Hoten Holler!

25 April 2017 – Snowing and high in the low 30’s

The last three days, Dave and I have been busy building a mobile chicken coop. Our intention was to make a simple and economical home for the future Hoten Holler Hens, but several trips to the hardware store and 3 days later, we still aren’t completely done. We are really close, all we have to do is put on the tin roof and the wire, and dress it up with some left-­­­over siding from the house. Oh….and just add chickens.

We started out with some plans we found on the internet and perused our scrap pile for the materials we could use.

Then on a trip to Rapid, we picked up the foundation 4×4’s and other materials we were lacking. We started with the foundation and the frame.

Only wasted a few boards!

4×4 sled for base

Framing up the coop

Then we built the house.

Reef putting on back of hen house

Back of chicken coop – opens to nesting boxes

Back door open

Shelf for nesting boxes

Front door open

Nesting boxes inside the coop

Then the ramp.

Then the door.

Then we put wheels on the back so we can tow it around. This will allow the chickens access to different parts of the yard, and allow them to also fertilize patches of ground at a time.

We hooked up the coop to the truck to pull it out of the garage and were thankful we cleared the garage door!

Note to self: ensure all building projects commenced inside will fit out the door.

We pulled the tractor to the north side of the house where we will put on the finishing touches. In the meantime, hopefully no random critters will try to move in.

The last three days have been beautiful here. We were working in short sleeves in the garage and enjoying the summer-like temperatures. We are not working on the coop today because it is snowing! What a difference from yesterday!

While we have been primarily focused on the HUD (Hens Urban Development) project, Dave got to use Babe the Tractor to move a 1300lb hay bale into Cowboy Dave’s cattle feeder.

And Patsy the cow had a little bull, so we had to go visit the baby!

Today we are happy and warm inside the house in front of the wood burning stove. I am using it to cook up some poblano-pork chili for supper. Happy Tuesday from the Holler!