And so the Great Caper that is Building the Perfect Chicken House has begun in earnest.
Continuing with an update on the free-ranging of the chickens – it only took two nights of trapping those little dahlings in the kitchen. Night three, they politely put themselves to bed in the bunny hut, right proper. I only had to go out at dark and lock the door. Apparently, they aren’t as dim as they appeared to be last week.
And we got a new rooster – Chester. He’s an amazing-looking flaunty sort of Orpington, and Goody totally fell in love at first sight, claiming him as her very own. She never likes anyone; he’s that spectacular.
A friend posted on Facebook that she was cleaning her place and getting rid of wood piles – good wood come get it for free. So, of course, I hied on over and, sure enough, perfectly good for building a chicken house. Two truckloads later, and the big pile is now in my yard, ready for construction.
There has been repeated perusing of YouTube for chicken coop plans and reading of research on ventilation, size, location, and creative ways to construct nesting boxes. There are so many things people come up with to use for nesting instead of just building the typical wooden boxes – I’ve seen tires cut in thirds and bolted to the wall, milk crates, and five-gallon buckets; it’s a hoot. No pun intended.
Sister Molly’s husband built her a chicken house about a year ago, and as we watched the progress through daily updated pictures in the sister text, we began referring to her chicken house as the Taj Madahl. Not only do they have the typical Nevada predators, but at the foot of the mountain in Genoa, they also have mountain lions and a bear. And her husband is a real-live contractor. Imagine the construction and materials that have gone into that. It is truly a thing of beauty.
Out here at the Boyer Bunny Ranch, we will use reclaimed good wood, some cool old windows that came out of an old house in Carson City, and some neat latches and hinges I’ve been packing around for years that came from the antique place in Hazen when it was open.
So, while construction commences and predator control remains paramount, we’ll be right here…
… Keeping you Posted.
Rach
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