New Additions and Chicken Coop Update

Over the weekend, we got some new additions to the farm.  A neighbor brought over 18 sheep.  They'll only be staying a short time, but it's fun to have them here for at least a little while.

Here they are all lined up along the back of the machine shed.  They were shorn recently, so they look a bit scraggly. 


We are still working on the chicken coop, but here's some of the progress so far.

This was just a lean-to off the back of one end of the machine shed.  Metal sides and roof; no window. 

The other end with door and part of the chicken pen.

 

This is the inside before we started.  We used it in the past for chickens, but I always considered it to be a temporary solution for a coop.  The black plastic had been used in the pumpkin patch, thus the holes for the plants.

 

 

 

Here I've removed the plastic and all of the straw, and leveled off the dirt floor.  Then we built a framework for the floor.  The opening at far right is where we removed one of the metal panels for a window.

The plywood floor is in.  I'll be putting some sheet vinyl on top of that once the walls are done.

 

 

 

 

Today we put insulation and ceiling boards up, and we've started on the walls.  The boards are from a part of the barn that had already started deteriorating when we bought this place.  Mr. M also wired it for a receptacle, a ceiling light, and a light switch.  And we put the window in; it really makes a huge difference on the inside.

 

We hope to finish the walls this week and perhaps get the floor finished as well.  Then we'll be ready to get a few chicks in another week or so.  We'll be moving the nest boxes and roosts from the old milk house that's attached to the barn; it had once been used for chickens before we moved here, and we had chickens in there as well the first few years we lived here.  This coop is in a better location, closer to the house and more accessible.