Reorganized chicken storage room, 8 pictures added to the thread

Sunshine, oh yes, sunshine....

Yesterday was a most beautiful day, the temperature soared to about 6 at the highest, and lots of water was melting. Of course, we are not even in the deeper throws of winter, I know that, it can still reach -17. Has actually been a reasonably mild winter, compared to last. But last year, not an over abundance of snow, not sure of the accumulation, but nothing like this year. Our accumulated snow is already over 40 inches, I know, cause each morning if it has snowed the day or night before, I write it on my calendar, as well as the temperature when I get up. I also record the high temperature of the previous day. Just a record keeping gal I guess.

Anyways, onto my observation yesterday. As I said, it was beautiful out and I worked without my winter coat, only my two vests and a long sleeved shirt. My friend, Farmchiq, gave me a vest that was no longer required at her home. It is made by Carhart and oh man, what a warm vest that it, I cherish it (thank you Farmchiq, I love my vest).

Husband and I spent the day working on the chicken barn. It was a lovely bonding day, smiling, we love to work together on these types of things. With his brain and my brawn, smiling again, ya, I am the go-for, we accomplished a most wonderful thing.
 
 
Boy, this was supposed to be about the weather and sun, but I have to tell a tale, so I will wander on.

In the first entry part of the chicken barns, there is a room. This is a room where I store everything, everything under the sun to do with chickens. And also in this room was a room that my Husband had built to house my sportsman incubator, so I could incubate in this teeny tiny room that is insulated. But...it is still cold, no matter what. So my Daughter suggested (ya, I know, heard this before) that I move the incubator into the back room of their home. Which spans the entire width of the house and is about 20 feet deep, not sure of the width, but house width, so it is huge. This is a storage room for the hot water tank, water softener machine, lots of coats and boots and things and shelves. And shelves with my preserves too. So lots of room for a machine that really does not take up much space. The temperature in that room stays pretty much constant. The incubator is working is job and does not fluctuate, barely any degree, from what the thermometer/hygrometer tells me. This is good. This allows for good hatches, with one coming on Sunday/Monday and then more, I will hopefully have lots of little fuzzy butts in my care, gotta love that.

So, right, now where was I? OK. I remember. Ya, so we removed that room in the henhouse that he had built for the incubator. And took down shelves, now a bare bone room.....beautiful....now what? I vacuumed it all up pretty (I have a vacuum in my chicken house, amazing what can be found to vacuum up when one wants to become anal about dustfree areas, smiling). Clean as a whistle. So now for arrangement of stuff. Took the brooding box that I use for the first bit of life of the chicks that come from that incubator and placed it where I wanted it. Then we built shelves, did stuff like that, moved stuff back in, cause, well, that is what needed to be done. What a difference. I can actually move and walk around nicely in there, and lots more shelves to put stuff on. Shelves are wonderful. So that was part of what we did on that day. It was a good day.

So, when you look at this picture, picture this room with nothing in it, even that part at the end that has a wall, that was where the incubator had lived for some long time. All the stuff out, new shelves put in and rearranging. We just basically stuffed things back in, as the day was marching on, and it was getting too cold to be outside. So today I will be arranging things in a much better way, and I will bring a picture to this thread of the organized chicken storage room, but for now. This was what it looked like before. The box type thing on the left of the picture is the brooding box, which I stand on end when it is not being used, after chick brooding is done. This is just the temporary first start box for the birds. It can hold about 50 or so birds for about 2 weeks, then they get moved on to another spot, in the old buckeye/java house. Which will be specifically for chick raising, ya!! Good to have that coop mostly used for that purpose.



But that was not really about what prompted me to begin to fly fingers over keyboard. The first thoughts of what I wanted to speak to was the sun in the sky.

A good part of the winter, when I stand in the doorway of the entrance to the main chicken coop, there is a time during the day, I would say about 11:00 to 2:00 where there is no sun shone in that area. This is because the sun is so low on the horizon, that the sun is hidden by the big tall horse barn. Sigh. It is really cold when the sun does not shine. Then after that time, the sun has passed the barn and can shine its warming light on the coop again, but only for a very short time, because then it is sundown and the sun has gone below the horizon of the mountains to the west. Sunup over the mountain here in the depth of winter is 9:00 AM, sundown is about 3:00 PM. There is a drastic difference now in where the sun is on the horizon, clearly it has risen higher in the sky, hence the warmth and the longer daylight. Again, where was I? Right.

Yesterday, it would have been about 2:00 and I was sitting in the doorway of the chicken coop, pondering life and how I feel about things we were doing. A very warm and beautiful feeling, organization is my middle name, and we were organizing. One of my favourite things to do. As I sat there pondering life, I could feel warmth of that beautiful sun. I knew for a very fact, that this barn was no longer hiding the rays of that sunshine and it warmed me to my soul, physically and emotionally, as I knew that now the sun will shine on the coops and runs, the entire day now, without having those couple of hours where no sun shone. Spring is coming. No matter which way that you look at it, it will come. And we will revel in the beauty that the warmth and stronger sun rays will bring. A day of sunshine, inside and out and it was a wonder. Now this morning, I see there is two more inches of snow fallen last night. But....again, I have seen that moon, in the western sky, and I know there is a possibility of the sun to shine again today. Have a most awesome and wonderful day, CynthiaM.

yes I get you on that organized feeling Cynthia! It doesnt happen too often but then when I do get organized you wonder why you didnt do it sooner, lots of positive energy coming off that!
For sure, post us an "after" pic too! I love before and after pics!
So nice when I dont have to do the labour that it involves in between.
It is so nice for getting inspired, seeing pics and ideas from someone else
Today we have a blizzard out there so any organizing i will be doing will be indoors!

We had a mild-ish weekend and we spent it organizing and fixing as well. Crazy how you go nuts organizing in the fall to prepare for winter but then I don't know how it happens but things just accumulate In winter I think it's because we are in a rush to get things done so you can get warmed up. In summer I think it's because we take on too many projects at the same time. It sure is frustrating when you try to do something and have to wade through stuff! Now no one would EVER call me organized although even I can only take so much clutter

This weekend was mostly just digging out iced doorways, fixing fencing, and cleaning critter homes while it was mild enough to do it and prepping for the bitter cold I'm sure will come. I was still working away at it this morning but once I finally finished my list I felt better having it done. Now if only could get the same motivation inside the house LOL It was snowing like crazy all day today so didn't feel much like spring coming but I sure do look forward to seeing something other than white white white!

Dang, got busy with other stuff yesterday and didn't get a chance to get out and re-organize me new organized room , well, not really sad, I know I am going to have fun today, smiling. I had to laugh when my Husband made a shelf on one of the walls, it was a thick piece of wood that we used. It was one that he had used to make the doorway frame for the incubator room in that shed. My Husband is tall, well, pretty tall, 6'2", I am more than vertically challenged I would say, standing at 5'2". There is a difference of a huge amount when we stand side by side. Being short has lots of advantages, don't get me wrong, but it also can be a disadvantage, when it comes to things like reaching. Sometimes I have to climb on counters to get to things

The point of what I am trying to make is usually when my Husband builds things, he forgets how small I am, and builds stuff to suit his height. Constant reminders take place, Kidding.

The shelves were made out of sturdy plywood, I would venture to say 3/4" not 5/8", which would have been preferred. But that one shelf, was made out of 2 X 12, so a very thick shelf. Now to a short person, two inches can be a big deal, and it was. He wanted the shelves to line up. The shelves on the east facing wall had a low shelf, so I could look almost straight onto them to see stuff, the upper shelf was a bit higher, couldn't see small stuff unless I stood on something. That is OK. That is where the stuff that I don't use very often will go...and some of his stuff. Imagine that, HIS stuff in MY coop working area. That is OK. I use his stuff sometimes and sometimes I get him to use his stuff to do stuff for me, so he can have some of his stuff in my working coop, smiling. I share

Ya, so this 2" X 12" shelf when assembled was almost 2 inches taller than the other shelf. I could not see small stuff on that shelf and that was the most important shelf, because that is where I will put stuff that I use all the time. So he had to make me a much shorter shelf so that I can see on it, very funny, and he kind of chuckled when I told him he had to make a short shelf for his short wife for the stuff that she wanted to put on the stuff shelf so that I could see stuff. Yes. Stuff....ain't it a good word, stuff, got lots of stuff and I love stuff. Did I mention that stuff is a good word. Wishes for a wonderful and beautiful day, hope ya'll got good stuff, CynthiaM.

Wow just reading your posts its inspireing and tiring all at the same time. We just finished getting an additional 8 inches yesterday and I can only hope that the next week will give me the sunshine that you had. So that I can be as productive I love organizing stuff. Okay so apparently not today its snowing again

I hear you Ruffled the snow just won't end!!!

It is just too darn cold yet up here to do the organizing you're talking about Cynthia. I nearly killed myself last night when I was carrying water buckets to the greenhouse for the geese and forgot that hubby had had to dig down into the packed snow/ice so the door could be opened. Yesterdays snow fall had filled in the step down and in the dark it made far a hard water splashed landing

I have same trouble with hubby as I am your height and he is your hubbys height. He always forgets and puts stuff waaaaay above my head LOL I have stools everywhere inside and outside

Good luck in your organizing today

Oh boy, OK trying to get my thoughts back together about what I have spoken about. Right....this is for inspiration to all my friends, that spring is coming, and there will be time to get out there and do some organizing and spring cleaning in the coops, smiling. Yep, so got out there the day before yesterday and did the final organizing. It was still cold, my fingers hurt when I was using the screwdriver putting in the screws to hang things up. Gloves don’t cut it, too clumbsy, so it is bare hands. The chickens were going nuts when Hubby and I were revamping beside their home. They think it is their area and see no reason why they can’t go in. I don’t let the chickens normally go into the storage area. They poop too much, and why on earth couldn’t they just “hold” it and not go. Can’t they tell it is clean and not to be crapped in? Dirty birds anyways, smiling. Lots of pictures to bring here, and hopefully a small narration with each picture. Enjoy your walk by my side as I show you some birds and things we have done. With that, have that beautiful day, CynthiaM.

Yes, so these pictures will show the reorganized, and tidied up, chicken storage area. The first room to go through before I go into the brooding area for mammas, then the buff Orpington coop and then the cochin coop. These two breeds are in one building. There is a separate building, which is attached to these two coops, which used to house the buckeyes and javas, and will be the coop for growing out chicks and if I want to set up a specified breeding area, it could be used for that too. I have intention of using a very nice buff Orpington gal, that goes by the name of Buffy (thanks to Heather, thank you again), that will be bred, along with a couple of other choice hens, to really get, with some good luck too, some bigger and event more beautiful buff orpingtons. Time will be the teller of that tale, for surely.

So, here we go, this is standing before the entranceway to the room.



This is what I see when I look to the right. See that kind of triangular wooden thing against the wall. It is a chair, a seat, call it what you will. My Husband made it for me last summer, when I loved one, very similar to it of my Daughter’s. It has that oblong hole in the top of it. It is perfect for putting your hand in to move that seat around. I love that seat, and I love that I am loved, he builds anything that I could ever wish for. When he saw how much I loved Daughter’s, he had to and make me one of my very own. Yep. I am loved, smiling.

The brooding box that I firstly put chicks in when they come out of the brooder is on the right hand side as you look at the picture, at the back...it is wonderful. Slightly changed again from the second design. Now full wooden sides. Before I had the wooden sides and a 1 inch poultry wire wall that went up about a foot. I think it much more safe with all wooden walls. Also the lid used to lift up on hinges. The redesign was to have it so I could slide the lid off, so that the heat lamp could remain in a position and not be moved. Before the light had to be lifted up and down trying to not catch on the poultry wire on the lid, it was difficult. So now, just slide that lid off and the light can remain hanging without movement. Easy peasy.



Look at all my shelves. Got lots of empty space, but gots lots of ideas of other things that will go on them. More reorganizing from other parts of the coops a’happenin’.



Ya, brats. These birds have been eyeballing what we have been doing. I let them out of their run to get some fresh ground, they don’t seem to mind the snow. And boy oh boy, have they been yearning to go inside to see what on earth we have been up to!! Only takes a minute and they grab the moment.



Ya, so I am a softie. I let them have a gander at what has been going on. Why not? It is part of their home, in a sense, they have a right to check it out. Had to pick up about 6 huge poops, puleeeeeze, couldn’t ya just wait til outside?



This storage area has a wooden floor, for which I am grateful for. The other part of the coop, where they live, is earthen floor, which I am grateful for.



Ya, shuffled them all back out, but boy, that leader of the pack, he sure is a persistent fellow, he wanted to come back in. Get out!!!



Oh and lastly. A buff Orpington mamma that hatched out three chicks of 12. Wrong time of year for surely. She only has 2 chicks now, eeeks!! Couldn’t find the third one the other day. I think she ate it. There was no carcass or anything. So me thinks it died and it looked like food, oh my Gordon. I can’t imagine where else it might have gone. The area is pretty secure. Almost time to let them meander into general population. Just need to teach them how to use a creep feeder so they can eat the chick food and the others can’t. The adults love the baby food even more than the baby birds love their own baby food. Assembling that today. They are almost 3 weeks old, so a little behind what I normally allow with that growth. They are smart, they will not be intimidated by anyone, cause they got mamma!! Although, by this age, no one seems to mind these little dudes running around and making a nuisance of themselves.

The room looks great. Very useful, I could use one here for sure. The hooks are a great idea. I need some of those baskets to collect eggs. They usually end up in my pocket and that does not always have a great result.

Coopslave, those hooks are called garden hooks, same brand, at the dollar store, are about 1/2 of what the larger chain stores sell them for. They are awesome and I hang many things on them because of the ability to hang on either hook part that sticks out of the hook itself. I like towels in my chicken coops, never know when you need a towel. And...the hooks hold two of them . They are totally awesome hooks, way better than nails, which I have always used the past. Have an awesome day, CynthiaM.

I am jealous of your property and room that you have. I have built and built since I bought my place 20 years ago, but there is still no where enough room for stuff not to mention the critters. And of course the critters always seem to arrive before the space is created so a temporary structure is thrown up to accomodate them. The temporary structures seem to undergo a number of renovations and additions as additional critters are added, thus becoming more permanent but not really well thought out. Kind of analogy for life maybe. Anyways, very nice seeing your farm.