These photos were taken with my BlackBerry and the ones that are blurry are because Speck was yanking on my arm. The BlackBerry really takes decent pictures.
It’s coming along and I am optimistic that the chickens will be in it before winter! Seriously, I hope they’ll be in it by mid-June. Some guy is coming over to do some work on the barn and house and he’s going to put the shingles on the roof. Pretty much everything else can be done pretty quickly, I think. The windows are in but still need chicken wire over them; the laying boxes need the door over them; the whole thing needs to be painted. According to Accuweather, our monsoon season may be over, though we could have a few thundershowers this weekend.
Vince is putting a solar panel on top for a light and hopefully it will run a heat light in the winter if needed. But, the solar panel isn’t necessary right away.
As much as I wanted chickens, if I’d had any idea how difficult it was going to be to get this darned coop built, I would never have asked for chickens.
The garden isn’t going to happen this year. I’ve given up hoping for that. Not the least of what didn’t happen is a fence. This is what’s all through the area where the garden would have been.
I surely wouldn’t mind having a big buck in my freezer but that isn’t going to happen either. The Amish store opens this weekend and I’ll have to get my veggies from them for another year and hope for a garden of my own in 2010.
Rhonda says
That’s a very nice chicken coop….your chichens-to-be will love it!!!
Vicky says
That’s a mighty fine coop! I think your chickens will be honored to call it home!
Marilyn says
That is going to be one nice home! Lucky birds! Vince is doing a great job. That is the trouble with working a day job..things take a bit longer!
What booth were you working at Market? I have read great things about market…and the MQS was wonderful. Choosing between those two shows is tough!
Huge hugs to you,
Marilyn
Billie says
The chicken coop looks great and you know you will still want to chickens anyway….grin. You waited to long for them.
Judy says
Great progress on the chicken condo. I’m sure the Amish store will be very happy to see you….the garden will happen sooner or later or not. 😉
My chicken condo (we call it that because of the cost) is finished for now, I just need to find some hens.
Evelyn says
That’s a fancy coop! I was just thinking – my Mom’s business (now my brother’s) – the office is actually a large chicken coop – been a fine office for about 50 years now! So – once that thing is finished – I am sure you will get YEARS of good use out of it!
Cheers! Evelyn
dawn says
Nice coop! Can I rent it out? LOL It will be around for years to come. Can I come over and paint it with quilt blocks? huh? huh?
Just remember, good things are worth waiting for. It will be the best darned coop in the world!
And who knows, maybe in the future the chickens will scare the deer out of the garden! I miss my garden (I am a displaced farmgal living in the city at a rented apt. would love to have ckickens and farm but can live my dream through you and your daily happenings. thanks for the memories)
Pat says
WOW….looks like a really nice place for the chickens! Sorry about the garden…I know you are disappointed, but at least you have the Amish store as a substitute….not the same as having your own but better than a supermarket produce department!
Julie says
The coop (sorry I mentioned it!) is looking great. I do hope the rains will return when it gets hotter. I dread the long, hot, dry days of summer where its weeks between rains, but rain every day is no fun either.
Where is this Amish market you refer to? We have a nice farmer’s market in Topeka, but a lot of the produce is from Mexico or Arkansas, not local. The farmer’s market in Lawrence though is really nice and everything at it is both local and organic.
Enjoy your time with Chad. Maybe now that he’s home, you’ll have use for all that ground beef you have!
JudyL says
The Amish store is just a ways past Rich Hill. Don’t ask me how to get there but if you want to know, I’ll get the directions from Vince for you. Yes, Chad is going camping this weekend and taking 4 – 1-1/2 pound packages of ground beef. I’m making a batch of “Speck food” today so that’s using another 1-1/2 pound pack and I have a pack thawing for grilled burgers tonight. That’s 6 packs out of the freezer in one day! It goes quickly once the summer gets here.
Julie says
Hi Judy, yes I’d love to have directions when ever Vince can share them. Thanks!
I’m also interested in “Speck Food”. Enjoy your burgers tonight!
Linda says
Looks like the chicken coop is coming along nicely, though not as fast as you wished. CJ at Tinkletimes had one delivered ready made & it looks a lot like yours.
My hubby reported deer tracks in the garden to. We have a strip of land north of us that has been allowed to grow up in Chinese Elms & every year there is a family of deer that hang out in there……….plus pheasants & wild turkeys. The deer nip off some sweet corn before it gets big enough they don’t like it any more but the major damage they do is when the bucks tear up the fruit trees with their antlers.
JudyL says
Our coop came from plans very similar to the one CJ ordered. We had checked into ordering one but they had a waiting list and we wanted our chickens NOW. Had I known how long it was going to take to get it built, I would have ordered it but 8 weeks ago, I thought I’d have my coop finished in just a day or two. Live and learn! The good thing though is that the cost of having Vince build it was about 1/3 the cost of buying one already built . . though a divorce is pretty darned expensive! 🙁
Mary Crowther says
Nice to see Chad in the pictures too. I knew he’d get into the act. The chicken palace is coming right along now, don’t give up hope… Glad you’re back…Have a great day. I’m still cutting for the multi-colored sashings on the bright stars project. you get more done than anyone I know. Bread and speck food and quilting and going to Market…quilting on your custimers quilts and yours. I’m tired just reading about it.
Karen L says
Well Judy………….it looks like you are testing the “chicken/egg theory”…….in your case its What came first……..the coop or the chickens?? When this is all over and you’re eating fresh eggs for breakfast, you’ll just have to remind Vince how worth while this whole project has been………..Next year when the gardens are all done………the fresh vege-omelet will taste wonderfully.
Karen L
dawn says
Wow the chicken coop looks really good. 🙂 Great job Vince!!
dawn
Sheryl says
Don (DH) loves your chicken coop. He says that’s a great design. Asked me if I wanted more chickens. Nope. He says the ones we used to have were Black Sexlinks…whatever that is. 😉 Your little gray one is kinda cute.
Deb S says
Love the chicken coop. And about the garden – why not try growing some of your veggies upsidedown? When we lived out in the country – we had deer – so I built a fence – it was over 6 foot high. They jumped it. I put fishing net around the polls so it would be over 8 foot high – they jumped that too. Course, then they couldn’t get back out because they didn’t have enough room in the garden to run fast enough. DH had to open the “door” I’d built and let them out. My rototiller has sat unused since then …
Anyway – I found a link on DIY where you can make your own planter that grows tomatoes upsidedown, and the herbs on top – how cool is that?
http://www.curbly.com/DIY-Maven/posts/1620-how-to-make-an-upside-down-tomato-planter
Mrs. Goodneedle says
PROGRESS!