I am going to start the cleaning up of the hen house...*Pictures added*

[Cheeky Chick]

Well, I went out to check on our old henhouse, and it's rather, um, yucky. The wood is in great shape (Thank goodness!) and the roof is still perfect (Another thank goodness) so it's the webs, and vines, and bugs that I need to deal with. I am also expanding it, with an added on nesting box area, and a new roost, since that must have crumbled long ago. I also see exactly where the raccoons got into the house, which really upset me-it would have been so easy to avoid. I'll take pictures of the before product, in a few, and then I'm getting out the hose, scrub brush, gloves and soap.

I am going to shock my husband by having the clean up done by the time he comes home for dinner. I do need to buy paint-that will have to be on Wednesday (oldest son making confirmation tomorrow, so that's a whole day thing). Any color suggestions? I'd like an antique look.

 

[fried green eggs]

Sounds like a fun day

but, will be worth it when it looks like new or old ? depending on how you paint it. Too many choices for colors available so, have fun deciding.

 

[Cheeky Chick]

Here are some " before" pictures...

It was painted tan long ago. Most of that is gone.

The door will be reinforced, framed, and a sliding licked door will be installed.

The other side

The roof lifts up for complete access.

This is the space the raccoons got in through. It's about 3 inches wide.

It's a lot larger then it looks. About 5 foot by 3.5 feet.

It really needs some good exterior paint and some tlc but we will do what we have to.

This is where it will go. My back doors are very close and I can watch the girls from the kitchen, and the den.
I have a paint idea in my head...I'll paint planks onto it!!


Sent from my iPhone 4s using Tapatalk

 

[fried green eggs]

You could add a exterior nesting box to make collecting eggs easy.

 

[fried green eggs]

You could add a exterior nesting box to make collecting eggs easy.

Sorry I see you already have that planned. My bad. Looks like it will be a great little coop!

 

[krcote]

Keep us updated!

 

[Cheeky Chick]

Well, we changed about everything. We used a shed that we had on the back of our property instead of the little hen house-the shed measures (I grossly underestimated the size) 6 foot by 5.5 foot on the inside and it's 7 feet tall from the ground up. It has two windows on either side that will be a built out to more area and 3 nesting boxes on each side. My problem is, it's got a huge footprint, so it takes up much of the yard we already have planned, so my husband will eventually (this year some time) have to extend the yard.

Right now, the urgency is to get the girls outside, so my tenant can care for the girls when I go away on memorial day weekend. They're still rather small, and we will be free ranging them over our 3/4 acre every day once I get home, so space really comes into play during the winter when they may be stuck in the pen due to snow.

The walls are up, minus a door to the pen, so yesterday my son had to come outside with me, and we let the girls hang around in their pen for a little while. I have a feeling Lucy is a Roo, since she started flapping her wings, and made a sound almost like a crow. She might just be "unique" (read, NUTS) because all the other girls are all about hanging out and letting us touch them and hold them, she screams like we're killing her if our hands go near her. Forget her reaction when we pick her up. It's like we're torturing her.

Today, I'm going to take them out again, and block the door with a piece of wood or something.

The inside of the house needs to be painted-it's got a coating of what seems like primer, I'm going to put semi gloss on there and put down linoleum before my husband builds the roosts. We're going to use the old little hen house for storage outside the pen, for bedding and food, in tupperware. He will also be closing up the front door hole and the spaces on either side.

I'll post pictures in the next post. (Tapatalk, since I have the pics on my phone)

 

[Cheeky Chick]

Just moved into place. Took almost an entire day!

Starting the enclosure

There's a loft inside!

Husband and son working on fencing

Oh he was hungry. Poor guy. My middle son came down with a stomach virus yesterday morning and spent the day feeling horrible.

Daughter with May who thinks she's a parrot. We're getting an eye patch for daughter.

A picture of a just fed Karma. She likes to wear her food.


Sent from my iPhone 4s using Tapatalk

 

[Cheeky Chick]

Got out some paint from the basement-yellow or aqua. I think I'm going to use both. LOL!! The inside will be very um, bright!

 

[Cheeky Chick]

No comments, huh?