Chicken Scratch: Week 20; Day 6... Part 2

Tearing down the old pen

And now, for a change in the chickens' accommodations, and lots of photos that have piled up over the weeks.

My son helping out with the tear-down

The pen we built worked out just fine, but it did create a few small issues; the worst being that the low 'roof' made it impossible for anyone to go into the pen without creeping along, crouched as low as possible. I've also been sketching out the plans for their coop come spring, when we re-make the garage to accommodate them. I was planning on scavenging dog kennel panels to build the pen come spring; this will make it so that we can easily move it if we choose, and even better: regular-sized people will actually be able to enter the pen.

The kennel in place, just waiting for the coop to be moved.

I realized a couple of weeks ago that our neighbor had an unused dog kennel, so we asked to borrow it long-term (and perhaps buy it from them). It took some work to get it across the street, but with the use of the lawn tractor, my gardening wagon, a length of hose, and a half-hour, we got it done. The kids and I cleaned up the area along the garage, moved the coop, and arranged the kennel around it. I gradually added chicken-wire around the bottom half of the kennel, to provide a little added protection against predators (although I acknowledge that it wouldn't stop those that can climb), and so far, the girls love it.

And all set up

The new pen is at least twice as big as the old one, and the girls love having more room to roam around. Being up against the north side of the garage, they can find good shade no matter what time of day it is, and at least for summer, they can get plenty of sun as well. Whenever I go out to the yard, they rush to the door, hoping that I'll open the gate and let them wander.

They seem to have developed a fascination with the area under the deck. For the most part, it's not a problem -- there are plenty of weeds that keep popping up under there, and the chickens love tearing them out. But we also have to watch them a bit closely. The deck used to accommodate a hot-tub, and the 'pad' is still underneath. The chickens have taken to tearing at it, trying to rip it apart, and I don't know if they could hurt themselves on it or not, so better safe than sorry.