However, the chickens were in need of a home that is better than the chicken tractors that we started out with, and so we decided to remodel the outhouse into a chicken house! I love it, and hope you will enjoy a little tour:
Standing in the front looking in. What appears to be a jagged hole near the ceiling is actually a heat lamp reflecting the sunlight. We use it when the weather dips below freezing to prevent frostbite, which our birds experienced the first winter we had them.
This shot shows the perches and the vents with shutters at the top. You can also see the corner of the nest boxes to the left. Do you spy the egg on the floor?
Here is a better shot of the nest boxes.
I am working on a new way of using the animals to increase our food production. This little garden spot is last year's chicken yard. The photo was taken the second week of August. See how small everything is? That is because of the drought. We've only had three rains from the end of June until now. Even though things look pretty green, nothing grew or produced very well after early July, until the fall. This little patch and my row of tomatoes are what we chose to keep hydrated and nurse along. It has paid off well. The soil is just beautiful in this spot. It is so rich, loose, and nearly weed and bug free. Our plan is to rotate the location of the chicken yard to enhance the garden spot. We are working on a plan for housing them through this transition. We will either have lanes for them to travel to and from their house, or we will build a portable chicken house on skids.
13 comments:
That is a Cadillac of an outhouse, particularly for chickens. I hope they enjoy it!
Way to repurpose! I love how the chickens lay eggs where ever they want when there is a perfectly good nesting box to lay them in... Interesting that your garden didn't do well because of no rain. Ours didn't because all we had was rain..Too much of a good thing I guess!
That is so clever! And very interesting about the chicken yard becoming a garden spot. It's exciting an excellent idea and very exciting to see the results. With long dry spells, we need to think of gardening smarter, not bigger. Yours is a great example of that.
Ashley, I can't say for sure if they enjoy it, but they do use it, and that's the objective. I'm content with that. :-)
Domestic goddess, Thanks! Don't you just love that? :-P I have a hoe handle that I use just for the purpose of retrieving stray eggs. As for the rain issue, we had a terribly wet spring. I thought I was never going to get to plant. When I did, my first corn rotted in the ground. Then in June the rain just quit. Completely turned off. I think we went six weeks without a single drop of rain. It was a hard year for gardeners everywhere, I think.
Leigh, Thank you so much. I soak up your words like a sponge! You are miles ahead of us on the homesteading path, and I see you as a mentor. Right now we are away from home so much that we don't sell eggs, but I would really like to see us enlarge the chicken yard and bring in more chickens so they can prepare more land for us, as well as generate a little income with their eggs. Maybe enough to pay for garden seeds and tools! :-D
I love it! I take it your outhouse wasn't seeing much of its intended purpose before it was remodeled?
Zev,
Nope. Not much call for the outhouse in recent history. :-)
We run our chickens through our gardens in the winter and it has really helped! I love the idea of converting your outhouse into a chicken coop.
Thanks, Laura. I'm glad to know letting chickens run the entire garden is helpful, too. How many chickens and how big of a garden do you have?
Awesome idea. :)
Thanks!
That is by far one of the cutest chicken coops I've ever seen!! :) Am I weird for thinking a repurposed outhouse is "cute"? :) lol
Crystal, you're only weird if I am. :-)
I love your outhouse turned chicken house! Also love your plan to rotate your chicken yard as part of the garden plan.
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