Day 77

Though all of the necessary changes to the wooden portions of the coop were ready, much work remained before we could transfer the flock to their permanent home. The door to the outside has been replaced. Old horse gates have been used to create a door into the coop. Old wood has been replaced. It was time to fortify the coop. 

It started with digging out the floor. We needed to dig down at least a foot or so since we planned on using a deep bedding system. Basically, if done properly, deep bedding allows for a full cleaning of the coop being less frequent than a more shallow layer of bedding. Even though the stall was only approximately 120 square feet, digging it out was quite the ordeal. Besides a ton of compacted dirt and decomposing floorboards, there was rock after rock after rock. Physically, coop preparation was quite the workout but every step taking longer than expected and being tougher than I anticipated took a mental toll as well.

Once the dirt was removed and somewhat leveled, it was time to put down a layer of hardware cloth. After many annoying scrapes from cutting and placing the shrapnel known as hardware cloth, I zip-tied the pieces together to keep them in place and yet another layer of protection from potential predators. If any unwanted guest was ever able to get into the coop. They deserved it. Add a layer of gravel shovel by shovel and there was finally light at the end of the tunnel.  An old scrap piece of linoleum flooring  on top of the gravel and we were ready to add bedding. The time to create this style of coop would hopefully pay off in less time down the line cleaning it once the girls moved in.

The next steps included using repurposed wood to add roosting bars and installing nesting boxes we required from a rummage sale just a few doors down.

The indoor portion of the coop was prepared but before we could bring the girls to their new home, we had to solidify an outdoor yard they could access.

This seemingly simple task ended up being anything but.