Below are some photos depicting the evolution of the chicken coop: (If you follow me on Facebook, you might have seen some of these, but some are new.)
I scored some rubber roofing from a school re-roofing project. Here it is installed on the coop roof.
Nikole spreads dirt on the green roof.
Edward Luke enjoyed spreading the dirt on the green roof. All the kids enjoyed having an excuse to get on the roof.
My beautiful wife plants sedums into the green roof. I am really glad she wanted to do this step (No power tools).
After this something very motivational happened. My wife set a due date. We are going to get the chickens on Saturday, August 11. Skip the details and get the coop ready for inhabitants by the 11th! Coop construction took on a new, accelerated pace. No trim! Just utility.
First I needed to attach a chicken run to the side of the hen house. I spent a lot of time wondering where to attach it in relation to the fascia and roof line. I knew the world would judge me on the placement of the run.
After much contemplation, the chicken run appears next to the hen house.
It is always inspiring with the boss rolls up her sleeves and gets her hands dirty. Nikole took it upon herself to staple chicken wire into the most difficult places in the hen house ventilation system. (Look at those pipes!)
Everyone was pressed into service during the final push. Here my father makes the ramp into the hen house. Lydia is checking to see that the steps are evenly spaced.
My dad displays the chicken ramp after is has passed inspection.
On the day before the chickens arrived I needed to make nesting boxes. I told my wife I did not want to start from scratch because if would take me all day. I wanted to find something that I could repurpose into a nesting box. I found a chest of drawers in a neighbor’s trash and determined that, with a few alterations, I could make it into nesting boxes in no time. So, after working on them for about eight hours, I had fashioned the nesting boxes you see below. I hope the hens appreciate all the time I am putting into this!
After a full day of working on them, the nesting boxes are almost done. Do you dig the drawer fronts?
The very morning of the chicken acquisition, Helen made a ramp to help the hens get onto the roost poles inside the hen house. (Hurry, Helen, the chickens are coming!)
The very last step -- just before we jumped into the van to head to the farm, I attached a makeshift door latch to hold the hen house door closed. (Picture my wife in the van tapping her foot impatiently.)
After the final push, we sighed and got in the van to drive to the farm and pick up our chickens. In my next post I will tell you how the young ladies are adapting to their new house.
