Palais de Poulet

For the most part the chickens new home is done. Actually, it's been done for almost two weeks, I'm only now getting around to finishing this post. It is now July 10th by the way.

I was able to complete Palais de Poulet during Renae and Felix's little trip to Ocean Shores. I finally figured how I would construct the door: Originally I was going to use 1x2's for the door, but the the remaining chicken wire I had was only two feet wide which would leave a little short in the width of the door. I was able to use 1x3 cedar that, after I cut to size, laid out flat on my driveway waterproof-gluing the joints and securing that joint with galvanized staples. After a couple of hours I set the door over an old shower curtain atop some bricks so I could prime two coats without getting the driveway. I then painted with some exterior house paint we had sitting in our garage for the past few years. The next day, to reinforce the joints, I attached some small galvanized straps, the chicken wire, and the hinges.
As that went so smoothly, and after realizing the coop may be too small, I decided to move the interior wall I had erected a couple of weeks prior back about 18 inches. I also thought it would be a good idea to cover the coop floor in vinyl tile instead of the bare plywood it was, and also to recess the nesting boxes into the interior wall to assure the chickens even more space. Last, I put up a few feet if roosting perches.

Since I finished, the chickens having been living in their new digs. The first couple of nights I found them huddled by the door. Both nights I moved them into the coop where they stayed. They don't seem to want to walk around if it's dark. The next night, and every night since, they all huddle into one of the nesting boxes. They won't be able to do that too much longer as they will be too big to all fit. They have yet to get up onto the perches. I wonder if the perches are too high for them.