Work has begun on our chicken coop. We are making it from pallets and leftover construction materials we have gathered over the past year.
Previous owners had a couple of heavy railroad ties stacked behind the pole barn. We are using that as the base with scrap boards on top for the flooring. I moved the ties myself using old
egyptian methods-- a couple of short logs underneath and rolling them by moving the logs from the back to the front. The girls helped until they started to hamper and my back was screaming at all the stop and go. I had to shoo them away and finish it myself.
Part of the walls are up. This took the better part of the morning/afternoon because the girls wanted to help hammer the nails in. I would start a couple nails for them and then let them take over hammering it in. And they hammered. Hammered some more. Finally, a nail was all the way in. It took a long time for Oldest to hammer one nail in. Had to go look for another hammer so I could work at the same time. I'm not the most patient person in the world when I want to work on a project.
Inside view... That little log in front was part of my
egyptian log moving tool. Underneath the scrap boards are
cinderblocks for support so the floor doesn't sag. The husband has a day off tomorrow, so weather permitting, we will be working on the chicken coop. It's still too chilly for the chicks to be outside 24/7, but hopefully, they can be out there soon. They are getting big and the big box they are in is all of a sudden looking mighty small now.
Part of the walls are up. This took the better part of the morning/afternoon because the girls wanted to help hammer the nails in. I would start a couple nails for them and then let them take over hammering it in. And they hammered. Hammered some more. Finally, a nail was all the way in. It took a long time for Oldest to hammer one nail in. Had to go look for another hammer so I could work at the same time. I'm not the most patient person in the world when I want to work on a project.
4 comments:
I love it! I'll bet it turns out great, with your determination. I wish you good luck on the project.
Ron
I am 75 years old and looking back to our chicken coop when I was a youngster, I recall it always being on bare soil. And it was built around a huge Gravenstein apple tree that had apples as big as your fist because of the "free" chicken fertilizer. Chickens like to scratch and play in bare soil. 'In the shed where the chickens had their nests to lay eggs, the floor was always covered with hay or cedar shavings to keep it clean and lessen the chicken odor. To this day when I smell cedar shavings I think of our family chicken coop! When the shavings became old and yukky we put them in the compost pile where we raised juicy cantalope and watermelon!
Ron-- We certainly are determined to get this done. I have pored over pallet ideas all across the internet and I have what I think will work for us. Hopefully it turns out as good as it looks in my head! Stay tuned...
Lantana-- We thought about building it on the ground, but we have a serious mole infestation and I worry about the moles getting into the coop. we felt like it would be better off the ground a little bit. we are putting the coop near the mulberry trees and they'll be able to eat as many of the fallen berries they want.
Looks like a really nice chicken house. I can't wait to see it all finished.
I love that you guys are always using what you have. I can always count on getting some really great, frugal ideas from you ;).
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