Stuff has gotten expensive.

Made a Home Depot run today, for constructiony stuff.

Modest bunch of 1x2s, a few 1x6es, a little bucket of indoor/outdoor screws, a few pieces of 1" steel pipe and twice as many flanges to match: $$$many$$$.

(The revised and simplified henhouse concept involves steel-pipe legs bolted to the bottom of the house and to concrete pavers.  The flanges turn out to be expensive, and at two per leg, that multiplies out in a hurry.  Still cheaper than hiring a sculptor to create a pair of R. Crumb legs.)

I didn't buy any plywood; still considering whether I'm really going to insulate and maybe even air-condition the box, in which case some sort of interior material will be needed to prevent pecking on the insulation.  Even the cheapest 1/4" plywood is dang pricey!

Oh, and I forgot to get 1/4" hardware cloth for a vent.  Maybe, though, a prefab crawl-space vent thingy would make life easier.

Also forgot to do after dinner: a couple of trees bordering the chicken-and-sunflower strip need pruning.  Another thing to deal with Real Soon Now.

I did get around to checking the chicken-wire door/gate thing that was left in the barn by the previous owners.  It's 69" high by a bit under 40" wide... probably 1m wide once it's tightened back up; it appears that various nails have backed out.  Should integrate just fine into a 6' high fence.

Oh, yes.  Gonna need dowels, for perches and stuff.  Also, maybe a store-boughten set of nest boxes.

Comments

[Rob]

I kept chickens in Minnesota (by Bemidji) year round, no insulation. Just good ventilation, no drafts and deep litter. I had power to chicken house for the water fount heater and a light bulb inside.
Chickens are tough, the birds did well through the winters.