Slowly Moving Forward..

I didn't do my research on plywood grades, and it turns out we had been using plywood that wasn't rated for exterior applications. Whoooops. Instead of tossing out our work, I decided to take a chance and caulked all the seams with silicone, then added three coats of latex primer. Liberally, as if you couldn't tell.

Turns out I'm an over-enthusiastic painter.


So we've got the coop primed, roofed, and a functioning nest box lid.

We're heading in the right direction! The colors will eventually match the shed- blue with white trim. We're using left over paint from both our recent interior and exterior paint jobs.

We also roofed the future chicken fortress. Our contractor had left a few shingles from our chimney removal, and we had exactly the right amount. Don't you love it when things work out? Free roof, for the win!

What's left:

Building a shutter for the window above the nest box
Painting (obviously)
Interior of the nest box
Interior wall around the nest box (reducing the effect of drafts from our nest box lid)
Trim, trim, and more trim.
Hanging up the doors.

So I'm guessing we'll be done sometime next week. Which is great, because we really need to get started on the run.

I hadn't had a conversation with my neighbors regarding these chickens. I was going to... but when I thought about it, I didn't want to give the impression that I'm in the market for unsolicited advice as to what we can and cannot do on our property.

So when our neighbors started asking about our weird structure, I was honest. We're getting chickens! And guess what? They both are really very excited about it. In fact, it was music to my ears... "Oh great, what am I going to tell my wife?? She wants chickens, and now she won't have an excuse not to get them!" Hah!

And the city chicken fever spreads onward!