Restoring An Old Hen-house

[PrincessChicky]

oooOOO, I can't wait until you finish that, please post pictures. It looks like a big job but so, so worth it!

 

[toofarout]

Vinegar is a non-toxic method of killing vegetation. You might consider spraying that poison ivy with straight vinegar, and the stump and ground after you have removed the woody parts.
That is one scary looking plant, it's huge! Good luck with that.
I hope you keep posting pics, it looks like a great project and it's going to be a wonderful chicken house!

 

[suzeqf]

I love the coop but be very careful when dealing with Esmelda, When we were getting rid of a 90% dead 40 year old snowball bush we found our own Esmelda after we had been cutting and chopping for a while it was at least 6 inches around and way over 6 ft tall with massive berries, I chopped it all down without gloves and in shorts and a t-shirt which was a very very bad mistake because I had never seen poison oak get this big so I didn't think it was posion oak and I got the worse case of posion oak I've ever had and I was the one that never got it. I had it everywhere from my knees up except in my eyes and nose it took a corizone dose pack and a shot and 3 beneadryl every 3 hours to finally get rid of it and control the itching but I would have done just about anything to get rid of that nasty ugly wasp infested bush and the only way we got rid of our Esmelda was digging up the roots and that took a while because just when we thought we got all of them another sprig would pop up so finally we got all of it by busting up the dirt and spaying round up and that killed anything we couldn't dig up. Your coop is going to be awesome I wish I could have used my grandads coop but it was to far gone to use but I'm using his roost poles. Good luck

 

[ailurophile23]

If the weed and grass killer has not yet done much damage to Esmerelda, I highly recommend the brush killer. We have plenty of poison ivy on our property and the weed and grass killer may wilt it a little but it rarely kills it. And with a specimen as robust as Esmerelda, a stronger, more concentrated brush killer will likely be preferable. Even when the leaves are gone, wear protective clothing when handling the stem/trunk - the oil from that can hurt you too.

Love the old coop and that you are taking time to refurbish it. I'm a big fan of old wood buildings as well.

 

[griffinkid02]

Thank you for the linseed oil suggestion, that sounds perfect for what I'm wanting to keep the natural aged look of the old wood. Yes, burning poison ivy just releases the oils into the air and then you have the blisters inside your nose and entire respiratory track. I've never HAD my lungs to itch before, but I don't think I want to try it, lol. I will be working (at my actual JOB, oh the horror, lol) until Thursday so I won't know how Esmerelda fared with the round-up and spectracide until then. I don't expect it to kill her, but right now if I was to try to attack her trunk, I might as well roll naked on her, lol. So even just defoliating her will help. I'm thinking the vinegar will be my next effort, as vinegar is cheaper than strong chemicals

And if that doesn't do it, I am NOT above mixing some rock salt with boiling water and saturating her roots. Hopefully such extreme methods will be unnecessary. I also had suggested to me in my Alabama thread to consider taking some of the good boards down and create a couple of windows for ventilation and use the removed boards to help cover the holes. I really like that Idea and be doing some measuring Thursday morning. The rock foundation doesn't have any glaring holes that I've noticed, the lower framing boards are laid flush up against them and I'm planing on using some concrete pavers as extra security against the tunnelers. I will be taking pictures at the beginning and end of each work day or step so that I can post progress and get input as I go. I don't have much experience in construction or carpentry so any insights as I go will be welcome. Thank you all for your responses. I'm also banking on some chicken cooperation once I have Esmy cut back to the ground. Even if they don't EAT the poison ivy, I'm hoping the constant scratching and digging will proved an insurmountable burden for her.

 

[joan1708]

looks like you have the potential to have the best chicken house ever! I hope you can make it functional and keep the oldness charm.

 

[hrhta812]

I just got a coop to re-do and it's really weird because whoever had it before used it for smaller dogs he was breeding. We have to remove all the old wire because it's not safe for chickens, and then cut into some of the shelter area, too, that was for the dogs. It's a bizarre thing but it was free, so we thought, why not try it?

 

[DamselinFlannel]

I love it! And I love how old school it looks. Beautiful. Are you going to paint it?

 

[griffinkid02]

No Damsel, I'm goign to get a weather treatment like linseed oil that won't change the look of the wood too much and treat it with that.

 

[SleepyOwl]

What a great old building! Re-using the wood is a great idea! If you are in Alabama, then you can make some huge windows to let lots of air through anyway.