Discovering the Great Outdoors

We moved our little flock of chickens from the brooder to a pen in the garage when they were four weeks old.  At eight weeks, we moved them into the hen house with an attached outdoor run.  They spent four weeks getting to know and love their new home.  At 12 weeks old, we felt they were large enough and well adjusted to their environment, and that's when we let the young ladies out to free-range for the first time. Enjoy the grand outdoors!


  
And there they go!


So much to enjoy!


Love that clover!


Uh, oh . . . they discover flower beds!


So tired out from that morning stroll!

They're free-rangers now! Lucky chicks.

    
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Pico de Gallo coming right up!

Bob's Pico de Gallo is awesome food!  This is our Texan friend's recipe.  It's a favorite of his family, and ours too!  Just take a look at these photo teases and see if you don't want to make some too!




Bob's Pico de Gallo Recipe

Dice and chop all of the following ingredients small:

8 medium to large Roma tomatoes
1 red or green bell pepper
5 sorrano peppers (seeds removed)
2 large jalapeno peppers (seeds removed)
3/4 C. sweet onioni
3 T. chopped cilantro

Mix all together, seasoning with liberal amounts of garlic powder and salt and, if desired, a squeeze of lime juice.  Serve with tortillo chips.


Antique Dresser turned Vanity

When my husband was a child, he kept his clothes in an old dresser that belonged to his great-aunt.  It had taken a beating, so when we got married and had children of our own, I stripped and re-stained it for my daughter to use in her bedroom.  It took another beating.  Years went by, and my daughter was married, but I hung onto the antique dresser.  I wasn't sure how or where I would use it, but I love antiques, and I really love turning trash into treasure.

Our bathroom was from the '70's era and since I wanted to renovate it to suit my country decorating style, I got the idea to convert the dresser into a vanity. I wasn't sure how my husband would feel about cutting a hole in the top of his great-aunt's old dresser, but it turned out that he loved the idea!  Our thinking was that we could stick the dresser in the basement and use it for storage, or we could put it to use in the bathroom where we could appreciate it every day. So the renovations began.

This is a photo of the old vanity that we removed.  Notice that the sink is a 70's blue, but the toilet had been replaced and was more like a 90's periwinkle.  It looked purple next to the sink.


When we pulled the old vanity out, we discovered that there was no tile on the floor or the wall where the vanity had been placed.  We went to a demolition salvage place, but we couldn't match the tiles.  I really liked the ones we had and didn't want to replace them.  There's always a solution!  We stained a piece of oak veneer to match the dresser and installed it on the floor, and we found some plain ivory wall tiles that matched in color (but not in texture) to the old ones.  They are mostly hidden by the new vanity, so we are the only ones who would ever notice the difference.


On to the dresser! I stripped and re-strained again, a repeat from 25 years earlier.  My husband cut a hole in the top using the template that came with the bathroom sink we had purchased. Ooh, was that scary!


Any time I have seen a dresser converted to a sink vanity, the top drawers are usually eliminated, and the drawer fronts are permanently attached as false drawers.  My husband had a very clever idea.  He removed the sides of the drawers toward the center and cut the bottoms of the drawer to fit around the oval shape of the sink bowl. He replaced the inner sides with strips of luan that he scored at 1/4" intervals using a table saw so that he could bend it to shape around the sink bowl.


He cut holes inside the bottom two drawers so that the plumbing fixtures could be fitted down through. Then he built center compartments around the holes so that the drawers would be more functional for storing toiletries and bathroom supplies.


This is a view looking down through the top of the dresser after the holes were cut in and the compartments were built. You can see the open spaces in bottom drawers for the plumbing and the curved sides of the top drawers.


We were so excited when we saw how nice the dresser looked with the porcelain sink and nickel fixtures in place.


This photo shows the two top drawers with their new curved sides that surround the sink bowl.  The drawers are still fully functional.


This photo shows the piece of oak veneer that was laid under the dresser to cover the floor where the tiles were missing after the vanity was removed.  We used flat trim to hide the edges of the board and the tiles. You really don't notice it when you walk into the room.  Even when you do see it, it doesn't look bad at all.


In this photo you can see the oak board on the floor and the replaced tiles in the corner.  They are shinier than the old tiles, but the color matches almost exactly.  Because it's low and in a corner, you never even notice the difference.  It just goes to show that things don't always have to be perfect but can still look very nice.


Here are some before and after photos of the make-over.

Before - the 70's sink and vanity
We replaced the pendant lights and added a wall shelf just above the vanity.  We cut the long wall mirror into smaller pieces and used them in some wooden frames and medicine cabinet that we made from some scrap wood and painted with a distressed finish. We love the way it all turned out!

After - the vintage country look


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Building a Field Stone Sidewalk


They say that if you're in a hurry, a sidewalk ought to be smooth and level. But if you want to slow things down a bit, keep life simple and enjoy the view, a stone walkway can help you accomplish that!   Following is the tale of how we built our stone walkway with stones we found on our property.

During an excavation project, we collected the field stones that were uncovered on our property and set them aside, stacking them in piles of small, medium and large sizes until we were ready to build our sidewalk.  (While we were waiting for the excavation work to be complete, I had fun building a cairn with some of the stones.)


Our yard was already dug up from the excavation; if it had not been, we would have had to lift up the sod. As it was, we outlined the shape we wanted with rope and laid down landscape fabric to deter grass and weeds from growing.

We filled the area with limestone gravel, raked it, and started laying down the stones.  We used larger ones on the edges and scattered in the middle, then filled in between with medium and small stones.  It was like putting a puzzle together! (A puzzle without a picture to look at!)  The stones could be wiggled down into the gravel to form a more even top surface. After all the pieces were in place, we filled in between the gaps with pea gravel.


When finished, we planted grass seed around it and added some landscaping plants (sun-loving ones for our setting):  Blue Fescue, Shasta Daisies, Mums, Asters, and Coral Bells.

A stone sidewalk encourages one to slow down and look around, so add something pretty and interesting to pause and admire . . . like flowers, or chickens!



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Building a Paving Stone Sidewalk

If we could do it, you can too! Our front sidewalk is much longer than our back sidewalk, so we decided to use paving stones instead of field stones.  The paving stones gave us a smoother, more even surface.  We decided to extend it across the front of the porch and wrap it around the side.  (Later we removed the porch railing and ended up with a larger porch area.)

First we marked out the shape of the sidewalk with spray paint.  We removed the sod, laid down landscaping fabric, a layer of limestone gravel, and then a layer of sand.  That all has to be tamped down before you start laying down the paving stones. You can rent a tamper from many hardware stores.


We decided to curve the shape of our sidewalk leading from the porch to the driveway.  This design gave it a little more interest than a long straight sidewalk. We used boards to frame the straight part of the sidewalk in front of the porch and landscape edgers for the curved section.


The end result is a sidewalk that encourages you to slow down and take it easy.  Some landscape plants and a porch swing are additional encouragement for taking a break and relaxing. That's our goal--to make life simpler and more relaxed.







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Vintage Hen House Design

When we got our first flock of chickens, we knew virtually nothing about coop designs.  We spent a lot of time researching, reading, and gleaning what we thought were the most important features. After designing and building our hen house, we named it "Cluckingham Palace."

I wanted the hen house to have a vintage appearance as if it had been there for years. We intentionally built it right next to an existing tree so that the chickens would have some shade. We  laid some landscaping fabric and pea gravel around the house to make it easier to mow the grass around it. We planted climbing rose shrubs under the front and side windows. We're hoping they will do well and eventually grace the hen house with some beautiful blooms.


Our hen house is 6'x8'.  A friend of ours who owns an antique store donated the old doors and windows which really add to the vintage look. By hanging the windows with hinges "awning style," we can prop them open even when it's raining.


Good ventilation in the hen house is very important for circulating the air and releasing heat and moisture.  Chickens give off moisture from their respiration and droppings.  If the coop is not ventilated, this moisture can cause freezing conditions in the winter. The droppings can give off ammonia if the moisture begins to decompose it. Ventilation (usually screened openings) should be placed above roost level on opposite walls of the coop to provide cross-ventilation, allowing moisture to escape and fresh air to replace the old. The more chickens that are in the coop, the more ventilation you need.  We placed four ventilation openings (two each on front and back sides) cut into the underneath side of the overhangs and covered with screening material and register covers.  This house is not insulated and has no electricity (no heating), but stays comfortable year-round for the chickens because it has good ventilation but no drafty openings. The tree provides shade in the summer, and the four windows (one on each wall) provide some solar heat in the winter.



The perches where they roost at night are on the right side. Under the perches is a "poop pit." Chickens poop a lot when they are sleeping. 99% of their droppings will be under the perches. We surrounded it with 2"x4" welded fencing so they can't walk in it, but the droppings mostly fall through it.. You can see a half-door on the back wall behind the poop pit that is an access for cleaning it.



The rest of the hen house floor stays relatively clean. We use a thick layer of straw on the floor and replace it only twice a year. The perches are hinged to the back wall so we can lift them when we are cleaning out the hen house


  • Update:  I can't stress enough how effective the poop pit is for keeping the hen house clean.  No one likes to look at poop, but nevertheless, I added this photo taken several months later to show you proof of how the droppings are contained in the poop pit while the rest of the floor is clean.  Because the droppings are protected in the pit, they stay dry and there is no foul odor in the house.  It's only when the droppings get wet that they release the over-powering smell of ammonia. (Look how much the Chickie-Babes have grown!)





The feeder is sitting on top of a concrete block to raise it to a comfortable height for the chickens. It is secured to the ceiling with a chain. The combination of the chain and the block helps to keep it stable and in place. We drilled a hole in the bottom of a plastic coffee container and slipped the chain through it. Hanging something above the feeder keeps the chickens from jumping up on top of the feeder and pulling it down.


The back of the hen house has a half-door that opens so that we can periodically clean out the poop pit. We just rake it out into a wheel barrow and dump it onto a compost pile. Chicken manure is an excellent fertilizer, but you have to let it sit for a few months before using it or it will burn out your plants.

The poop pit is a wooden frame wrapped in 2"x4" chicken fencing with a loose board laying on the floor. We can slide out the floor and the framed fencing through the access door to give them a thorough cleaning. It is not attached to the perches.



This is the back of the hen house showing the half-door access to the poop pit. On the side of the house there is a hatch opening with a ramp that goes down into the attached outdoor run On the left side of the run you see a swinging gate where we can enter the run when necessary (albeit bent over).

The wooden box in the run has sand in it. The chickens eat this "grit" to help digest their food. They could also use this box of sand for their dust baths, but they prefer to dig a hole in the dirt instead. Chickens love to roll around in the dirt (dust bathe) which actually does clean them by getting rid of excess oils, fleas and mites.



This is a front view of the attached run. It wraps around the tree so they get the benefit of the shade. There is a perch for them in the front of the run. We also dragged a sturdy branch into the run that they love to climb on. We attached a small roof above the hatch opening to keep rain from going inside the house.


The nesting boxes are on the left side of the hen house, along with the water feeder. I made curtains out of old seed bags for the nesting boxes, because they do like their privacy when laying. I placed a golf ball in each nest to train the new flock where to lay their eggs.


This is an inside view of the hatch that leads out to the run. The hatch has a door that slides up and down and is attached by a rope to pulleys. I can just reach inside the front door and grab the rope to open or close the hatch door.


This little backyard flock enjoys their home, and we sure enjoy them!  Keeping a backyard flock is not hard once you get everything set up. It takes commitment to visiting them daily, replenishing their food and water and gathering the eggs. Because our chickens have regular access to the outdoors as free range chickens, and because of our "poop pit" and deep straw litter system, we only have to clean out the house every six months. We find the work to be minimal and the rewards to be huge: namely, fresh nutritional eggs and a friendly flock that entertains us.



More articles on keeping chickens.

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