Finishing the Chicken Mansion

I suppose the title is a bit misleading.

Finishing the Chicken Mansion - FOR NOW. There, that's better.

This past weekend I tackled the last part of the project to finally complete the chicken coop and run to how I wanted it from the beginning. You can watch how I did it here.

Previously, I'd replaced all the bird netting over the top of the run, and built new nest boxes for the birds.

But I couldn't call the job complete until I'd installed new roost spots and torn apart the old coop. I knew that if I left the old coop in the run, that the chickens would continue to use it for laying their eggs and perching on at night.

With their tendency to roost on top of the coop, instead of inside it, and the dramatic (and damp) change of the seasons, I knew this wouldn't be healthy for them.

The only course of action I could see was to completely remove the old coop to force the birds to take shelter elsewhere and effectively 'train' them to use the new options I'd provided.

What I used for this build

• Two 1 by 4 pieces of lumber, cut to different lengths (specificity doesn't matter), with the ends trimmed at a 45 degree angle 
• Eight 3 & 1/2 inch wood screws
• A drill gun
• My muscles

Thankfully, this week I got some help to finish the project, so it didn't take nearly as long as I'd been expecting it to.

We started with ripping apart and moving all the pieces of the old coop. I figured this would take the longest, and we wanted to maximize the sunshine we got.

I also decided to hold onto the scrap wood. Most of it was in wonderful shape still, despite its age, and I'm sure can be easily cleaned and reused elsewhere on the homestead.

So, for now at least, the wood is sitting in an unused corner in my garden. This space will eventually become where I build my greenhouse, and perhaps these pieces will find a use in there.

Now that the coop was ripped apart it became necessary to install new roost spots. The only other viable spot for the birds to roost until these went up are the nest boxes I'd installed, and I didn't want all 10 birds trying to huddle together on that frame and put unnecessary stress on the screws holding it to the wall.

I picked some scrap wood from our pile, I used two 1 by 4 inch pieces, to fit to that corner.

The length didn't matter to me, as long as they were different lengths. I wanted to tier the perches, and by cutting them to different lengths, it lessens the chance that the birds roosting on the lower beam will get pooped on by the ones on the top.

The only modifications I had to make to the wood after that was to cut the ends to a 45 degree angle so they would sit flush against the walls. This creates a triangle with the walls and the post, and sets the birds back in the most weather-protected corner of the coop.

Once the new perches were installed, it was finally done!

And now I've gotten to the point that I'm happy in the chicken run and coop; the old falling down coop is gone, there are new roosts and lay boxes, and there's bird netting across the entire top of the run. And, as a bonus, I have wood that can be cleaned and reused elsewhere.

Even with all that said, it doesn't necessarily mean that the chicken run or coop is fully DONE.

I'm sure in the future there will need to be projects that happen in with the birds. I might discover that the wide doorway into the coop lets in too much snow during the winter. Or that there should be a system to hang the waterer and feeder so the birds can't poop in them. Who knows. 

For now it's functional, and I'm pleased with the results.

Thanks, as always, for reading. I hope you all have a freaking awesome rest of your week, and I'll see you all again next week!

-Alyx

Upgrading the Nesting Boxes

Hello and happy Monday everyone, or happy whatever day it is you happen to be reading this!

I’m back in the chicken run, pushing myself to get this darn project done before I’m forced to work on it while slogging through the snow.

Watch the video on my YouTube

 

The project of the day is to start replacing the old coop.

As you can see, it’s a mess. I’m actually pretty embarrassed to show you all the state it’s in now.

The story behind this poor beaten up box is this: A close family friend had been planning on raising chickens for years, but it never ended up working out, and the coop sat in their backyard during that time.

When she found out I was incubating eggs to hatch my own birds, she offered us the coop.

Of course, I accepted! One less thing I had to build to house my birds? Heck yeah!

It worked wonderfully, for a while.

• My birds never quite figured out how to roost inside. They preferred sitting on the roof.
• It was difficult to clean the poop tray and close the doors fully. The settling over the years had caused it to warp, which meant nothing fit quite right anymore.
• Cleaning out the nest boxes was a dreaded exercise. There’s no easy way to clean them without the risk of getting chicken poop all over you.

These factors and the combination of time it had already spent sitting exposed, the growing size of my flock, and the difficulty in moving the coop alone, it became apparent it was time to retire the old coop.

I’d originally wanted to use this shed-stable as my coop. I had grand plans.

But the chicks hatched and time to transition them outside came way too quickly, and I wasn’t able to get everything set up in time.

Thus, the gifted coop was a welcomed relief.

 

Now that it’s been in use for a year and a half, I’m ready to retire it and move the birds into the mansion I’d been planning from the beginning.

The first thing I needed to tackle was a design for the nest boxes. I wanted something easy to clean. I wanted something accessible. I wanted something sturdy. And I didn’t want to break the bank in the process.

Almost all the materials I used for this build were scrap I already had lying around. Thank goodness too, with the price of lumber at the moment. The only things I had to purchase were the bins I used for the nests. So I already had a checkmark in the win column.

The only thing I really had to contribute was some elbow grease.

If you’re interested in building this design as well, I’ve already done all the measuring and designing so you don’t have to!

You will need

• Four 1x4 pieces of lumber, cut to 39.5 inches long
• Four 2x4 pieces of lumber, cut to 13 inches long
• A box of 2 & 1/2 inch wood screws
• Three 8-qrt Sterilite Dishpans 
• Two – four 90-degree brackets OPTIONAL 
• Power drill of your choosing
• Measuring tape
• Anything to mark measurements on your wood
• Pre-cut lumber to the above listed measurements, or a drop saw to cut them to size

I started by mocking up the frame to hold the bins. I didn’t want them to sit up too high over the lip of the wood I had, which might run the risk of the birds catching the edge of the bin and knocking it out of the frame. And I wanted them to sit snug enough that they wouldn’t shift too much when the hens were in them.

When I’d decided on a design, I cut all my lumber to length. This kept me from running back and forth between the saw and where I was building the frame.

Starting at either end, I used two screws to hold the outer frame pieces together on either side. You could probably get away one on each side since there are braces along the bottom as well that will keep the separators from swiveling. But I did what I did. Better to be overbuilt than underbuilt, right??

Once you have the two outermost short pieces attached to one long piece, measure 9 & 3/4 inches from the inside of the short pieces on either end and mark this measurement on the long piece of wood. This will be where you line up the inner separators.

Line up those inner pieces and screw them into place.

I screwed the other outer side of frame on now, making sure that the space between the nest box separators measured at 9 & 3/4 inches consistently.

I didn’t measure where to line up the two long pieces to brace under the frame, just eye-balled what looked good, and screwed them into place as well.

To make sure everything was measured correctly, and it would all fit together, I popped the bins into place. (It all fit, thankfully!)

Here’s where those brackets would come in handy. They’ll add extra support to the bottom of the frame and the wall you connect it to. I didn’t end up using any brackets, since I was able to secure the frame directly to two structure beams in the shed. With only three nest boxes, I’m not concerned with the weight of the nesting hens being too much for the screws to handle, and I can always add additional supports later if I need to.

I was hoping to get the perches built for the birds and the old coop torn apart as well, but again, I underestimated the time it would take to get this project done. There’s always next time.

 

Thank you for reading, I appreciate it! If you follow this guide, I’d love to see how it turned out for you.

Have a freaking awesome rest of your week, and I’ll see you next time!

 

-Alyx

The Trouble with Bird Netting

This past Monday, I tackled a project I’d been putting off for a while. And by a while, I mean several months.

Check out my struggle on my YouTube 

I had the day off. It was sunny out. And I knew I’d regret not doing the project now while the weather was nice. Because even though I knew I’d hate almost every moment of it, I’d hate it a whole lot more if I had to do it in the snow.

What could possibly be so awful that I would put it off for so long?? That I even tried to talk myself out of doing it, because I reasoned ‘it’s not so bad right now’?

My chicken run desperately needed new bird netting over the top. 

I’d previously slapped up four mismatching pieces after a hawk attack killed two of my birds, and due to the time constraints, I was forced to use any piece I was able to get my hands on. This meant that there was a wide gap in the middle of the run that was still exposed to predators. But the majority of the run was protected.

It wasn’t ideal, but it worked. For a while.

Each day that I would go out and spend time feeding and watering the birds, and collecting eggs, I resented the job I’d done more and more. There was hangover where the nets overlapped that I got caught on every time I went into the run. I was constantly fighting to keep the nets up when we got any sort of wind. The gap in the middle also meant that my one Houdini hen I’ve never been able to contain had a clear escape route.

Finally, I’d decided enough was enough, and it was time to retire the old netting and hang up all new.

The problem is, I still remembered what a complete pain in the ass it was to put up the original netting. And this time, I wanted to install a giant 50 foot by 50 foot square of the stuff.

It wasn’t hard to find the material I wanted. And it was surprisingly inexpensive (less than $15). But I knew that the hard part was on its way.

The biggest annoyance with bird netting, is that it tangles on everything and anything you could possibly imagine, always and immediately. I spent more time detangling little bits of wood, branches, dirt, feathers, you name it, out of the net than I actually spent hanging it up.

If you ever have the absolute displeasure of working with bird netting, I’ll offer a few tips that might lessen your headache.

Don’t install it by yourself. I had close to two hours of footage I sifted through to make a semi decent video of my struggle, and after all that, the battery on my camera ended up dying and I still wasn’t done. Even having one other person assisting would have cut down on the amount of time I spent untangling everything out of the net, since I’d been stuck with having to let it drag or lay on the ground while I worked on a section.

Pick a side and work outward. I, thankfully, started the project with this idea. It made it so much easier to stretch the net taunt when I had one side fully secured in place. I no longer have any sagging sections, there is no hang down, and I’m not brushing my head on the net every time I go in anymore. Working from one side to the next also cut down on the amount of detangling I had to do the further into the project I got. So, it ended up going a lot faster closer to the end, and the hardest part was at the beginning when it was all dragging on the ground.

Give yourself a lot of time. It’ll be easier on you and your birds to get the job done in one shot. Like I mentioned earlier, I had two hours of footage of me fighting with my netting, and after the camera died, there was still work to do. If you think it’ll take two hours, double it, just to be safe. If you end of up having time left over, rejoice, for the suffering is over!

Avoid putting up your netting in the wind. You’ll already be struggling enough, don’t make it harder for yourself.

Measure your space. Nothing sucks quite as bad as not having enough. Especially when it’s almost enough. I’ve found this goes for anything, sugar, jars, bird netting, compost, toothpaste, etc. Give yourself the best chance you can at doing the project well by measuring everything. You’ll thank yourself in the end.

That’s really all I can think of. Hanging netting is a pain. It’s frustrating and tedious and will have you questioning your life choices more than once.

But the results are worth it in the end. I’m so incredibly pleased at how the netting looks compared to how it had been before.

Would I ever choose to do it again in the future? Only if it was the only option available and nothing else worked.

 

Thank you so much for checking out my blog. Be sure to hop over to my Instagram LINK and YouTube LINK for more. Have a freaking awesome rest of your week, and I’ll see you next time!

 

-Alyx