Hen House

I like to paint, as I mentioned in my last post, and that means after eight years of living here, I have a lot of leftover paint from various projects. I decided to get rid of some of it by painting the hen house.

The henhouse, or chicken coop, was never painted completely when it was built. There were some bits on the back wall (where you can’t see) at the top out of reach without getting a ladder, and you know how you’re always meaning to get to something and…well…. Anyway, here was my opportunity to put some weather protection on the wood.

Furthermore, the whole thing was turning green from the constant moisture around here, and the bottom 18″ on the uphill side was so splashed with mud that it was 1/4 inch thick. I’m sure the chickens didn’t care because the inside is sturdy and dry and spacious. But I am in make-this-property-look-good mode.

Pedro climbed a ladder and cleaned all the debris off the metal roof. I took a broom and swept off most of the spiderwebs on the outside. Then I got soap and water and scrubbed the outside. It was disgusting and quite green. I let it dry for a day, then was finally able to begin the painting.

My paint was a pale lilac, which was one of my attempts at matching my kitchen walls to the purple living room. I wanted it so pale purple that it looked white, and it had to match. I tried purchasing the right colour and it did not work. Finally I bought white paint and dumped in some of the purple from the living room and mixed it up. That was perfect! But I still had those two nearly full gallons of pale lilac paint, that I had not used. Perfect for the henhouse.

The hens like to take dust baths underneath their house in the winter, where the dirt stays relatively dry. I was painting happily away, when Mathilda the Hun (my little terrorist chicken) came out from underneath the house, dragging her back along the wet paint. She still has paint on her feathers to this day. To clear all the dust from her feathers, she stood right there and shook violently, showering the wet paint with dirt. What a brat. Very consistent behavior for Mathilda. And yes, this sprayed dirt is also still on the wall. Oy. Mathilda the Hen has been suggested as an alternate name, which I like, but I want to make sure people understand she was named after the warrior who gained a reputation for violent, self-serving actions.

I used a plastic 5-gallon bucket as a stool most of the time, the ladder when I had to, and I gratefully sat my butt right on the dirt and painted when I could. The chickens just loved having me at their home with them for the three days it took to finish this project.

The new owners are going to be oblivious when they see this clean, mostly white henhouse and they will think, “awww.” And then the rains will come and it will turn green and muddy again. Well! It will only be surface dirt and the wood structure is much better protected now.

I hope the new owners want chickens. I am taking my Hussies with me, but the place is a rather nice home for hens, should any future owner want some.

Naturally, all this work is making me nostalgic. I found this old photo from when I was moving in. See all the boxes? It must have been the first week of July still, 2015.

Here is a photo of my purple living room and pale lilac kitchen right now. The ceiling is white, but the walls in the kitchen are actually a little purply. This is where the henhouse paint came from.

News on the house is that I have accepted a contingent offer. Which means, it’s an offer, but only good if those people get an offer on THEIR house first. *sigh* So, it’s definitely good, but not a sure thing, and we are all waiting to see.