Sunday, August 9, 2009

The bantam coop...remodel in progress








Our bantam coop got a fresh coat of paint, I believe Sprinkles of Summer is the color. It now matches our big coop and our house. The inside has only been partially repainted, it is hard to get too much done when they still want in to lay eggs and such. I moved the roost higher, hung the feeder, cut a piece of vinyl flooring to fit the floor, put a hasp and lock on the back doors, put hook and eyes on both sides of the egg door, and changed the egg door handle. I put the old egg door knob on the chicken door, like a door knob. There are a few more things I would like to do. I need to add a little strip of trim to the inside left back door to keep out drafts in winter, finish painting inside, glue down the vinyl floor piece I put in, and caulk the seam where the floor meets the walls, and add some vinyl flooring to the floor of the nest boxes, and a strip of trim to the front edge of the nest boxes. So, next weekend I will do those things.

The boys built a fancy run for me out of 1"x1" opening welded wire that is 33" tall, they used 1"x2" welded wire for the roof of the run approx 9 feet long by 4 ft wide, and 2"x3" coated welded wire for the floor. We are hoping this should be fairly predator proof. They cut a door in the run the size of the chicken door of the little coop, screwed screw eyes into the front of the coop in 6 places and ran long I bolts through the screw eyes to hold the run securely to the coop. They used J clips and put a gate in to cover the hole they cut for the chicken door, should we ever want to use the enclosure free standing. They also cut a bigger opening in one of the 9ft sides with wire cutters, carefully bending down every sharp wire with pliers. Then they cut another piece of wire and made a gate out of it, so the kids can very comfortably get in and out of the run to visit with the little bantams. That reminds me, I do need to get a few clips to hold those 2 gates shut, right now they are just wired closed.

Anyhow, we are having a lot of fun with this tiny pint sized coop, so hope you like our progress. I should have taken a before and after pic..

3 comments:

Bee Haven Bev said...

Baaaaawk, Baaaaaawk.....it's lovely!!

Ruth said...

I love it. What a great job. That would be great in my yard. You are becoming quite a coop pro.

Ruth

Lisa Brawner said...

hmm ? jess ? what ya doing with the bigger chicken feathers the birds lose? Not the tiny pin feathers .. But 2 inches or longer ones ? I would love to trade for some ..I can make you some pairs of earrings up or make ya necklace or such ..let me know :P