]

Well?

 

[Wise Woman]

Sorry, but I have to run to work now. Hopefully I will have more to report tonight!

 

[Wise Woman]

We got to work on our little Hobbitt Hennery again today. AKA a chicken tractor. We worked for about 5 hours, which is all us older folks can take! Anyway, we made progress, but it is taking longer than I hoped. Hubby has to take his time measuring and figuring. We are using mostly bits and pieces of things we had laying around, so sometimes it takes a little creativity to figure out how to do something with only the supplies on hand. But it is coming along. We are going to have to purchase some sort of blocks or stones to set it up on before winter comes. But so far we have only purchased one 2x6, 1 gallon of green paint and 1 quart of the burgandy paint. I will probably have to purchase some trim for the doors as well and one more gallon of paint for the roof. The paint is the most expensive thing so far! Here is today's progress.

So we were off to a good start with the framing.

Even got the roof panels on.

But then came the doors. It took a bit of thinking and figuring as the plywood we had laying around was all warped and some other pieces of wood weren't big enough. But then I had the idea to use the tongue and groove we have stacked up and that worked!

Here it is painted up.

Tomorrow we will have to purchase some hinges and then we hope to get it pretty well done. I will have to wait until Tuesday to get the paint for the roof and the trim stuff, but at least it will be functional. We are pretty happy with our progress so far though. This is going to make a great little transitional/ broody/ isolation coop for me.