And now for something completely different

So there has been a number of posts following my hobby of wargaming, however there are other things that occupy my "free" time. About 18 months ago I (well the girlfriend and I) moved to a new house, and the rather important bit for us was that we managed to get a bit of land with it. Rather helpful as she has a horse, however it also means my inner tinkerer can build and make things with a good amount of room for manoeuvre! First up is to get a new coop and enclosure for my hens.

The original coop and enclosure, just after completion. There is much more greenery around now!

A little over a year ago I made a chicken coop out of free wood and some that I got for a very reasonable sum off a furniture maker on gumtree. Well a year on and I have realised that where I sited the coop and the area I enclosed for the hens protections is not ideal. The coop itself is alright but with the experience of the last year I can do better now, and make it a bit more hospitable, functional and easier to clean. That last bit really make a difference!

When it snows the enclosure gets carpeted and needs cleared before the hens will venture out.

I've worked out that there is a more suitable site, with more protection from the elements in particular the wind, but also the snow. When it snows up here the chooks have little inclination to leave the coop, understandable but not ideal when the food and water is all situated outside. I end up having to clear the area of snow and scatter some straw before they make their way out. Not ideal when I have to get to work of a morning! To counter this I've moved them into the stables over winter but ideally I'd like them to be able to stay in their home all year round. Hence the new project!

The view of what will be the new area, prior to the addition of my four-legged superstars!

 Step one was clearing a space - helpfully achieved by my two Tamworth pigs. This unearthed a lot of material that had been dumped from a previous outbuilding nearby. I spent a morning trawling through the area and picking out bits of string, plastic, glass and general rubbish that appeared. There are still a good amount of bricks and stone lying about but for now it will do. These stones and bricks will be used to help secure the new enclosure from any predators trying to dig their way in, and also in helping landscape the area a bit to make it all easily accessible to the hens.

My two tamworths start work on clearing the area.

There was a bit of a wall left from an old outbuilding, it seems to have been an old barn which was torn down before we got the place. This wall needs removed, and some of the blocks will be retained to create a foundation for the new chicken coop. The coop itself will be sited close to the existing stables, seen to the right in the pictures above, to start to provide a wind-sheltered area.

The view post-Tamworths.

 The piggies did a wonderful job, in fact they have unearthed a lot of stuff that was clearly dumped behind there by previous owners, remnants of the barn. The rubble sack is there to collect all the stuff I can find, I keep seeing more whenever I go past it.

In the picture above you can see where some horse bedding has been dumped. This is intentional to act as a compost pile which the chickens love to root through. The increased temperature seems to attract bugs, as well as the horse manure no doubt, this makes it an ideal way to occupy the chooks! It will also slowly fill in the natural dip in the land a little.

Well that is where I have got to so far. Next steps:

1) Keep scouring the area for any bits of rubbish that needs cleared (it's mainly small bits of glass that worry me, the rest is relatively benign)
2) Fix up the fence that borders the road (not really visible but essentially just in front of the big dead looking tree)
3) Put in some hedging by the fence line to act as a wind break and more cover.
4)Start building the actual coop!
5) Measure up enclosure and dig post holes and trenches between them
6) Deconstruct existing enclosure and coop to re-use the parts.

It goes on but those are the next bits that can sort of be worked on concurrently. A busy load of weekends up ahead!