Wild Moon Cottage is a small working homestead in the pristine Ozark Mountains. We have dairy goats, poultry, organic herb and vegetable gardens, a start of a tiny fruit orchard, several black walnut trees, wild berries and fields of wildcrafting goodness. We raise our own milk, our own eggs, much of our own medicine and food. I do laundry by hand, make my own vinegar, candles, soap, bread, cheese ........ For a living I am an artist and herbalist. My goal for myself and our homestead is to be as self sufficient and self sustaining as possible.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Henhouse - Old & New

The old henhouse is about 4 feet x 4 feet. It has 6 to 8 nest boxes but only a small roost ladder inside. It was made from a Nik's old freestanding treehouse we built when he was little. Which in turn was recycled from an abandoned play-yard thing. When the hens have their new house I hope to reuse it again as a cat house house for the monestary cats (homeless cats).




The beginnings of the new henhouse. The plywood and 4x4's are reused from the Llama house. The pallet thing came from somewhere else. It doesn't look like much now but it will be 4 feet x 8 feet and have a much larger roosting ladder, plenty of nest boxes, space for feed containers, two doors and a little loft for storing a bale or two of hay.The old house is inside the pen, the new house is outside and will have the pen attached at side and roof, leaving more room in the pen. Everyone gets out to free range most of the time but there are days they stay in, like stormy days and when there are small chicks.

One door will open into the pen and have a hatch so they can go in and out at will. The other door will be on the side so we can get eggs and feed without walking thru the pen. I'll probably also store the ax and maul out there because it's right next to the woodpile.

6 comments:

Phill said...

New chicky home! Yay! Looks like it is coming along. Nice to have it done before the cold, I suppose. I know it takes a lot of thought with the animals, but I can't wait for the cool temps! I know the chicky babes will love the condo!

Unknown said...

Your chicken are going to have a really nice home when it is finished. How many chickens do you have Juli?

oldcrow61 said...

Sounds like it's going to be a great hen house. Mine is about the size of your old one. I have a 7ft x 10 ft greenhouse extension added on to it so that on cold, snow filled days in winter they have an area of ground to wander around and it keeps them much warmer that outside especially when the sun is out. Are you're winters very cold there? We get tons of snow and bitter temperatures at times during the winter months.

Joan@CopperCreeker said...

You guys are on the ball! They'll be snug as a bug in a rug come cold weather.
We've got to get to work on our Clucker house and raised garden beds. It's hard to plan because sure as we plan to do something... something else has to come first. O well.... that's life.
I enjoyed your art and poetry.

Ben said...

Have you seen this Gypsy henhouse from the UK? It's extraordinary!
http://www.flytesofancy.co.uk/chickenhouses/The_Gypsy_Hen_House.html

Juli said...

Hen Vardos ! they're wonderful :)