Monday, March 11, 2013

Coop Du Jour

Chicken Coup Before

Remember this?

I'd like to forget it. This has been one part of our farm that is...how you say, less than desirable to look at? It was an old green house and it also was the pump house. Even in it's 'day' I think it probably was still hideous. I'm serious. Look at this thing, it was definitely built for function with no aesthetic appeal. My opinion and I'm stickin' to it.

Now however things are different and we've torn down this wretch of an eyesore and replaced it with this!

march 2013 097 tsf copy 1

march 2013 107 tsf copy 1

Seriously, do I really even need to say anything? Probably not, but I will. Just continuously scroll up and down and join me in singing, "Hallelujah!" We've been needing a coop for our 'girls' for sometime now and finally finished this beauty. I've been wanting to post updates, but I knew that if I held back I could to an unveiling that this coop deserved. As you can see, this coop blows the ole shed out of the water. Or out of the field you might say. Or the universe, it might be a stretch, but I'd go with it...

***In the second picture you'll see a door, that leads to our water pump that goes to our well and is walled off from the rest of the coop. Just wanted to interject this cause I didn't add a pic of the inside of the 'pump house' part. Not very exciting looking at a water tank.

On the contrary THIS is VERY exciting!

Coop Collage

Here we have the doors that open to the back of our nesting boxes. I had to leave for a few hours and had NO idea that my awesome superman of a hubby would make them look so nice. What a guy I have!

Bear with me, my excitement may manifest itself in words...and pictures.

march 2013 113 tsf copy 1

My father-in-law built the roost and I must say it was very smart of him. What a great use of space! I love it and the girls love it too, which is a plus cause ya know, they like to roost and all.

march 2013 100 tsf copy 1

Coop Collage 1

Coop Collage 2

My precious Ella wouldn't stop sitting on the bar. She found out why I told her it was not a great idea. Can you figure out what happened?

march 2013 142 tsf copy 1

I wish I had this on my front door. I am always amazed at how many sales men and 'you know who's' show up on my front door. I at times want to tie our dog to the door, I'm pretty sure no one would come a-knockin'.



Franco actually is the sweetest dog EVER, but for the undesirables comin' to my door...they don't need to know that.

Rabbit trail, back to the coop.

march 2013 117 tsf copy 1

I love the men that God has placed in my life. What blessings to have a husband that is far beyond what I deserve and a son who lights up my life! Speaking of my boy, he LOVES the girls (the chickens that is) and has declared himself the best bird catcher ever! He may be right.

Coop Collage 3

march 2013 137 tsf copy 1

march 2013 188 tsf copy 1

march 2013 190 tsf copy 1

march 2013 196 tsf copy 1

I am thankful to the Lord to be able to have such a nice coop and the ability to own and raise chickens. Such a blessing and I'm convinced that that first egg will taste so good. Mmmm.

Now that the coop is done, we are wasting no time and getting started on the garden. I hope it actually grows this year. Last year was a flop. Big time.

I will give you a quick glimpse into our gardening endeavor and also a look into the crazy stuff I find my adrenaline junkie hubby doing.

Garden Collage

Yep, he's not satisfied with just moving the mound of wood chips, he has to be on it at the same time. Ugh! I keep telling him that I want to grow old with him. I hope he is listening...

If pictures are worth a thousand words, than I have spoken thousands upon thousands.

I have one more picture for you and let me tell you...it speaks millions.

march 2013 204 tsf copy 1

I'll let you guess why...

21 comments:

  1. Beautiful coop. Those roosts are fabulous! I wish my roosts were as long as yours. Are you going to put flower boxes on the front of your new coop ? Yellow pansys would be divine!
    Come visit my Vermont flock when you have a moment:
    www.tailgait.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful job on the coop! I would love for you to come and share it on my weekly link up that just went live. http://countrifiedhicks.blogspot.com/2013/03/mondays-with-countrified-hicks-6.html

    Feel free to link up to 3 posts!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love it! So great! We have had layers for over a year and we started with a small night coop that grew to a large full time coop. Now we are doubling that and fencing in more run areas. Chickens just never get old! We do wood chip gardening as well and I have had success by working in chicken, rabbit, and worn tea as well as compost from all 3. Wood chips pull nitrogen from the soil and early on before a good compost wood chip base is formed, veggies can have a hard time. I also use green fertilizer like keep soil fertile. Alfalfa, peas, borage, are all good at nitrogen fixing. I love your blog and look forward to reading more!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for you kind words and for the info on the wood chips. We watched a video called Back to Eden and it got us going using wood chips for our garden. We plan on planting in our soil and having the wood chips help keep the weeds at bay this year. Hope it works! Thanks again and hope to 'see you around' again. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you! I probably won't put flowers in front of my window. Too many things to do, but maybe in the future I will. Thanks for the suggestion, I never thought of it... :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. What an amazing coop! I would LOVE to know how that heat lamp is secured. Would you mind sharing on my Facebook page or email? Heat lamp safety is such a problem and if you've come up with a design that can make it safer, so many people would benefit from knowing about it!

    I'd like to share a little tip with you to make your life easier: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/droppings-boards-because-poop-happens.html Droppings boards also help identify health problems in the flock early.

    Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop this week!

    Cheers,
    Kathy Shea Mormino
    The Chicken Chick
    http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. The heat lamp is the kind that has a stand attached to it. My hubby screwed a board to the side of the wall and then we squeezed the pincher part of the stand onto the board. (Not sure what to call it...sorry)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow...what an upgrade for the girls. What a clever husband and he comes with an excavator! Must be so great to get big jobs done with gear like that. I just upgraded our chicken house so pop by if you are curious. I live in Australia. Nice to see you featured on The Chicken Chick.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Last picture, with beautiful babe sticking out her tongue, is she saying, "Mmmm, eggs!"? :)

    Love your coop! My son is my chicken catcher too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yes the coop is beautiful, but i can not leave without a statement response to the rather rude comment by you. The one about salesmen and "you know who's", well as a PROUD JEHOVAH'S WITNESS I have to say those ringing my doorbell are Mormon and i love having Bible based conversations with all. I am happy to tell them though that is I need and help with an question about their faith I can go to Utah and ask my family as I have numerous cousins who are Mormon, I even had an uncle who was a Mormon Bishop. So the next time a Witness knocks or rings your doorbell just simply and respectfully have a Bible based discussion or tell them sweetly you are uninterested and they will only come once a year after that. We come once a year as people sometimes change their minds.
    So next try to be respectful in you musing and at your door. We respect you so you should respect us.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I couldn't resist putting that last picture in. Soo funny!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I apologize and I thank you for your kind reproof. I get a lot of people at my door and at times it has felt rather excessive.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yes, my husband is amazing with what he can do and I am a blessed woman. :) It was a nice surprise to see myself on The Chicken Chick...it took me rather by surprise. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sorry, I realized that we have pictures of both our heat lamps. One is the kind with a clamp on the end. And the other one we have secured with a kind of twist tie. We put the loop on the end of the heat lamp over the end of the stick and then twisted the tie tightly so the lamp wont move. It is pretty well in it's place. :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. The corner roost idea is such a great use of space. We are picking up our chicks next weekend so we have a bit of time to make adjustments to a section of the shed which was sectioned off for the girls. The corner roost is going in!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. So glad I could be an inspiration. I hope it all works out and yay for baby chicks! They are so much fun. :)

    ReplyDelete

Have a seat, enjoy the conversation, and welcome to the farm.