The New Chook Corner

At last, it is done! (well, actually, almost done....!) But at least Emily, Lady and Ruby are finally in their new place, scratching around to their hearts content.

It was one of those jobs you would look at and think "hmmm, couple of hours work at the most....". Well, I can tell you it was waaaaaay more work than we thought, possibly due to our amateur building skills. (which is a teesy bit of a worry since we are planning on building our own home at some point!!!)

We used -

5 star pickets (mostly 2.4m) and post driver

9 metres of chicken wire

fence wire to tie to posts

asst nuts/bolts/screws

1 gate ($10 from ebay last year, I just KNEW it would be useful! It even matches our shed!)

We picked the 'best' site in our back yard, (which was mostly the corner that previously was a huge compost pile!) It is mostly shady, not much will grow there (certainly not veggies anyway) Also it has strong existing fencing on 2 sides and a shed on another.

So after a clear-up we only had to fence 1.5 m behind the shed, and 7.5 m across the front. I dug the bottom of the fence into the ground and 'splayed' it out a little to deter any 'diggers' from trying to get in. The gate needed different size hinges and fence was bolted onto the tin shed.

Sounds pretty simple? Well truly - it was like a comedy of errors. We could have been doing a scene from 'Thank God You're Here'.

There were many cringe-worthy moments, but the highlight would have to be when we finally finished, late Sunday, the gate posts finally straight and the gate hung, and then hubby said ..............

"So, do you think the ark will actually FIT in through the gateway?"

AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!! *$##!!!#$^*^&^^$!!~~## !!!!!

What a couple of dopes. I still can't believe we built it without putting the ark inside first. Lesson learnt.

We had to take out the end section which involved about 12 'u' nails through the fence, and re-do it. It was actually dark when we finished.

Anyhoo, the chooks now have a lovely corner with thick straw carpet, and their house on the INSIDE.

There are 6 small trees inside the enclosure which are giving lovely dappled sunlight most of the day, and when the Japanese maples grow back in Spring, the area will be fully shaded for the heat of summer.

I need to fix a small square of fencing to the top of the gate, (just in case they decide to learn to fly properly) and a lock on the outside of the gate. Also I want to put a couple of low horizontal tree branches in for them to roost. (like a chooky-gym!)

Looking at it positively, I learnt a few lessons, gained a few new skills, and now have happy chooks and dog. The area is much bigger than needed for 3 chooks, but we are considering getting some chicks in the Spring so the extra space will be appreciated.

Now, I just need to regenerate the rest of the garden that has become a moonscape....!