New House, Old Coop

[thlayli]

1/2" hardware cloth will exclude mice, but you'll have to find and block off tunnels and places where they've chewed through the walls.

If you shovel every speck of bedding out into a compost pile it will be great stuff for your garden next year.

I have read the whitewash is excellent for this kind of situation because of it's disinfectant properties.

Luckily for us it's a metal-walled shed. I'm fairly certain they were getting in via the cockeyed, not-fitting right wooden door. Since all of the food in the open container was left behind, they'll be able to stuff themselves to their little hearts' content until I can get in there and muck it all out. Do you recommend anything specific for bird-friendly cleaning on the inside of the coop?

 

[3KillerBs]

Luckily for us it's a metal-walled shed. I'm fairly certain they were getting in via the cockeyed, not-fitting right wooden door. Since all of the food in the open container was left behind, they'll be able to stuff themselves to their little hearts' content until I can get in there and muck it all out. Do you recommend anything specific for bird-friendly cleaning on the inside of the coop?

No, I don't have any specific knowledge about that.

 

[thlayli]

Measured the coop for realsies today (we had a tape measure instead of our eyeballs and arms) and it's 12x8. Perfectly fine for 10 chickens and a few extra next year. I started working to clear out the interior run but the house is on the top of a hill and so I felt like the sun was sitting directly on my head. I will wait until Wednesday when temps are supposed to cool off.

 

[Percheron chick]

I don't think it's going to cool down until there is snow in the forecast. 98 today. Make it stop.

 

[thlayli]

I did A Lot of work today. I have zero (0) tools of my own so I asked my dad if he had any clippers. He gave me two sets of handheld pruning shears, I guess not really knowing what I was asking for. (He told me pretty dryly he had power tools like an electric trimmer and weedwhackers when I was done that I could've used) I managed to clear about 75% of the interior run (which is enclosed entirely by the chunnel and a pretty solid gate), with my hands and leetle shears. It was hot. All day crouching, grabbing, and cutting has made me sore, and my thumb doesn't want to do anything and is pretty raw from working the clippers.

I found:
+ x2 3-5gallon metal waterers
+ A water barrel that had been cut in half and used as some sort of trough, although it was much too big and flimsy for chickens so I'm kinda confused on why it was in there at all.
+ A pretty awesome brooder. Like, seriously well-made with really good materials. It had been entirely hidden by the weeds, which were taller than me (5'8"). The plants grew through the hardware cloth and pulled it loose from the staples keeping it in place, but that is an easy fix. This thing is sturdy and I'm SUPER pumped that something so cool and useful was left behind.

I took a break and went back after I had cooled off and decided to tackle a little bit of the tree problem. I couldn't trim as much as I wanted, but I managed to clear out enough so that I didn't have to squeeze by overly-friendly branches to get to the door, which can now also open/close freely.

Pictures of progress below.

 

[thlayli]

Pic 1: A distance shot to show that the entire door is now visible from afar
Pic 2: close up of the haircut I gave the tree. It needs more shaved off but it'll do for now.
Pic 3: the swatch I ruthlessly hacked from the gate to the far corner. The entrance into the chunnel is about halfway between the two, and I can now open the door easily.
Pic 4: the brooder revealed! I had no idea it was in there when I started.

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

That's great progress!!!

 

[3KillerBs]

Splendid!

 

[Cryss]

 

[Iluveggers]

I’m super impressed with what you “inherited” at your new home, and the work you are putting in to make it safe & efficient! Also, thank you and DH for your sacrifice with the U.S. military.

Maybe I can get actual windows on the cheap and use those, screened in

That would be a good idea, but make sure you still put hardware cloth over the screen. If you could find pop-out windows that go out diagonally, it would block wind & snow from getting in but still allow air!

Maybe remove it for summer, install the hardware cloth, and then reinstall it on a temporary basis for winter?

I think you could take it completely off and cover with hardware cloth. Tarp it in the winter but leave one side open into the run so they can move freely in and air can flow. A sturdy tarp around the closest area of the run could also work to keep snow and high wind out. (A thick shower curtain or two would be a super cheap covering, even if it was replaced every winter!)

Since all of the food in the open container was left behind, they'll be able to stuff themselves to their little hearts' content until I can get in there and muck it all out.

I personally choose to remove feed at night to prevent critters being attracted. Once you get yours cleaned & removed, you might want to take it out at night also just so the mice know the buffet is completely over, lol.

Good luck! Looking forward to reading your updates!