- May 11, 2010
- 35,100
- 36,698
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This has been some journey! The hubby who is normally a cheapskate to the max has decided our coop will be the finest in Union County. At first I thought he would find scrap lumber and build it himself. Although his true gift is automotive repair, he will whip out the hammer and screwdriver when needed. All I wanted was the thing to be predator proof. The hubby wanted a manly coop that his buddies could ohh and ahh over.
Whatever. I just wanted my Black Jersey Giants to have a safe secure home.
Well, the hubby finds a carpenter who needed work and put him to work. This fella has never built a coop in his life but as the work proceeded I could tell he knew how to handle a hammer and saw. With cigarette in mouth, he happily went to work, and one of the hubby's friend has joined in as a way to pay off his debt for hay he purchased from us. Treated lumber was delivered, cement mix arrived, purchased welded wire and chicken wire and so forth.
As the project progressed the two men seemed to think we were crazy to do all this for a bunch of chickens.
"I ain't never built no coop before," said Carpenter # 1. "My friends are laughing at me, and one gave me a book called Dummies for Chickens or something."
Carpenter #2 declared, "I thought we were building a coop not a fortress!"
"Just wait until the razor wire arrives," I joked. "It's the electrified kind."
Both men stared at me with wide eyes. Carpenter #1 lost his cigarette for a moment.
"What kind of chickens are you getting?" he wanted to know.
"Jersey Giants," I replied.
"Oh." Neither knew the breed and puffed on their cigarettes with quiet interest.
So, as the project nears completion, the two carpenters learned how strange chicken folk are.
"You want the wire to go where?" Carpenter #1 asked the hubby. "Don't you want the welded wire on the outside?"
Carpenter #2 and I listened with eyes down as we both knew not to argue with hubby. Carpenter #1 puffed on his cigarette as he listened to my hubby, and with amazed silence I heard him convince the hubby the welded wire goes on the outside. Suddenly Carpenter #1 burst forth with a story.
"I love bantams," he declared. "You need to get you some bantams. I had bantams as a kid. I remember that, now. My uncle raised them and had them all over his yard." Then he asked my why I wanted Jersey Giants.
I shrugged. "Just do. I like the fact they were developed in America and lay large brown eggs."
"I like brown eggs," he declared and a pencil appeared in his hand to make a mark on a 2 x 4. I never figured out where he kept that pencil but it always appeared in his hand when he needed it.
When I told them I needed extra large nest boxes and to make sure the perches were on the large size and low to the ground because Jersey Giant had special needs, their eyes widened in concern.
Carpenter #1 cocked his baseball cap. "You getting retarded chickens? I read in that book some people rescue those egg laying chickens kept in tiny cages."
Carpenter #2 nodded his head. "Those chickens are special all right. They cut off their beaks to keep them from breaking their eggs."
I plastered a fake grin on my face as I shook my head in wonder but kept the conversation on the light side. "They do terrible things to those factory chickens and I want to raise my chickens right. That's why I'm being kinda picky about this coop and pen. They are living creatures who deserve a certain amount of respect."
Suddenly Carpenter #1 eyes lit up. "Yeah, I'd I understand that." He climbed on the ladder and his magical pencil appeared in his hand. "Yeah, I see why you are going through all this trouble for a bunch of chickens. Makes sense now."
Carpenter #2 added his two cents worth. "No reason to raise them if you can't raise them right."
The coop should be finished in a day or so, and as I watch the two put up the wire, I realized they are just as excited about the chickens as I am. Carpenter #1 still insists I need to get banties. Maybe I will. Maybe I won't. But I promised to name two of my hens after them.
Whatever. I just wanted my Black Jersey Giants to have a safe secure home.
Well, the hubby finds a carpenter who needed work and put him to work. This fella has never built a coop in his life but as the work proceeded I could tell he knew how to handle a hammer and saw. With cigarette in mouth, he happily went to work, and one of the hubby's friend has joined in as a way to pay off his debt for hay he purchased from us. Treated lumber was delivered, cement mix arrived, purchased welded wire and chicken wire and so forth.
As the project progressed the two men seemed to think we were crazy to do all this for a bunch of chickens.
"I ain't never built no coop before," said Carpenter # 1. "My friends are laughing at me, and one gave me a book called Dummies for Chickens or something."
Carpenter #2 declared, "I thought we were building a coop not a fortress!"
"Just wait until the razor wire arrives," I joked. "It's the electrified kind."
Both men stared at me with wide eyes. Carpenter #1 lost his cigarette for a moment.
"What kind of chickens are you getting?" he wanted to know.
"Jersey Giants," I replied.
"Oh." Neither knew the breed and puffed on their cigarettes with quiet interest.
So, as the project nears completion, the two carpenters learned how strange chicken folk are.
"You want the wire to go where?" Carpenter #1 asked the hubby. "Don't you want the welded wire on the outside?"
Carpenter #2 and I listened with eyes down as we both knew not to argue with hubby. Carpenter #1 puffed on his cigarette as he listened to my hubby, and with amazed silence I heard him convince the hubby the welded wire goes on the outside. Suddenly Carpenter #1 burst forth with a story.
"I love bantams," he declared. "You need to get you some bantams. I had bantams as a kid. I remember that, now. My uncle raised them and had them all over his yard." Then he asked my why I wanted Jersey Giants.
I shrugged. "Just do. I like the fact they were developed in America and lay large brown eggs."
"I like brown eggs," he declared and a pencil appeared in his hand to make a mark on a 2 x 4. I never figured out where he kept that pencil but it always appeared in his hand when he needed it.
When I told them I needed extra large nest boxes and to make sure the perches were on the large size and low to the ground because Jersey Giant had special needs, their eyes widened in concern.
Carpenter #1 cocked his baseball cap. "You getting retarded chickens? I read in that book some people rescue those egg laying chickens kept in tiny cages."
Carpenter #2 nodded his head. "Those chickens are special all right. They cut off their beaks to keep them from breaking their eggs."
I plastered a fake grin on my face as I shook my head in wonder but kept the conversation on the light side. "They do terrible things to those factory chickens and I want to raise my chickens right. That's why I'm being kinda picky about this coop and pen. They are living creatures who deserve a certain amount of respect."
Suddenly Carpenter #1 eyes lit up. "Yeah, I'd I understand that." He climbed on the ladder and his magical pencil appeared in his hand. "Yeah, I see why you are going through all this trouble for a bunch of chickens. Makes sense now."
Carpenter #2 added his two cents worth. "No reason to raise them if you can't raise them right."
The coop should be finished in a day or so, and as I watch the two put up the wire, I realized they are just as excited about the chickens as I am. Carpenter #1 still insists I need to get banties. Maybe I will. Maybe I won't. But I promised to name two of my hens after them.
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