Here come the girls

The girls arrive tomorrow.  The coop is almost ready.  Keith and I were on a roll a couple of weeks ago. We had our plan, materials list and tons of can-do.  After lots of reading, research on the web and discussions with everyone who had an opinion, we started. 

The first trip to the lumber yard went very smoothly, but notice I said "first."  We got a good start by finishing the floor that first day of building.  I was feeling very confident as a foreman.  The next day went just as well.  The front wall went up and the front wall was framed in with a door and window.  I actually got the math right!

Then we realized that the material list did not account for framing in more than a door, so back to the lumber yard.  Then I cut a board wrong, so back to the lumber yard again.  But it all came out fine, until I found out I needed advanced trigonometry to figure out the angles of the side walls.  That one "whoopsie"  threw it all out of square.  The walls were up, but none of the rafters fit right!  Ugh! 

Thanks to my brother, Joe, who came to our rescue, we actually got a roof on.  I didn't even want to look at another nail.   He and Keith got the roof on, felted and the shingles started just as a huge storm hit.  Keith and I holed up in the chicken house for half an hour while the worst of the storm came through.  Not a drip of water! 

So, now we have it moved into place and only a few finishing touches until we are ready for the girls to move in!  It isn't pretty yet, but chickens don't care if the siding is color coordinated.  I do, so it will be cute by the time it is finished.  We have a recycled door from an old farmhouse and great arched windows.  I think we will do board and batten siding.  American Gothic meets Foghorn Leghorn!

And I have to say that even with the little mistakes, I am proud of us.  Without any building experience, I think we did pretty good for our first try, and thanks to my brother's tips and tricks, the next project will go much smoother.

Tonight I dream of fresh eggs, little "ladies" gossiping under the apple tree, maybe some meat chickens next spring, and being that much closer to a self-sufficient life.