Rebuilding the Coop

I recently joined the local 4H club and joined the poultry club to learn some more on how to take care of them and how to show chickens. You didn't have to get a chicken for the club, however I wanted to. We didn't have enough room for a seventh chicken, but we had a 'plan'.

The fig tree had lived a long life and was intruding on the other nearby plants. My dad and brother cut it down and took out the stump. My dad flattened out the dirt and moved the coop onto the sidewalk. He took the chicken wire out of the frame, mainly because it was the wrong wire. A raccoon could easily slip his grubby little fingers in and pull a chicken through the wire. We are going with a mesh wire, too small for coon fingers. I think my dad is also gutting the coop and changing where the bars and nesting boxes are so the chickens don't hit their wings on the roof when they jump up. They break their feathers very often doing this, and jumping down hurts their feet. Progress is being made quickly, and I hope we can finish the project before Winter break is over.

We will push the coop itself to where the fig tree was and expand the run all the way to the fence and coop. This will double the size of what we have. The little coop will stay where it is, however, just in case the new chicken(s) are not bullied by our veterans. I want my show chicken(s) to be as little ratty-looking as possible.

Where the fig tree used to be.

A lot of turned up dirt and bugs.

The coop without it's bottom.

Betty got stranded in the box while my dad changed the coop door.

Lots of painting and priming.

The original run repainted.