renovating the chickens' home (already)

Turned out the ladder I made for the chickens' new home was too steep. Well, even if it wasn't, they refused to use the perch. I'd sneak in every night and grab them and put them on it. The hen would stay but the rooster would just jump off and sleep in the corner on the bottom of the box.

I wondered whether it was the width of the branch that the rooster had an issue with. Maybe something wider would make it easier for him?

Someone in a FB poultry group suggested the box was too open, they needed more protection from the weather.... So, I revisited the whole thing.

This is what it looks like now:

First, I removed the trellis door and cut it down, cutting out a section to make a small door for the hen to get in to the nesting box.

I replaced the branch perch with a piece of timber, sanding the edges off so there were no sharp bits to hurt feet.

I used a large piece of plywood to make the upper door and cut a door into it as an entrance.

Lastly, I used a long piece of barn wood as a ramp. I used offcuts to make little steps on it to make climbing easier. I added a hook to the back of the ramp to hold it securely to the door, and hinged on a walkway leading to the perch.

I mean, what more can I do?

I even sprinkled feed on the ramp to encourage them to explore.

They're totally ignoring it. They prefer to sleep on the bottom in the corner.

I mean, does it matter? No. They're safe in their little yard either way, but what ungrateful little sods! I worked my fingers to the bone for this new improved housing and they prefer to roost on the floor!

Sheesh.

I hope the other chickens are more appreciative of my efforts when I redecorate their pen!

z

the new chicken box

What do you call it? A roost? A home? A box? I have no idea. But I've made our segregated couple a new home. These two live in Stalag 13 - a dog run converted to a chook pen.

Why are they segregated you may ask. Well, basically the rooster needed to be put in a safe place or his son was going to kill him. Then I couldn't leave him lonely, so I got him a hen from the feed store. I didn't want to pen one of our free range hens as I thought it'd be cruel to cage a girl who's known freedom. This little girl was born and bred in cages so I figure that she's happy not having to share her space with a lot of other girls.

So here are the steps to making this wonderful creation. In case you were wondering. If not just skip this post.

Believe it or not, I started by making a nesting box. I was dreaming of the day I'd open a lid and reach in to a clean poop-free box and remove fresh, clean eggs, without having to get down on creaky knees and grope through chicken droppings to get them.

Here is my box. I'm so proud. Don't ask me for a tutorial on this. You really don't want to make anything the way I do... But let me just say I only cut one piece of timber wrong! Honestly. That's a new one for me. Especially working on angles ..I failed geometry. And the teacher was right... I did need it...

NOTE: This nesting box and roost is made up entirely of offcuts of wood I had in my workshop.

Let me try to walk you through it, I cut a base the size I thought the hen would appreciate. Then I put a front and a back on it, the front high enough to hold in bedding, the back high enough to give the hen head space. Since I really suck at putting sides on things I used brackets to put the back on. I'm a cheat. I'm comfortable with that.

To make the sloping sides, I held a piece of plywood up and kind of drew where I thought the sides would meet the back and front. Then I used a ruler to draw a line between them and cut along those lines. Once I was happy with side #1, I traced it onto another piece of plywood and cut that too. I used screws to join them together. 

I added a piece of pine to the top and to the front for the lid to swing off. This is how the box was looking at that stage.

I used some offcut pieces of cedar cladding for the roof. I had to add a thin strip of pine at the top in order to hold the screws. Turns out cedar is really soft and breaks easy. Who knew?

Result, a stylish nesting box. I hope the hen is pleased. I gave it couple of coats of the same self priming exterior paint that I used on the house, except for the roof which I simply gave a coat of polyurethane. 

So there I was, nice nesting box, nowhere to put it. I was trying to think of how to make a home for the chickens in Stalag 13 when I had a revelation. In the middle of the night of course. Lying in bed, not able to sleep cause of nesting boxes and angles going through my mind, when suddenly it was KAPOW.

The wood box!

We've been using this as our wood box for the last 7 years. I think it may have been a feed bin in a previous life. I'd given it a coat of paint and Wayne cut half the front out so we could reach in for our wood and put it on the back porch. We used to keep the smaller, kindling type of wood in there. But we now have air conditioning. And a broken wood heater... so... we don't need the wood box! 

In my sleep deprived state I knew it was the answer to my prayers. I didn't have to make a home from scratch!

First step, I took the front off. I had planned to just turn it upside down, leaving the opening on the bottom. 

Then I thought, why leave the 'wings' at the bottom? I cut it straight across and down the middle, creating doors. Which I had all kinds of trouble hanging on my own. Those suckers were heavy and its hard to hold the drill, screws, hinges and doors all at the same time. The lost screws under the deck are proof of that.

Plus, I was thinking it might be too enclosed. So I took them off again.

Meanwhile inside the box I put in a long branch as a roost. I sure hope its thick enough... I did this by drilling out two large holes with the hole saw (yes, I own a set of those!), pushing the branch through and then putting a screw through to hold it in place. You don't want it spinning when the chickens get on it!

I also cut a hole out for the nesting box and attached it to the outside with screws. I admit, I googled how to make nesting boxes and chicken homes. The nesting box has to be lower than the roost or the hens will sleep in the nesting boxes. Since chickens poop in their sleep, if they roost in the nesting box, they'll poop in the nesting box. YUCK.

Now I was thinking, can they get up onto the roost? Is the box too small? Is the roost too high? I have no idea.

So to be safe, I made a little ladder. A friend thinks its too steep. Maybe it is. I'm hoping they'll use it. They've been living on the ground for so long...

Oh, and I added more cedar to the roof to make it match. Looking good!

Since the outside of the box had already been painted, I just gave it one coat of house paint to freshen it up. Then I decided the inside needed painting too.

In the end I decided to use a piece of trellis I found and make a single door. A bit of privacy, and more air circulation. Remember, these chickens have been sleeping in an old dog kennel till now. This has got to be a step up in the world!

Here is the other side. Pretty plain huh? I thought a little porch would look nice, balance it out, you know. I'm all about curb appeal. 

I used some brackets and some timber wedges to achieve an angle, added more cladding and voila! An undercover area for eating.

Ok, the reason behind the porch is that I had planned on demolishing the dog kennel. I hated that thing, it was stinky and hard to clean out. And I was over reaching into it for eggs.

Well, when I started pulling it apart I had another idea. I pulled off the cladding on 2 sides, making it into a kind of summer house. How many chooks have a summer house? huh?

Its actually a great place for the food dish too. You can see the hen is having a peck at the shell grit while the rooster is having a snack of grain under the porch.

I didn't think I was going to be able to get the new home into Stalag 13 till next week as there was no way I could move that thing off the porch on my own. However a nice man gave me a hand today and its done! I'm not above playing the weak female card. 

I cleaned out old bedding and put down some new stuff, put some hay in the bottom of their new roost and in the nesting box, and here they are...

Stalag 13 has never looked so good!

I'm so pleased. I love the new look. Now, if they would only use the roost...

Next job - the chicken coop. Ugh. Don't remind me.

z

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birds not so welcome

Its summer. We have a house with all sorts of nooks and crannies which birds find perfect for raising their young. Every spring and summer our roof is full of bird families being raised. 

Its not as nice as it sounds. Our deck and everything on it gets covered in bird poop, there is constant rustling in the roof and the birds nests are a fire hazard and attract rodents. Yuck.

This is one example of the easiest to reach spots. The light fittings on the back porch. Pretty huh?

Here are three of the many nests I removed from above these lights this spring. 

I actually had to remove them every couple of days. It took weeks for the birds who were nesting there to get tired of rebuilding and go elsewhere.

The story was not without casualties. One of the nests had two eggs in it.

Pretty little speckled blue eggs. And one of them broke when I pulled out the nest. sigh. Barney helped clean it up. He likes eggs.

I love the bird songs and I love watching them hop around the place. We have swallows and sparrows and blackbirds and many spotted pardalotes and my favourite, wrens.

I do not love the bird poop or the rustling overhead or the fact that they're a fire hazard.

Better go patrol the lights again. Its been a week of quiet on that front and I bet someone else has moved in.

z

where we're at

Literally or philosophically? Maybe a bit of both!

Whatever.

Either way, I thought it was time to catch you up on stuff around here.

Everyone is well - dogs, horses, geese, ducks, chickens... us. Although one chicken is looking half plucked. Its autumn... I know they go through a molting phase, but she's a step above being in a roasting pan by the looks of her.

Meanwhile, we're down one rooster. We did have two - one was a home bred boy. He's disappeared. Either he was run off by his dad or he met a sticky end. I haven't found any evidence to suggest which.

Without rain there's no grass so we've been hard feeding the horses a few months now. There's no hay to be found anywhere and, if you can find it, it costs more than gold.

Here's Waldo, sharing his breakfast with the chickens. I give Wally a wide berth... after the time he bit me I'm very wary of his teeth.

Dancer, on the other hand, is a real smoocher. We love that girl! 

We have a new female goose. She arrived one day and paired up with one of the boys. That now makes us the proud owners of 3 couples. I really am afraid of what will happen when they decide to have more babies. We got lucky last year. One of the girls lay 20 or so eggs but didn't sit on them long enough to hatch them.

Next year when they lay eggs I think I'll skulk around stealing them!

Our dam has never been so low. Its spring fed and it's always been full. This summer its more mud puddle than dam. I think we either stuffed up the spring when we had it dug out or the spring has dried up. The dam never seemed to bounce back from being dug out, the water has been like brown soup since... then again, with the lack of rain around here, maybe the spring has just packed it in.

If the situation doesn't improve I think the geese might move out. Not sure if that'll make me sad or glad. I love them, but they're pretty deadly on any plants I try to get growing where they can reach.

I mean the horses are bad enough, but now I had to rethink all the fencing. Not just tall and strong for the horses, also shorter and closer for the geese!

Wayne built a cute bonfire pile in the middle paddock. Won't be long now and he'll be out there roasting marshmallows. If he liked them. And if people actually roasted marshmallows in Australia.

It looks like a forest fairy home, complete with a door. I suggested we could do a rain dance one night under a full moon. The neighbours would enjoy that.

Providing we keep our clothes on.

Meanwhile, Wayne and I are doing a regular radio show at our local community radio station. It was my idea, I have a ton of cds and some vinyl from my rockabilly/rock'n'roll days and I thought it'd be a great opportunity to listen to and share my music. So far we're really enjoying it.

Turns out Wayne is a closet radio announcer! Who knew? He's a natural.

You can stream it online if you're out of range, so look us up - TYGA FM 98.9 - 12-2pm on Sundays.

Other than that, I think I may have mentioned I've lost my mojo in terms of creativity lately. I just don't have the motivation. Or energy. Or desire.

My get up and go has got up and gone.

One of the only things I dragged myself out to do last weekend was put up three old mirrors in the mud room. We now have someplace to check ourselves before we walk out the door. Surely that's a good thing.

When I feel flat like this I have to remember - we've done so much to this place since we moved in. All I have to do is look at the old photos to appreciate that.

And darn... I have to remove the Xmas bow from the front door.

I told you I've been 'off' lately.

Sometimes its ok to just watch TV, read books and rest. Its ok to do nothing for a while.

At least that's what I tell myself. I'm almost convinced.

z

poodle playdate

Today was a busy day. And a fun day. Our friends Mary and Zephyr came over for a visit (and grooming session). Usually when Zephyr comes over to play we all go out for a walk in the top paddock which has the best view on our property. Then, once the poodles are nice and dirty, we go back and they all get a groom.

Its actually quite handy, cause by the time Zeph is ready for a groom so are Montana and Romeo. Mary comes up and together we groom all three poodles in a production line kind of arrangement. That way they're all clean at the same time.

I love clean poodles.

And the weather wasn't too bad either. Overcast but not really cold, and the forecast rain didn't turn up either. Good weather for playing with crazy dogs.

Its been pretty cold lately, often below zero overnight and lots of frost in the morning.

The garden is struggling a bit with all the frost lately and I'm already sick of drying our clothes in the living room in front of the heater. I can't wait for more sun and longer days...

I'm now working 5 days a week at my 'day job' which means less time for playing at home. I have no idea how I managed to work full time, 5 days a week, for so many years and still managed to get things done!

z

who let the dogs out?

To look at them you wouldn't think butter would melt in their mouths. They're so pretty, so cuddly, so loving.

You'd never guess that lion hearts nest inside their curly chests.

Many's the time I've come home to find dead chickens, birds or ducks in the yard. Or occasionally woken up to the unpleasant task of burying a wallaby or possum.

I'm not proud to say that the carnage count includes rats, mice, a goose and even a bandicoot.

While we try to keep our yard critter safe (poodles in - critters out) we sometimes fail. And you can be sure the poodles are there to rub that failure in our faces every time.

This is one aspect of larger dogs with a high prey drive that I dislike. I know its natural - they hunt. Its what they do. I have to accept it, I don't have to like it. Especially when I'm the one finding and disposing of the bodies like an accomplice after the fact.

Neighbours see me out in the paddock with a shovel, looking furtively over my shoulder as I dispose of the evidence, and they worry if they need to be concerned for Wayne.

At least toy poodles didn't have a chance of bringing down larger prey... a small bird, a mouse, a skink. But with standards the hole you have to dig is much bigger.

Up till recently, all bodies retrieved were intact. No blood, less evidence.

At least, I'd tell myself, they're neat killers - one grab around the neck, a good shake and its curtains for the critter who had the misfortune to step inside our yard. No mess.

Very befitting a poodle.

Just the thing to be grateful for: intact corpses.

Except for one memorable occasion when I came home with a friend to find Romeo parading round the yard with a duck head in his mouth. The rest of the duck was still intact though... just minus the head...

Way to impress visitors.

So, you can imagine how disgusting it was to wake up on Sunday morning and find what looked, at first appearance, to be an intact dead pademelon, only to find its guts lying next to it. Outside its body. In a neat little bundle. Barely a mark on it. Like someone had carefully opened a birthday present.

Yup.

Disgusting.

Then, this morning, I woke up to find a single feather and some guts on the footpath.

Great.

I might be good at identifying animals, but even my abilities were stretched to identify this one from the inside out.

I think it was a native hen.

I have no idea how it got in the yard. The poodles leave things alone out in the paddock, but anything that comes in their yard is, literally, dead meat.

sigh.

z

cleaning up or messing up?

You know how I started cleaning out the casita?

Well, the job has defeated me.

Or at least, its giving my confidence a good thrashing...

I started out with a mess and I thought I was making some progress. Instead I now have a bigger mess in more rooms than I had to start with.

Sigh.

I know that its always darkest before the dawn (or messier before its organised) but man... this is seriously harder than I thought. 

I thought I'd have it finished this weekend. Now I'm thinking it might be the middle of 2016 before I'm done.

Meanwhile, Romeo decided to do some of his own organising. He decided it was time to remodel the dog pillows.

And here is the proud Romeo with his handiwork.

He even decided to just take bites out of the foam on this  pillow. Just picturing him doing this makes me laugh.

I think he was just trying to lift my spirits. Cause of course, coming inside after digging myself out from under 107 cardboard boxes to find foam and stuffing all over the floor in the living room is just what I needed to lift my spirits!

At least he was determined, he had a goal and he worked hard to achieve it.

I should take a leaf out of his book (or stuffing out of his pillow) and keep going on my clean up and organising.

It will get better.

One day I'll finish.

Then I can start messing it up again.

z