birds and buildings

The youngest rooster (who was also messed up the most in the last few days of fighting) has been relocated to a new home where he can hopefully rest and recover and enjoy the rest of his life in almost celibacy. We did rehome one of our egg-eating hens to the same farm, but no one has seen a sign of her since we dropped her off. Knowing how good she was at hiding in the hen house here, I think she's found her a spot in one of the many barns and sheds there. Hopefully the young roo and the strange hen will find each other and be at peace with one another.  One down...one more roo to see about.

And here's what else is happening on the bird and building front...

 The last two Saturdays one of the teens from church has helped me assemble the walls to the frame of the small hen house.

 We were able to reuse the old nesting boxes, but with a new board re-inforcing the bottom, a new support beam, tile, and a good coat of fresh paint.

 And we used the old perch, but added a second one lower down for the smaller birds. I think they'll like that a lot better, and I'll feel better that they're not on the ground when it's damp or cool.

 Above is the pen I've built over the last few weeks. It doesn't look pretty, but it's standing upright and doesn't fall over when you bump it (like the one it's replacing!)

 And here's the old, rotting boards from the old little hen house. I used them as a pattern for the new one.

And this afternoon it was finally warm enough to paint!  The side vents and roof is salvaged from the old version, with new (and more) staples over the chicken wiring and paint over the boards. I could see where the carpenter bees had done their drilling, and I'm hoping by painting these boards it might help stop that. Time will tell.

So tomorrow morning we'll add handles to the base for moving the house, attach the top roof and side vents, then hopefully attach trimwork and side roofs, then add a screw/hook near the nesting boxes so I can hang a heat lamp inside. Then all the biddies will move out of their nesting box and have twice as much space to run around, plus experience the world around them while still being protected from the fox and hawks!

I'll be glad when this project is over. :) The big hen house we're jobbing out to someone else.