Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Finishing touches to the shed...

We have been under the gun for the last week.
It has been construction central around here!
If it's not the saw going...it's the drill.
Our peaceful spring has been interrupted in the most delightful way!
Soon that noise will be replaced by the trill of chickens.

The completely renovated shed...before...


...and after its handsome paint job!
The front door was originally one large door.
I was concerned about allowing too much wide open door
to tempt the chickens with thoughts of escape.


The right hand side is one long door which has a slide lock on the top and the bottom.
The left hand door is a dutch door.
We can peek in and check on the ladies whenever we like!
The bottom portion locks to the large door and the top door 
is secured when closed from the outside.

Owen seems to think the bottom portion of the dutch door is for Owens only.

The side of the shed....before...




...and after!
The side looks really sharp with the gifted oil based white paint.
Only 2 coats of paint and the outside looks like brand new!


Above shows the back of the shed both before and after paint job.


My handsome husband completing the latch lock for the run door at the beck of the shed.

We had to make an additional trip to the hardware store for more 2 x 4's and screws...
bringing our total dollars spent:  $310


We found some interior oil paint in robin's egg blue in our basement.
I have to admit...it looks great inside!
The oil based paint was allowed to sit with all doors and window open for a few days.
The paint will help keep the moisture out...
and the floors and walls will be easier to clean twice a year.

The ladies seem to love it!
The arrived on Labour Day Monday May 20th.
We had one girl lay a surprise egg...before the hay was laid out in the coop.
The egg smashed and the 3 other hens dove at it like it was gold!

We quickly added some hay and hope that the cannibalistic behavior will slow once they get comfy.

Right now all 4 ladies are getting quite accustomed to their new surroundings.
They have laid 5 eggs so far and its only been 2 days.

Each morning Owen gets up, gets dressed and throws some crackers or something in his mouth, 
heading out the door to check on his hens.
So far its been 5:30 - 6 am once he has accomplished his mission.

I certainly hope this behavior doesn't end.
Its far too cute!
(Just don't wake Mum up with an egg in the face!)


PS.  the ladies look like they're in jail right now...
we've been hard at work building the pen.
I understand that leaving them in the coop trains them to lay 
their eggs inside instead of anywhere around the run.



Stay tuned for the update on the completed chicken run!

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