What goes into building a Hen House you ask?

We are taking great care with this Hen House, as we have built a few. Every predator loves chicken and chickens are pretty spendy now a days, so it is worth it to make sure they are safe as possible.

In the above photo, I had DH staple heavy duty 12/" by 1/2" hardware cloth over the windows. The window screen and window still works. But nothing can chew through this stuff, so it will allow us to keep the windows open on the very hot nights we have at the new place.

DH put a small kick board in, so if we have the main door open for some reason, or if for some reason the chickens kick the shavings over to the door during the night, we won't end up with a large amount of shavings out the door.

The chickens will have their own sized, locking Door soon.

  The Hen House yard we used heavy duty 2" by 4" wire.
 Then to keep predators from digging under the fence, we used 1/2" by 1/2" heavy duty hardware cloth, folded in half, part placed on the fence and part placed on the ground. Then gravel over the part on the ground.
Some folks dig down along their fence to do this, and then put the dirt back on, but we found the way we did it above, a lot less work.
Had DS wire it to the main fence to make sure it stayed secure.

The only chicken wire we used, was inside the Hen House yard and around the shed to keep the chickens from going under there, so they don't have to go into their Hen House at night.
I won't recommend chicken wire any where else, as many predators can chew through it.

DH's home made gate, nice and sturdy.

Roosts inside the Hen House.

Along the bottom of the Hen House, that is outside the Hen House yard.. we again used 1/2" by 1/2" hardware cloth, folded just like on the back side of the Fencing, to keep the predators out.

We have a couple more things to do before everything is buttoned up like we want.
Here you see that we have the 1/2" by 1/2" hardware cloth folded, but we still have to put the gravel on it.
I will also be putting up some Hot Wire around the top and bottom. Should be getting this done before the chicks are fully feathered out and in the yard.

There is also a good chance we will be putting netting over the top of the run, to keep the birds of prey off them.

Know it seems like a lot to do, just, for a Hen House, but being able to sleep through the night without worry, is priceless!

Update on the Chicks ~ and news...

We have the chicks running in the whole hen house now and they love all the extra room.
Because of the heat, most days they do not need their heat lamp on.

 They are feathering out quite nicely. The two surviving RIR chicks are doing well too, Thank goodness. If you look to the far right of the above photo and third chick in is one of the RIR's.
Others are the Easter Eggers and production breeds I bought from Tractor Supply.

This shot, shows how tiny they still are.

Counting the days until they are fully feathered out and old enough to start eating bugs!

Other news...

The Fruit Orchard is doing very well, and with some of the trees, we should have some fruit in a couple of years.

Had a neighbor kindly offer to till me a garden patch.....
And seriously thinking about a small kitchen garden, as I really want my own, fresh organic food but I am pretty much at my limit for now, with things that need to get done around the place. That and how hot it gets here in the summer.
 Rather torn with this decision, but I think I am going to have to pass this year.
Now next year is another matter.

Would like to have us produce most of our Veggies, Fruit and Eggs by end of next summer.

I might get a whiskey barrel and do a small herb garden for now.
 If DH gets some time, would like two raised beds for perennial veggies near the house, like Artichokes and Asparagus.

A number of the larger oak trees are dying due to bugs and they will need to be taken down before next winter. Other wise we chance them falling on the fencing.

We have a skunk that managed to get in around the house but doesn't want to go back out, due to the hot wire.  It is living under the hay shed for now. Will try to leave the gate open tonight and see if it leaves on its own... I hope it does......

That is it for now...

Caspian the Lamb ~

The Lambs are growing up and doing very well with their halter training. Caspian has the most soft coat, I have ever felt.

Just had to show his really neat looking striped hooves. Art in nature!

Chicks arrived and it wasn't good ~

The Blue lace Red Wyndottes and RIR's we have been waiting months for arrived on the 6th. All the Wyndottes and all but 4 of the RIR's were dead. Dead as in, dead for at least a day from the look and smell of them. Of the 4 RIR's two weren't looking very healthy,  lost one a few hours later and this morning, we lost another of that lot.
Of all the years I have been ordering chicks I have never had this happen.  Needless to say we were a bit upset.


So I went to Tractor Supply and bought some of the production chicks they have, Golden Comets and Easter Eggers. They are not the breeds I want but we really need something to eat ticks around the house.
They are doing well and feathering out nicely.


I have re ordered the chickens I wanted, and they will arrive the last week of Aug. 
If this the Postal Service messes up this badly again, I will know there is someone in their employ, about a day away from here, that doesn't like chickens or is just plain cruel.  There is no excuse they can give me... for why this happened.

On a happier note, Nari enjoying the morning...

Sheep on a Spring day

 He's been fleeced! Here is the photo I promised to show you. Yesterday I sheared Apollo, or tried too. Just used my Lister Lasers with the medium blades, as I did not want to take a 
chance of cutting him. Needless to say with his size at 250lb's and how much he wiggled, 
didn't
quite get all of him sheared. LOL At least he is cooler. Good for some comic relief!

 Caspian is doing very well. They are now in the horse pasture, until they grow large enough to put in with Apollo.
Their halter training is coming right along and they really enjoy going for walks and being itched.

This is Charming....  he is a little more stand-offish than Caspian but he is coming around.

Charming and Caspian ~

                         
  Meet the two new wether's being tamed down, halter trained and will be future buddies to Apollo.
Only place I had to keep them, is in the Hen House, but they should be tamed out before the chicks arrive.


   Will not be putting them in with Apollo until they are close to Apollo's size. 


 They are a little younger than I wanted but being in an area with very few sheep..... 
 Both two months old, the black and white one, Caspian, is 50lbs already! He is half Dorper and the other half is St Croix/Katahdin. 
The white one I call Charming, is Katahdin. He is soo cute, when he doesn't want people near, he stomps his little hoof at me. LOL  If I don't go away, he hides in the corner.


Halter training is well on the way and they are doing great.

Fencing the front of the Farm~

DH Can get DS to use the tractor.... LOL

New fencing going up on the front side of the property. Is the normal Woven field fence we normally put up, is just a little less spendy than the cattle panels. However it does take a lot more work. 
I hope to have this area fenced in by Fall and have a few sheep running in it. 
Then next spring we will get it set up as a hay field. Another, "I hope", anyway.