Let the coopening begin!

When last we visited my chicken coop, it looked like this (this is the portion of my coop that will be used for feed & equipment storage and possibly future breeding pens):







After a few hours of hard work yesterday, it looked like this:

Other than the lumber stacked up against the wall and a few other items, most of these piles are garbage. This is why you should never take over the family farm - the family still feels they can dump their crap in your outbuildings, years after they have moved out.





Next step is to remove the layer of 12 year old chicken poop, cat poop, mouse poop and general dirt that is in there, ripping out the rickety nest boxes and roosts, cleaning out the other half of the coop, then I can begin the electrical work! Plus paint, some exterior repairs, building new windows ... oh, so exciting!

Of course, now it's snowing, so that's going to slow me down a bit.

Don't forget your respirator!

Oh, and how do you take those cool panoramic pics? Betcha have some fancy-pantsy lens, doncha?

Schipperkesue wrote:Don't forget your respirator!

Oh, and how do you take those cool panoramic pics? Betcha have some fancy-pantsy lens, doncha?

Yep, respirator has been unearthed for the poop removal.

I actually just used my phone for the panoramic pics! I have a Samsung Galaxy Note II. Best thing ever.

Looks like fun, I just picked up an old travel trailer that I am going to turn into my incubator/brooder room. Lot smaller but about the same condition.

Looks like the building on my property when we moved in. It had been owned by a couple whos parents had also lived there and they were full of usless junk.Still finding old vehicles and crap in the yard. Looks like a nice sturdy building good luck

Progress ...



All the loose dirt/poop is gone, nest boxes torn out (most were only secured by a few nails, I tore them apart with my hands!), ceiling and walls swept to get rid of some of the crud. Now I just have to do lots of scraping to get the packed poop off the floor boards. Discovered a rotted spot in the floor (the former owner fed wet chop in that spot), but that's where I was going to put breeding pens anyway, so I will just tear up a larger area until I find some structurally sound beam (if there is any) and leave it as dirt floor in that spot.

The floor is not structural, it is just laid as a floating floor within the concrete footings.

Whoa! Nice work!

Looks like you have some good bones there.

I am especially fond of your cupolas, lucky dog!

Calliope, what do you think Authentic should use to paint the inside of her coop? Hmmm?

Schipperkesue wrote:Calliope, what do you think Authentic should use to paint the inside of her coop? Hmmm?

Ummmm ... paint? lol

what luckey chickens your gonna have in june =)

triplejfarms wrote:what luckey chickens your gonna have in june =)

Well, chickens from such a fabulous breeder deserve to have a great coop.

Didn't you see....my not so awesome birds are not laying so awesome ... Lmao

looking good

triplejfarms wrote:Didn't you see....my not so awesome birds are not laying so awesome ... Lmao

All of the breeds or just some of them? I could adjust my order if you need me to. Not the end of the world.

meh stil lots of time...all my breeds suck right now i will keep ya posted but i am not to worried =)

authenticfarm wrote:

Schipperkesue wrote:Calliope, what do you think Authentic should use to paint the inside of her coop? Hmmm?

Ummmm ... paint? lol

Ha, ha, naughty Sue was just baiting me so I could reiterate another of my posts somewhere today about whitewash, being old school, and something about elbow grease, I believe ...

calliope wrote:

authenticfarm wrote:

Schipperkesue wrote:Calliope, what do you think Authentic should use to paint the inside of her coop? Hmmm?

Ummmm ... paint? lol

Ha, ha, naughty Sue was just baiting me so I could reiterate another of my posts somewhere today about whitewash, being old school, and something about elbow grease, I believe ...

Hee hee hee!

More coop progress - I have been working on the back part of the coop the past few days, where the chickens will live.

When last we visited, it looked like this ...



And after a few hours of elbow grease, it currently looks like this ...



The old nasty straw etc. will get shovelled into something tonight and get hauled off to somewhere. Am waiting for husband to advise which something he would like me to monopolize this evening, and which somewhere he would like it to go to. Then I can finish sweeping down the walls and ceiling, Virkon everything, and then speak nicely to one of the men in my life who will do the electrical for me.

I like that there is a BBQ there already just waiting for any nasty roosters!

Great job, can't wait to see it finished.

It's an old-school feather plucker!

Nice progress, I can see you’ve been busy. I’m sooo behind on my big coop project it’s not even funny. Which reminds me, I need to order more wire and the windows already, eep!

Wow, this is cool, I love to see the work. That chicken plucker, don't get rid of it, maybe you can fix it up. You probably were going to keep it anyways, but don't rid!!

Is it the camera, but those walls look like they are rounded, must be the angle, are they like bent walls or something? I love your coop and it is gonna be spanking new when you are done. Don't paint the walls, leave them natural. And I love the idea of dirt floors. I have dirt floors in my coops and I would have it no other way. I believe that helps to keep things dry, the dry earth sucks up any moisture. Not that we live in a moist environment, I think it is dry here, smiling. Dirt floors rock!! So what else, oh ya. those little nest boxes with the holes that looked like a little house were cool, someone had inventive ideas there. Anyways, can't wait to see the pictures when all is said and done, yay! Have a beautiful day, CynthiaM.

Cynthia - it's just the panoramic feature on my phone that makes the walls appear bent.

The walls are going to be insulated and lined with plywood, then painted.

The old nestboxes got ripped out, too. Sorry Cynthia! Those holes are too tiny for the big heritage breeds I have coming!

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All of my lumber is now on site, so next week, the serious work begins! I have to photograph a wedding this weekend, so I have to behave myself the few days beforehand. I can't take the risk of getting hurt when someone has trusted me to be there to capture some of the most important moments of their life!

Progress: The wiring is now roughed in thanks to husband, and husband has also set up the pressure washer system (involves a trailer, generator, pressure washer and a big tank of water) to strip off the old paint from the building, although he had to run to town for a new part for something ... but then I talked him into picking up barn paint while he's there, so that was kind of a win, anyway. Husband also volunteered to do the pressure washing for me, so he is currently holding the title of Best Husband Ever. Sorry, all the other husbands. Mine is winning today.

I ripped off the old sketchy trim boards today and I continue to pull nails as I find them. My predecessors apparently felt that the solution for everything was MORE NAILS! I have a bucket going.

My next job will be putting on new trim boards, priming and painting (luckily, we have a fancy industrial sprayer for these two jobs), and building windows and fixing up doors. Then, insulating, vapour barrier, and sheeting!

Getting closer! Exciting!