Freedom!

Well, the laying hens finally have the freedom they have been after. My dear sweet, wonderful, manly husband finished the chicken coop today. It took two weekends and a lot of sweat. Enjoy the photos.

This is his central command. You can see the saw horses I purchased for his birthday and the lovely miter say he got for christmas. Paul did show me how to use the miter saw and even let me make some easy cuts on my own!

We wanted to be able to move the coop around so Paul used tires from a spare dump cart that we had. We had purchased some tires but they weren't strong enough to handle the weight of the coop.

This is a photo of the inside, he built the nesting boxes right into the frame. This photo is taken from the back door, where we will collect the eggs.

Here is a photo of the coop on Friday night. The wood on the ground is the layout of the run. The little white moon on the side and X on the top front are actually windows. It is very important to have good ventilation in the coop, their poop is very high in nitrogen and stinky!

Here is the back of the coop.

Paul came in to take a break and fell asleep in the chair! Poor guy, he worked very hard on Friday and Saturday. I am a lucky women.

Here is the coop in the yard on Saturday evening. We started to put the chicken wire on it but decided to call it a night.

We moved the chickens out in the big miter saw box you see in the grass on Sunday afternoon. They were a little traumatized, but got over it pretty fast. They weren't sure what to make of all the grass and bugs.

Here is a photo from the front. Paul was putting the finishing touches on the inside (like the roosting perches) while the girls got used to the outside.

This is the back door where we will gather the eggs. The door lowers down and we have easy access to the nesting boxes where the eggs will be.

Here is a photo of the inside with the perches.

Tomorrow (Monday) we go to get the first batch of meat chickens. I think that Paul did such a wonderful job on the chicken coop that when I finally talk him into letting me get a diary goat the milking shed will be a piece of cake!