How I Survived My Chicken Coop Folly
Our Chickens haven't been laying eggs well at all. Others are quick to ask "Are they molting?" We thought this a possibility...back in September but unlikely they are still molting. "Is it the cold?" Unlikely as this has been a problem since September and we have experienced very warm weather until January, and last year was much colder. They seem healthy and are of varying ages. Other farmers have reported similar problems. Could be the feed changed or maybe the up and down temperatures. We trimmed the rooster's spurs having read that can make him go lame and upset the chickens. Still we are getting one egg a day from 12 hens. One is older and retired, but we are without explanation about our lame flock.
So it came when my husband mentioned someone was selling twelve, two month old, Buff Orpington chicks, we decided to jump at the chance and raise an additional batch of laying chickens. Any that happen to be roosters we will raise for meat. We scrambled to decide whether to house them in the old chicken tractor or build a new pen in our garage which for sometime has been evolving into a barn. We opted for the "barn" because two month old's still may need some heat and it is easier to care for them and keep the water from freezing having them closer to the house, especially when the snow is knee deep.
On Monday, my husband brought home a random pile of two by three's. We wanted to spend as little as possible and keep things simple. I cut and screwed the lumber into something resembling a frame to hold chicken wire. The coop was seven by seven feet. Thursday I bought a fifty foot role of chicken wire which was sixty inches wide for $32. Friday it was decided that because there was a storm coming Saturday that my husband and son would go fetch the new chicks a couple of hours away, while I finished the coop.
I went out at about four in the afternoon and began adding a couple pieces of lumber, and then the first row of chicken wire. Things were going along smoothly and I didn't mind the cold too much. After a quick dinner break , excited to build something, continued on. I found a piece of lumber (formerly used as a bean bag toss board at my son's birthday party, it was all I had!)
I was almost done the main coop around 6:30pm and turned to the large hole above the chicken coop which was exposed to the attic. I knew I had to block it because we didn't want animals coming into the coop and eating the chicken's food or the chickens themselves! Raccoons, squirrels, mice, rats; any animal who managed to find it's way into the attic. I had the idea of putting actual gyp rock (plasterboard)up to match the existing ceiling and as I had a piece I thought may do. I climbed the ladder to measure the hole, growing cold and tired but still vigorous with the excitement of all I had accomplished already, and knowing I was almost finished.
I measured it and came down the ladder and all of a sudden I felt my foot slip and twist, sliding on bleach ice, pain in my bum, my head crashing into the boards and my shoulder aching. I was on the floor with the wind knocked out of me, dazed and confused. It all happened so fast. I can only theorize what happened no matter how many times I try and visualize it. My first thought as my head bounced on the board was "oh good those boards have give and I didn't hit my head on concrete" I also thought my ankle is broken", followed by "if my bum hurts and I am sitting up, I must have taken the brunt of the fall on my backside, good". I am sure only a few minutes passed between all of that and my starting to shiver and then saying out loud "get up Sarah just get up get up Sarah, get up!"
I did, I was aware I was really cold, sore and that I was at least a little injured but I thought if I just go back and start measuring and cutting I will be fine. That is what I did. I determined the gyp rock idea was no good largely because having just fallen off a ladder I wasn't keen on cutting the whole out properly, holding the five feet by five feet piece of gyp rock with nothing more than the top of my head (Yes I have done this before and it is doable but hard on the neck and head). I opted to cover the hole with chicken wire and frame it with bits and pieces of lumber. It wouldn't be pretty but it would be done soon.
So for another hour I limped about, rolled out the wire on the frozen ground outside (the "barn being too full of garbage, tools and assorted crap to roll out the wire) holding one end with a shovel and the other end with a sled, I cut the wire with some shears. Thank goodness it cuts easily, though if anyone who has ever cut chicken wire in the cold says they had a good time doing it, I won't believe them. Every cut curls back on itself and/or your icy hand, cutting and scratching you and clinging to itself.
After finally cutting it, my thoughts turned to how I would hold it at the top of the ladder without it rolling up and caging my face while I hammer staples into it. I decided to grab a board and staple the wire to it first, which would then allow me to screw the board into the wooden joists in the ceiling. Anyway, this sort of worked with only part of it rolling my head up into it and scratching me. I got one corner up and my rechargeable drill died. I got nails to do the rest but of course then I had to have my face turned upwards toward the old attic and as I pounded was showered with dry rot dust, old gyp rock dust, dead bugs, spiders, insulation and who knows what else!
I repeatedly reminded myself to keep my mouth closed but you try pointing your chin to the ceiling, while standing on the top of a ladder, shivering, one hand holding the edge of sharp wire, the other a hammer. I crunched down on grit, but kept at it. Last section I got something in my eye so closed it and hammered on with one eye open. Finally I got down, very carefully , looked up and decided it would do. It wasn't perfect but our new chickens would be happy, warm and safe. I gathered up the tools, vacuumed the mess in the coop and threw down six inches of fresh, lovely smelling wood shavings. I strung up a light on a hook for warmth, grabbed the waterer and headed inside.
I hadn't realized how bad I felt until I came in to find my fire had gone out from neglect, I was really hungry and thirsty and started to shiver uncontrollably. I walked with a limp, stripped off my filthy, bleachy clothes, wrapped myself in a blanket, drank some water and started a fire. I was shaking so badly I wondered if I was in shock or just cold and exhausted, so after I ate I did what anyone would do, I texted my sister and told her my tale of woe. She asked me questions like "does your head hurt?" Of course my head hurt but it would from the cold, the holding wire on top of it, the adrenaline from the fall, the banging it on the boards, the shivering or the dehydration. Still I was comforted by sharing the experience. I took her advice and had a hot shower. My ankle seemed to be getting worse instead of better and when I got out of the hot shower, my ankle was swollen and all I could think of was "oh no, not that same foot, not the one with all of the old problems. The one that has had so many injuries". The good thing was I knew I had to plunge it into ice water as I was an old pro at treating this foot and ice just can't get at the tiny bones and cartilege so ice water it was. More shivering but at least I had hot tea and a warm fire. Soon after my husband and son came home and I hardly moved for the rest of the night except to go to bed. I woke up from a truly deep sleep, stiff and sore
A few more treatments of ice bathing my foot and it seems to be getting better but I have aggravated my Plantar Fasciitis which had finally gone away. Every muscle in my back, shoulders and neck was sore and I was tired for a couple of days. All in all, I am fine but wish I could see that fall because I bet it was spectacular and I would love to know how it happened! The chicks are happy in their coop and we await eggs in a few months when they are old enough. And that is how I survived (barely) building a makeshift chicken coop.
Comments
Post a Comment