Coop building extravaganza!

This post is going to be epic and filled with lots of pictures, so grab a cocktail, sit back, relax, and enjoy. :D

Since we decided we were going to get chickens, we knew we would need a coop in which they would sleep.  We also knew we are going have poultry probably for the rest of our time here, so we wanted to make sure the coop wasn't crappily built or a sight for sore eyes.  One afternoon, we were driving somewhere, and we passed an octagon shaped house...bingo!  We decided then and there that our coop would be an octagon, and lucky for us, our soon to be brother in law is a very talented carpenter.  While he works more on cabinet building and other fine scale carpentry projects (check out his business, Harraseeket Woodwrights), we had a sneaking suspicion he'd be up for the challenge of an octagonal chicken coop.

We were right!

Our crazy crew!

And now, we'll show the progress of the coop building by way of many, many pictures.

Anna and Allison at the groundbreaking ceremony.

A pile 'o supplies....we got many, many, many more supplies.

Farm manager was extremely involved throughout the process.  He might be sleeping on his face here...

Turns out, leveling 8 points is way harder than the standard 4 points.  Thank goodness for the laser leveler.

Anna wields the nail gun for the first time while framing the floor.  I'm not convinced of her skills.  We are nail gun masters now.

We finished framing the floor only to find out it wasn't actually level.  Crap.  Back to leveling.....again.  I swear, we spent days leveling this thing.

Working hard, or hardly working?

Booyah!  End of day 1 -- yep, that's a beer.  We deserve it.

Ned is a master on the chop saw...and a master at helping us pick out our own chop saw.  Just add it to the arsenal of power tools we're acquiring.

Floor is down and walls are going up -- at some point, all our families were involved.  

Starting to look like a building -- Oliver, of course, oversees all major projects like wall raising.

Sometimes you just have to take a break from chop sawing to observe....or take a nap.

We have a chicken door, people....complete with a chicken.  

Walls, floor, window frames....things are looking good.

Anna takes on the suckiest job of all -- using the Saws-all to cut out the holes for the windows.  I did one window, and that was just about enough for me, thank you very much.  

We have waterproofing and windows, people!  

The coop will also be inhabited by the ducks.  Here, Harriet tests out the window. I think she approves, and someday she can gaze longingly at her pond from this window.

...and then it got really hot, and clothes started coming off.  

Framing the roof is way easier with some hot assistants....just sayin'.

Roof framing is done -- and casting some sweet shadows.

Ned was most definitely in charge of this part.  Let's just say that while our carpentry skills have improved immensely from the start of this, putting this roof together was way beyond our rookie cutting abilities.

Anna and my dad became shingling masters.  After I finished the interior walls, I joined them.  I think it is safe to say that none of us will look at a shingled house the same way ever again.  Talk about labor intensive!

Getting closer.  Shingling around windows and doors is a real beotch.  We are really happy with the finished product, though.  It was totally worth the effort.  

The finished product. The chicken door is eventually going to look like a mini person door...complete with a cabinet knob as a doorknob.

The view from the window side (with Oliver for scale, of course).  We are super happy with the end result.

The first tenants.  The ducks have been sleeping in the coop for about a week now, and they seem to love it.  They have found a good sleeping spot, and are plenty warm in the morning.

Until recently, we've been carrying the ducks to and from the coop in a basket.  There was plenty of room in said basket when we started, and now they're pretty much on top of each other.  Our ducks aren't imprinted on us since we got them as ducklings, but they tend to move as a group so we've decided to try to start herding them instead of carrying them.  Here's our first attempt to herd them from the coop to the pond...in theory the easier direction since they want to be in the pond.  It took some serious persuasion from inside the coop to get them out the pop door, but once they were out, they were off and running.....in the wrong direction!

Upon arriving at the pond, however, they are thrilled with life.  This is what we call 'happy duckle fun time.'  It never gets old watching them cruise around the pond.

Groundhog adventures

It's been a while, but not for lack of things happening at the farm! Quite the opposite, actually, we've been SO busy. So, look forward to many updates in the next week or so.

A couple of weeks ago, a groundhog decided to take up residence in the terraced garden next to the house -- either that or it was unlucky enough to wander by and get chased into the rock wall by one or both of the dogs. Regardless of the reason, we were quickly alerted to its presence by Oliver's incessant barking. At the time it was wedged between a large stepping stone and the house siding. Jessie and I had a simple solution for the problem; we put the dogs inside, grabbed a long stick and pushed it out the other side of the rock. As we watched the brown furry rodent run from us we commented on how cute it is and how afraid it must be and congratulated ourselves on a job well done. To our horror, we then watched the beast take a sharp left and dive into a hole between two rocks in the wall supporting the terraced garden under the porch. Crap.

Groundhogs not only can cause major destruction with their burrows, but also they can devastate a garden in short order. We wanted nothing to do with it. Not knowing the gender of our squatter had us even more concerned as it was spring, and babies can come very quickly.

The first evening we set up a small Have-a-heart trap that we found in the basement baited with what a quick Google search informed us was a sure thing: Cantaloupe.

No luck.

To add injury to insult we could hear the thing moving around in the hole and could see bits of insulation from the outside of the basement in the entrance of the hole. Olive set up a post next to the trap and rock wall and would not leave the spot for the entire day. She refused walks with us, and lost all interest in a chipmunk eating bird seed only feet from her location. I question if she even relieved herself during her watch.

The second day we picked up a larger Have-a-heart trap and baited it with not only cantaloupe, but also with bread and peanut butter, and carrots. This combination was a success! We finally caught something. Oliver. He couldn't resist the peanut butter and carrots.

Our first catch in the trap

Day three. Olive keeps her vigil and the woodchuck gives us the finger.

Day four. Jessie and I left the house to run errands for a couple of hours and brought the dogs with us, leaving the house quiet and woodchuck unmolested. Bingo. We came home to a trapped woodchuck. Yippee!!!!

We lifted up the trap and checked it's belly for evidence of lactation. Thankfully, there was no sign.

Jessie and I rock, paper, scissored for it and Jessie ends up taking it about 10 miles away, across a river and releases it in a clearing under some power lines. She tells me that it took off the second the trap was opened. Hopefully never to be seen again.

Ready to be relocated and looking quite scared