Getting Ready for the Ladies

First, cut an enormous hole in the back of your garage.

Prop open the hole and create a big box insert (on an angle to muck the chicken shite from).

Long piano hinge for the top of big door ($8.42-Lowe's).

The box coming together.

Nesting box and two roosts.

Yesterday, G worked on the chicken coop. Using the back corner of our garage, he cleared a space and cut a big door in the back wall. This huge door hinges open to clean out the coop when necessary. We will be putting in a smaller hen door with a ramp for everyday use of letting the ladies in and out. The inside of the box will get a few coats of weather sealant with plenty of time to air before we bring the hens home. The chicken run itself will run most of the length of the garage, about 20 feet by 4-5 feet wide. We will be able to access the nesting box from inside the garage with another lifting door/hatch (sort of visible in the fourth picture).
So far, we have been fortunate enough to get a lot of scrap wood from my brother. We bought the piano hinge, chicken wire ($60), and posts ($18). The weather sealant we inherited a few years back when G's dad passed away. So all in all, an inexpensive project.
We can pick up the hens whenever we are ready. Good stuff.

G also made 3 wooden teepees for our pole beans. I usually plant bush beans, but after reading so many gardening books and seed catalogs that told me I was eating inferior beans, I decided to try pole beans this year. The bottom of the teepees are visible in the second picture. I'm excited to see those grow. They make really bright, pretty flowers and will look nice contrasted with the insane hops growing behind them.

Yesterday my Girl Scout co-conspirator and I took the girls on their last big field trip of the year- horse back riding. I forgot what a Little Lexington South Lyon is. There are dozens of horse farms. We went to Great Escape Stables. The women and girls there were sweet and great with our girls. We had a good time and it was judged best field trip of the year. Walking out of the barn, we spotted this enormous pile of horse manure. "You're sitting on a gold mine!" I told the woman. She said they were actually building a holding box of sorts for the manure, as they were selling it to a company that will somehow convert it into energy. Apparently, they need 4 months worth at a time before they come pick it up, which is why they need to house it somewhere.
I told her she should start selling it as compost too. She said I could come back and haul away as much as I wanted, whenever I wanted.
Never even thought of it, but I'm sure any one of those horse farms would happily give you their manure.
I probably won't take her up on it though. Soon enough, we'll have enough chicken manure to see us through. :)
More pics to follow as it comes together.