Chicken Condo!

Well, while our chicks were growing, (and eating and pooping and bickering) hubby and I got to work on the chicken coop. We converted a cedar shed that came with the property. How very convenient.

First off, the floor got sealed with a couple coats of waterproof paint. Because chickens are notorious for spilling their beer when things get rowdy. Of course, every condo needs furniture, so hubby built and installed eight nesting boxes, for the eggs we are counting on these girls to produce. Next, he built two perches along the opposite wall for roosting. He drilled ventilation holes under the eaves, and built a chicken-sized hatch in the side for access to the run.

We fenced in the run with poles sunk three feet into the ground, thanks to a monstrous motorized post-hole digger we rented over the weekend. We leveled and braced the vertical posts. Hubby mounted brackets and ran two-by-fours horizontally around the enclosure. In order to bury the wire fencing I dug a 60-foot trench, a foot deep, around the perimeter swinging that heavy mattock like Thor with his mighty hammer. I was amazing.

After the framework was complete and the gate built and installed, we enclosed the whole thing with chicken wire with some extra metal fencing around the bottom for extra security. The rolls came in widths or about four feet, so the edges needed to be sewn together. Sewing over one's head with a length of wire takes longer than one might imagine. But once the "roof" seams were complete, the perimeter seams went pretty quickly.

All that was left at this point was to fill in my beautifully dug trenches and line the base with rocks. After roughly four weeks of labor, give or take a few days for rainy weather, the coop was ready for some birds. And we were ready for some cold drinks.

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.