The Next Step

The next step in this adventure is for the hens to start laying eggs, and to help them I've made some nesting boxes. There are many ways to do this and different philosophy's regarding it as well. But we are keeping it simple. Just an opening to hold a plastic bin, in which they'll build a nest and lay some eggs. To keep as much room as possible in their side of the hen house, it was all designed to have just an opening in the one wall and have the body of the boxes in the storage side, and as you can see it all worked out.

Set nicely in the wall.

Three boxes for nests and a little ledge to help out.

We'll see if they need modification later.

It's Done Like Dinner

I don't mean the chickens are done, well not yet anyway, we'll have see how many hens we have and then the rest get "done". There are a few little things to do but in a nut shell it's done. They can get out into the compound and back into the house without being rounded up into a tot and carried back and forth. It's 16 x 8 and 7 feet high, lots of room and completely covered with 1 inch chicken wire, nice and safe. ReBecca did a great job with the stain, the colour is fantastic.

Looks great.

They're out and about.

Lots of room to run and spread their wings.

2nd Hen House Update

A quick update on the hen house shingle job, it's done, at least my part, the stain is next and that isn't my job. It does look good and I managed to line up all four sides if you are looking. Here is a look at the finished product.

East end view.

North side view.

One corner look.

It does look good.

Hen House Update

I've done a bit more work on the hen house, I've added home made louvers over the gable vents, and put screening on the under side. I've also put in another vent on the north side to help with ventilation. Yesterday I put on the cedar shingles on the west side and today I did the south side. The other two will be done shortly and then it will get stained and the compound to be built.

West view vent cover

East view, vent  cover added.

North side vent.

North side with shingles.

South side looks great as well.

A look at them both. 

Hen House

Our latest adventure is chickens, at least it's my wife's adventure. I just get to build the hen house. It's taken me a while to get here, weather and golfing has slowed me down. It's 2 x 4 frame construction, with 2 x 8 floor joists, the roof trusts are home made and it has an 8 in 12 run, rather steep when putting on  the sheathing and steel roof, but I manged. The windows are recycled and the door into the hen's pen is home made. Lots of chicken wire to keep them enclosed, from the storage half. Once all the trim gets painted we'll put on the cedar shingles. Here are a few progress pictures for now.

Laying out and leveling the footing posts.

Floor joists in place.

Two layers of 1 x 6 floor boards, overlapped to prevent draft.

Walls are up.

Trusts installed.

Roof sheathing added.

A look inside, vent holes in the gable ends.

Steel roof on and one window.

Hard to tell but two more windows in place.

Gable ends installed.

Trim is up.

Partition wall, door and wire.

Roosting ladder.

Wired and more chicken wire.

A Snow Shoe Bench

There isn't one spot outside to sit and put on show shoes, so I've been told. So the reply to that was: OK I guess I'll have to build one, even a small bench for now. And here it is, it's make from 7/8 inch ash, a sold and heavy bench. I put on a couple of coats of poly for protection and well see how it holds out this year.

It's 17 inches high, with a 13 x 26 inch seat.

Add a hand hold.

The legs are on a 10 ° angle for stability. 

Coffee Table Update

I've finished the coffee table and it looks great. I used a Walnut gel stain for the first time and I thought it went on rather well. As well I applied a beeswax polish rubbed in, this won't take much to reapply every once and while.

Looks good, not too big for this room.

You can see the honey comb pattern in the end panels.

Finally a bit of sunshine, showing off the bottom pattern.

Coffee Table

Slowly I am getting back into the shop and be a little creative, my latest project is a coffee table inspired from a woodworking magazine I subscribe to. It is essentially the same except for the openings in the ends and the bottom grid. I used a honey comb style rather then the original squares. I make mine from yellow birch, most of the construction is the same, mine isn't as bulky as the original, some parts are thinner As well the corbels on the ends were to fit into rabbits, I thought they would hold better if I used a sliding dovetail, and it worked great. I was able to practice this type of joint and any time I can do something new is a benefit to my developing my skill set. We are still looking at different stains and when it's done I'll add more pictures later, until now here is a sneak peek at what I've done so far.

A nice looking table.

You can see the honey comb pattern.

Another look.