We got geese. They came with a "goose house", an 8X16 frame building walled with chicken wire. We kept the geese in there for a bit, then let 'em just live where they like on our 5 acres. So then the goose house became my bicycle shed, but I never did any more than just store the 1-speed cruiser I ride around on in there. Then I got some work taking electronics equipment apart, so I laid boards on the floor and put some of that in there, but I don't work on it in there despite the kinda neato bench I built, and there are better places to store my stacks of equipment anyway.
So a friend gave us 15 mostly banty chickens, and they got crammed in this too-small cage put together out of sections of hurricane fence. The landowner wants "chicken tractors" but I'm very skeptical, and he's off sailing around Hawaii. Those chickens need lebensraum! So, I decided my bike/work shed needs to fulfill its destiny, to be a really good chicken house! So, I'm re-roofing it with sections of corrugated galvanized steel we have lying around. Those have holes every 4 feet, so I cut 8-ft sections and the holes down the center are used to screw 'em down with sealing screws, to a center pole. That's just a little bit higher than the sides, so the corrugated stuff is forced to bend downward just a bit, just enough to prevent water pooling, and is screwed down at the sides. I had to remove the old warpy plywood roof first and put framing up, it's been a bit of a project.
The workbench is going to lose the drawer units that hold each end up, and gain legs made of pressure treated 2X4's the top is good'n'sturdy, I built that. That will support nest boxes, even just a set of buckets lined up on their sides at first.
This chicken house is high enough that I can walk around to work in it, and roomy enough that the gals won't feel crowded. I'll wall in about half of it, from reading here I've learned chickens don't like drafts. They'll need lots of perches too, and not over stuff that's not good to get pooped on.
I also need to look at various materials for "bedding", the old standard I guess is straw, but I'm hearing good things about "pine shavings"? I need to see if those are available and the cost etc. The straw we get is very friable and it's just a real hassle.
The gals and I will sleep about 10 ft away from each other at night. If a predator shows up, I'll know. If one dares.
So a friend gave us 15 mostly banty chickens, and they got crammed in this too-small cage put together out of sections of hurricane fence. The landowner wants "chicken tractors" but I'm very skeptical, and he's off sailing around Hawaii. Those chickens need lebensraum! So, I decided my bike/work shed needs to fulfill its destiny, to be a really good chicken house! So, I'm re-roofing it with sections of corrugated galvanized steel we have lying around. Those have holes every 4 feet, so I cut 8-ft sections and the holes down the center are used to screw 'em down with sealing screws, to a center pole. That's just a little bit higher than the sides, so the corrugated stuff is forced to bend downward just a bit, just enough to prevent water pooling, and is screwed down at the sides. I had to remove the old warpy plywood roof first and put framing up, it's been a bit of a project.
The workbench is going to lose the drawer units that hold each end up, and gain legs made of pressure treated 2X4's the top is good'n'sturdy, I built that. That will support nest boxes, even just a set of buckets lined up on their sides at first.
This chicken house is high enough that I can walk around to work in it, and roomy enough that the gals won't feel crowded. I'll wall in about half of it, from reading here I've learned chickens don't like drafts. They'll need lots of perches too, and not over stuff that's not good to get pooped on.
I also need to look at various materials for "bedding", the old standard I guess is straw, but I'm hearing good things about "pine shavings"? I need to see if those are available and the cost etc. The straw we get is very friable and it's just a real hassle.
The gals and I will sleep about 10 ft away from each other at night. If a predator shows up, I'll know. If one dares.
