Note to self: DO NOT talk to hubby

[Momagain1]

LOL I am cutting slack..that is why I walked away

however; chickens were MY idea...coop design was OUR idea..we are arguing over placement of doors, windows and vents..roosts...

you know..things that DONT make a difference...I'm not saying HEY guess what? I think we need to make it a bit bigger now that we have 31 birds instead of the uh...25 when you originally
figured the space thing out...

<sigh> he doesnt even have all the siding up yet and he's wanting to put the floors down after 1 3/4 walls are up out of the 4 lol...
but tomorrow is supposed to be HUGELY windy..so think about it..if you put the walls up..tomorrow when you do the INSIDE you wont be as cold..


I love this man..lol..

 

[Jmiller429]

Similar story: About 1.5 hours ago i am down at the barn, fixing some wire on my phoenix breeding pen. (sneaky hen burrowing thru straw in nest box and jumping into an unfinished open section). So my FIL just so happens to walk up behind me very very very silently and ask me if the guineas ( which also escaped yesterday, been a bad week) came back. I now have a giant bleeding lump on my forehead from jumping and cracking my head on the top ledge in the pen. ( which followed by throwing of some tools and a few choice words.)

As a good note, phoenix hen is back in the pen, sitting on a freshly laid egg, and the guineas by some stroke of luck were ALL back in the lower enclosure.)

 

[Hottchick]

Wow, funny thread! My dear hubby built me my coop for my birthday. He's pretty handy. We really didn't need to argue about how it was being built, I researched it and he went with that. My problem with him is he never finishes things. Last year at Christmas we got a jetted tub to put in the bathroom. He refused to get it professionally installed and when it leaked he abandoned it. It remains unfinished now.

I knew that would be the way with the coop so I brought chicks home and told him he had 3 weeks to finish the coop or we would have chickens flying all over the house. Of course, towards the end, the chicks were flying out of the box any chance they got. But it did inspire my husband (along with a little reminder every so often) to finish it up. Otherwise I might still be waiting!

 

[blueberrychickens]

Hey Momagain1, I feel your pain!! Same thing happened here last yr when we were building our coop. These men of ours can be so pig headed sometimes!

We started ours on Memorial Day weekend, & didn't finish till mid July! Nothing like working in the heat of summer to build a coop......

but it eventually got done, some things his way, some things, mine. In the end, the chickens are very happy in their coop, I just wish it was bigger so I could have more!!! Darn chicken math!! It has held up quite well over the winter, here is a pic of the coop in the snow.

 

[maclady]

All of this sounds so familiar. My hubby & I don't work well together for the most part. That is mostly because I read directions and he doesn't. I check on him ask why he is doing something that the directions say not to do until much later and we go from there. Now the coop he helped me start. I pretty much finished it myself. Mostly because if I waited for him things probably wouldn't get done. Thank God I took wood shop in HS instead of the homemaker type class. He does get a little miffed that I'm using his saws and stuff but doesn't say much cause I clean them up when I'm finished with them unlike him. I also ok the purchase of the tools he wants. He told me a week ago he would do the door for my run that I built but still not done so I think I will go ahead and finish that up next week before my chicks are ready to move out there and it still isn't done. Good luck with your hubby. We love them to pieces but even on a good day they can sometimes drive us batty.

 

[Momagain1]

I have to keep reminding myself...the coop will be done with soon...then we get to tackle the run..ackkk...

I;ll post progress pics soon...

 

[Sorin]

Quote:
I can't let him be the only guy on here speaking! I'm with you brother

I will say that you ladies are right that sometimes it is hard for us guys to admit we don't know everything when it comes to "mans work"
But it has been fun reading this thread!

 

[SunnyDawn]

Oh my! I can't say how terribly normal this sounds!

I am the designer and draftsperson in the family and used to be the foreman til a back injury put a stop to this. We do have a few fun go-rounds during times like these. But once it's all done and folks come over and marvel at our coop (coop majal the neighbors call the latest one) Hubby looks at me and beams saying "I owe it all to her she's the genius in the family"! I just smile and try to keep my jaw from hitting the floor cause I remember when he was working on it and "genius" was not his word of choice for me at that time!

The true test is, can you laugh about it later, and it sounds like you already are!

 

[ajacskr]

I guess I am lucky because the wife does NOT want anything to do with my chickens.

But after I explained "Chicken Math" to her she stopped giving me that LOOK. Now she just rolls her eyes and shakes her head.

I just wonder what she is going to say when I start the new Coop with 5 rooms with 5 new runs attached.

I have one hen house and 8 runs with hutches right now but they were just thrown together (except the hen house),
and the weather has been REAL hard on the runs and hutches this winter.

I dont think I will tell her and just start building and see what happens.

 

[Dogfish]

I've never argued with the wife about the coop, our house yes, but not the coop. I built it, and paid for it with my own fun money.

Just a suggestion, while the hubster isn't in the middle of the project, make a nice dinner, grab a bottle of wine and say, "Honey, how about we try and work these few design items into the coop?" Then give him a big smooch and let him know how much you appreciate the work he is doing.

I built our house, and over 18 months I poured about 4,000 man hours into the project by myself, all while working a steady 50+ hours/week as a commercial lender. The wife made the mistake of complaining (tone means everything) one night about the progress. She also didn't want to get out of the car because she didn't want to get wet, or dirty. This is while I was was standing in the rain, pretty wet, and dirty, building our house. I had basically given up every other part of my life, except for my other work, to build the house she wanted. I didn't do anything but go to the day job, come home to change clothes, go to the house site and work until 11pm or later, then start the whole process all over again. I had asked for help repeatedly, but she "had stuff to do".

You can imagine how that conversation went rapidly downhill, but we got things fixed shortly after that, and she started working a lot more at the home site.

You husband may feel a bit overwhelmed by the project at hand, especially if he isn't so handy. Pick a time to plan, and a time to build. Discuss each item prior to building. Nest boxes, ventilation, pop door, etc. Make a sketch, doesn't have to be perfect. Go from there. Do not hit him with a list of items while he is building. Remember, tone is everything.

If you are not working on the project, show up with treats, sammiches, and beer on a regular basis.

Finally, remember this. The chickens don't care. They really don't.

Best of luck, I hope your project goes well. If he needs any help on how to design something, send me a PM and I'll get your project on track.

Remember. Sammiches, treats, beer. Not necessarily in that order.

My coop.

Her house.