Replacement Hen House

I have been thinking for some considerable time that my hen house is going to have to be replaced. The floor boards are soggy and have a disturbing 'bounce' to them when I have to go inside to get eggs and clean up. The hen house is quite old. We have had it for about 15 years and it wasn't new when it arrived. I have replaced the roofing felt (tar paper for you North American people) a couple of times. Although it has had a coating of wood preserver a couple of times and it really needed a new coat a few years ago, I've not done it.This is a hen house that has been sitting in the farmyard next door to us for a number of years. I remember when it was built, so it isn't as old as the one I am currently using. My lovely neighbours have given it to me and have said that they'll deliver it this weekend using the front end loader on the tractor

The green colour is alarming, but really don't judge it just yet. Though the boards are green and a little damp, they're not rotten. It does need some work, but I think that over all it requires the same amount of titivation that the current coop requires.Both need a good clean out and and new roofing felt nailed on securely. Easy jobs. The door on both hen houses need to be rehung. In order to rehang the door of this model, a new board has to be nailed in place so the hinge can be attached to a good, solid piece of wood. The other hen house needs a whole new hinge!

The window glass needs to be replaced. I suspect it is a standard greenhouse sized pane. It also quite obviously needs a good scrub and lathe tacked on to plug the gaps between the boards. After all of that, I predict a coat or two of exterior house paint.

This hen house is larger, has a removable dropping board AND nest boxes that allow the eggs to be harvested without having to go inside the coop!! One only has to unlatch the little hatch and grab 'em! Pure luxury!

So, if this thing shows up tomorrow, I'll have my Sunday all planned out. In the meantime, I have started tidying up the greenhouses in preparation for the new growing season.

There were only two panes of greenhouse glass to replace this year and I had two panes already on site. I think I replaced about eight last year. I'm glad the re-glazing wasn't a big job because I really hate those "W" shaped glazing clips that are used to hold the glass in place. My personal name for the glazing clips is "those bastard pinging things". I have to take my gloves off when trying to get them installed or they will ping off and fly through the air instead of securing the greenhouse glass.

On a final note: This guy was discovered crawling up the kitchen wall on Friday morning. Since I flung him outside, we have found all sorts of silvery slug trails near the kitchen door. it looks like he had been having a grand old time sliming his way around the place. Eww!