Chicken Coop: the renovation

BEFORE PHOTO: 

While cleaning up our lot for the new gardens, it hit me. This old storage building would make the PERFECT chicken coop. Why build one when we have this building already on our property?? Sure it needs work, but its much cheaper and BIGGER than I could have hoped for! 

So first we cleaned out all the random stuff we had stored in it........

I was so excited, I forgot to take before pics, but in this section was a layer of black plastic, covered in wood pallets and old bicycles. 

the inside all cleaned out. Now its time to wash it out! 

First we layed down Tyvek to protect the floor, and block drafts.

 Next it was time to frame in the opening 

 One of the great things about living in the country is all the things our kids get to do and learn. Seth has done an awesome job building the coop with his dad teaching him :)

Such a sweet smile :) He really enjoys building things, and he's very good at it!

now it's time to build a door

Next my hubby built a roost on one side of the room

while waiting on a tire to be fixed, I looked over and saw these oil drip pans. I thought they would make an excellent tray to put under the roosts to make cleaning easier. 

A perfect fit!! Now I don't have to try to get a shovel or rake under the roosts to clean it out. I can just slide out the pans :) 

 Next we replaced some of the metal roofing

Now its time for the chicken wire!

The front is all fenced in!

Whew! busy day! 

On day two, we painted the inside. Much nicer! 

Lizard and I hung the lights!

After we let it air out, we added the straw hay and put in their nesting boxes. Aren't they cute! I saw them at wally world and thought they would work perfectly. They LOVE them! they all pile into one together at bedtime! lol

I will decorate the walls eventually.

the top shelf holds extra hay bales! 

The outdoor run. I still need to paint out here. 

Then the fun part! We got to move the chickens in! They are SO HAPPY! they love flying around, exploring everywhere. hopping up and down the roosts. With there only being 6 of them they have PLENTY of room to stretch out. They look so small !

Lizard and I built them a ramp. Sometimes they use it, sometimes they launch themselves from the doorway :) 

A new place means a new pecking order. They have been challenging each other to see who's gonna "rule the roost" :) 

Chickens are VERY curious creatures! Here they are supervising the addition of the ramp. 

Lizard loves to come out and sit everyday and visit :) 

I thought it was pretty funny how they paired up in this picture ;) 

This is Lizard's favorite chicken. Our rhode island red, "Nugget". She hand picked her, named her, and nugget loves to be held by her. :) Best Friends Forever :)