Taking Down Chicken Town

Jemima has a nest in this hoop shelter, so it has to be tipped and rolled out so as not to disturb the nest. I need help for that.

this coop and another were set on straw bales to make spring cleaning easier, but it was not warm enough in the coop then. next year the bales will be set inside the coop instead of under it.

there is a goose nest in barrels to the left of this coop. it needs to come off the bales so it can be moved around the yard all summer. no poop cleaning then.

This 16 foot coop was for the ducks but they had trouble going over the straw bale so it was closed for most of the winter.

EAch spring chicken town gets the once over and the coops are liberated and cleaned then pulled around the yard all summer. Fresh perches go inside and the tarps are taken off and washed. This eliminates parasites and keeps the coops clean. This winter though, I have decided to keep only trios of the birds, so the numbers should fit in the pink insulated coop except for the waterfowl. The Muscovy ducks tend to prefer the insulated coop but the others do not and find the shelter warm enough for them. 

This is a huge job every spring to take apart and clean up. It also means that in the fall it happens all over again, but with less birds this fall, the hoop shelters do not need to be set up. I will put clear plastic on one for a green house for winter days. Time to sell some more laying hens and keep only the Chanteclers and Ameraucanas plus the old girls, like Sandra, the Speckled Sussex that I got the first year here. She can just stay forever. Finding ways of making the work load less would be a good thing. 

In the meantime, I am cleaning chicken town up. Whew!