Part Two - The Old Homestead Coop (or G.W.'s Fear of Change Orders)

When we last left you, I'd expanded the scope of the coop renovation from replacing one wall to replacing three. There was at least some measure of logic behind my request. Since we were already doing the work, why not fix up the other sides now instead of just patching them? Then we won't have to come back in a few years to completely redo those walls. Makes sense, right?

That kind of logic briefs well. But when your work crew thinks they are about halfway done and you turn around and add three additional days of work to the project, you better offer up lots of good home cookin' to smooth the way!

Once the guys had the walls torn apart we could see the frame of the coop. It is made from hand hewn wood. How cool is that? 

This is a hand-cut notch in one of the corner posts.

Here, Richard points to the marks left from the felling axe, a tool used to hew wood.

This means the basic structure of the coop was built before there were power tools.  Could be as much as 100 years old. 

It took Richard and G.W. an entire week to renovate this coop and that was with the use of power tools. Can you imagine how long it must have taken to build the coop using only hand tools? I'll bet it took a good solid month.  

But meanwhile, back at the ranch...

I forgot to mention that the guys had rebuilt the gate into the coop yard. It's solid now!

Richard had a great idea for added weather protection for the treated plywood we used on the walls.

Painting the walls with this stuff will add years to the life of the coop!

It was my job to paint the outside walls with it. It's thick like tar but not that difficult to work with. The rough cut lumber siding will go on top of this.

The window and door will have decorative painting on them. For now, they're left unpainted.

The guys were hard at work rebuilding the side of the coop.

With absolutely nothing square or even close to square, they had their work cut out for them.

Then it was my turn to paint with the asphalt stuff.

On the back of the coop, the very bottom of the boards had rotted out.

Rather than try to trim that off, the guys covered the ragged edge with treated plywood that had been painted with the water proofing. 

Then I was up again to paint the wall.

The last task for the day was getting half of the new roof on.  We chose the roll roofing because it's cheaper than shingles and easier to work with. 

Colorado building code doesn't allow the use of rolled roofing on homes. (But it's fine for barns and chicken coops) Some people apparently were using it on houses  anyway, so now stores don't sell it. G.W. got three rolls of it while on a trip to Wyoming a few weeks ago.

Although we had storms roll through in the afternoon and had to knock off "early" (meaning before it got dark), the coop was coming right along!

I believe all three of us took Advil before bed that night!  This kind of work seems to get harder as we're getting older.

Before any of us were ready, the next day dawned and we were at it again.

The other side of the roof went on quickly. I'm proud to say that I was up there pounding nails right alongside the guys.

While G.W. went to the sawmill to pick up the slab wood, Richard and I worked on the gravity feed watering system and the feeders.

Oh, that's right...we changed our minds about using rough cut lumber for the siding and went with slab wood. Nice looking and very inexpensive! More on that in a minute.

I'll do a separate post about the construction of the waters and feeders. For now, let's just say they are very ingenious, will save lots of time and will prevent dirty water and wasted feed.

Here's Richard installing one of the feeders. The gravity fed watering system is on the left (Blue bucket, hose and PVC with poultry drinking nipples).

Another feeder...

...and the second watering system.

The box fan in the window is to help keep air moving through the coop. It's a heavy-duty, rain resistant one.

Again, storms blew in by mid-afternoon, so we had to knock of "early". But thus endeth the seventh day of the coop renovation. Unfortunately, we did not rest on the seventh day.

The next day was crunch time, since all of the chickens were going into the coop at 5PM. 

I worked on wrapping the outside of the coop walls with chicken wire to prevent any critters from digging in. I only had to do part of the outside, since there is a concrete footer along one and a half of the walls. No digging through or under that!

G.W. and Richard started on the siding. I think it looks fantastic! Very much in keeping with the other old barns on the property.

Should I send this photo to the people at DeWalt?

The guys got enough siding up to cover the one corner next to the coop yard fence. Then they could finish the fence.

Just in time too, since the chickens were ready to move in! Not only did I have my thirteen to relocate, I acquired eleven more hens from a neighbor who is moving to Canada. Now I have two flocks to integrate. In my next post, you'll meet the whole gang!