Remember what the hen shack looked like when we got here on March 1?
It was better once it had a door and a reinforced floor, but not by much.
We declared it “shack-tabulous” at the time. But now, now it’s become shack-tacular. So shack-tacular in fact that we’ve taken to calling it the hen house instead of the hen shack.
With a lot of help from my dad and Mike over the last few weeks the shack now looks like this:
My dad helped me prime and paint it, even scraping the door and painting the trim for me while I was at work. Without his hard work it wouldn’t be done now. Sure the siding could still use some work on the north side, and there’s a bit of trim missing, but it’s ready for rain now. It’s actually a light olivey green, but the sun was fading tonight and the photos came out gray.
Then Mike helped me rip off and replace the mossy, decomposing roof. It was about the nastiest thing I’ve done lately. Basically it was it’s own ecosphere up there - we found centipedes and earwigs and about a billion ants. But now it looks like this:
No more rain inside the hen house - the girls will be dry all winter and the familiar sound of rain on metal roof will hopefully be soothing to the former city girls.
Of course the shack has it’s quirks, the biggest one being the dual latches on the door. We couldn’t get the old one off the door, but it doesn’t slide anymore either. So we mounted a new one above it and it slips into a dowel hole in the door. It’s always fun to watch first timers try to figure out which one works… Maybe it will be easier now that one is painted.
Of course the girls aren’t really that impressed…
We can’t even get them to use the pretty new nest boxes that Mike built them in May. No matter what we do they choose one corner or another and lay in the straw, on the floor.
One more shot, just because I’m so excited about how winter ready it is. Once we put the plexi back over the windows they’ll be all set for the winter!
*****
Possibly Related posts (newest to oldest):
WOW! If the girls aren’t impressed, I sure am.
Seriously, that’s too nice for chickens now.
Seriously shacktacular. I love the red-orange door. Lucky girls!
It looks brilliant. Well done. It also looks like it was a lot of hard work.
Funny about the nesting boxes. We have only just got chickens - six of them - and have two nesting boxes. They only use one and even move the straw from the other into the one they like. I guess they like to queue to lay?
Shacktacular indeed! It looks really great, makes me want a full-size henhouse rather than our wheeled wonder. You two are amazing, you get so much work done, you could be Mainers! (In Maine, the highest compliment that can be paid is to say of someone upon their death “S/he was a hard worker.”)
Ali in Maine
Thanks for the pixs! It is more than awsome! What lucky, lucky girls you have. Love the colors. And, I just love the shot of the little clutch of eggs with feathers all around. Great work.
Looks great! Good for ya’ll!
It looks amazing!
Great job(:
Cool chicken house!
I just love having the chickens. We eat eggs every morning now. We still need to paint the coop, and we’ve pushed it.
Anita - Thanks. But you know the inside of it is still pretty sketchy. Seriously needs to be cleaned out and whitewashed with lime. Oh well - there’s always next year, right?
Audrey - the door is my FAVORITE part.
Eliane - I don’t know, but even when we had 7 laying at the same time a while ago they were all using the same nest. Must be a chicken thing.
Ali - blushing now. Seriously though, thank you. Of course, you and Dan aren’t really slackers either. I’m seriously jealous of your new hoop house - can’t wait to see what you grow in it.
Kathy, Kristi, Michelle - thanks!
Angelnina - yeah, we contemplated letting it go through the winter. But the roof was critical - it was actually almost raining inside the shack a couple of weeks ago. And the siding was starting to split on the North side. Hopefully this will help keep it together.
A neighbor once told me that red doors were signs of refuge during times of turmoil or strife. Red doors have made me happy ever since. Your chickens certainly have a beautiful refuge and I’m so impressed you tore off the roof!
This looks fabulous! I can’t believe that is the same hen house. I’d love to see what you could do with our house should you need more projects
Your little farm is so awesome!
An update on our hen hut: The pictures are resubmitted for approval to the zoning board–It will be worth it in the end! Our property was determined to be too small, yet almost surrounded by woods and fields, so we needed to apply for a variance. (go figure)
Wow! It looks fantastic!
Katrina - I really like the idea of a red door being a sign of refuge. That’s a bit how I feel when I go in to get the eggs every day and say hello to the chooks.
Renee - we’ve got plenty of projects around here… but thanks for your kind offer!
Monica - go you and your chickens. I can’t wait to hear more about them. Good luck!
Allie - thanks!