The Egg and I: Building the Coop (Day Three)

The first thing I want to say in today's post is, "Good morning, Ella and Carson!! Thanks for keeping up with our chicken coop project.  I can't wait until you are sitting out in the garden holding a big fat chicken in your lap or gathering eggs from the laying boxes!"

And speaking of laying boxes, that was one of the jobs we accomplished on day three of the coop project.  We are using white plastic buckets from Dollar Tree for our laying boxes.  I read that this would making cleaning easy.  If eggs get broken in a straw filled bucket, out it comes and it can be easily washed out and replaced.  We have three laying boxes. Wire will cover the boxes for the time being to stop the young chicks from getting into the boxes until they are old enough to start laying eggs. The laying boxes are on the opposite side of the coop from the roost poles.

 

Our black dog kennel trays were cut down to size and fitted into the floor of the coop. The plan is for these trays to slide out and dump dirty litter into the wheel barrow so that it can be hauled around the yard and added to flower beds or just hauled off.

Now the inside of the coop is complete!

 

We added some trim to the roof just to get a feel for the coop's final "look". We are going for a weathered, vintage feel. Mom had the great idea of not cutting the edges of the trim, but leaving their rough, rotten ends.  I got this green trim wood from the antique salvage place in Jackson where I also got the green door for the coop. The rest of the coop will be painted white to match the hothouse.

 

Notice the toilet paper hanging from the corners.....Dad and I kept bumping our heads on them, so Mom put up the toilet paper to catch our eye before we banged our heads up.  It worked like a charm!!

 

Tar paper was stapled onto the roof of the coop. Left over shingles from our recent roof installation will soon follow.

It was another great project day!!  The weather was so pretty; we even got a little sunburned!  Tomorrow the rain sets in - five day's worth......Boooo!

                                                                                                  Love ya'll,
                                                                                                       Shelli

Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral.

 - Frank Lloyd Wright