There are a few reasons to move our chicken house, which currently rests against the wall of the house on the other side of our bedroom wall. Much of the year, it’s no big deal, but when the sun wakes the chickens up before we want to wake up, it’s a problem. Our hens are noisy in the mornings. They like to make all kinds of racket, talking about the looks of the weather, what their plans are for the day, telling the entire neighborhood about the egg they just laid or that someone else laid.
They attract Norwegian Rats, who don’t bother the chucks exactly. The rats visit in order to eat their chicken feed. We had a pest specialist come who informed us that the main colony is in the creek, two houses away. He promised us that we could never eliminate the rats. So we are forced to live with them. Now, rats are small, but I’d prefer not to feed them. The problem with a nice, reliable food source is that two rats become many, many rats. The secondary and more bothersome issue is that chickens right next to the house means rats right next to the house. So yes, moving them away would be great.
The bonus of moving the chickens is an opportunity to make them a better home. We needed something quick when we first moved here two years ago. We bought an all-plastic toolshed on Wayfair. We thought it would be a great idea because it would be easy to clean with a hose and a brush. This part is true: it’s very easy to clean. But the double-walled plastic is colder in the winter than we would like. And the walls that were built to interlock together have warped in the weather, and now leak like crazy. The poor girls have rain seeping in and constant condensation wetting the walls all winter. Not acceptable! In the summer, it’s a regular oven inside.
We realized we had to be better chuck parents, and began researching chicken homes. The built ones you can get at a farm store that will house 8 chickens are 2 and 3 thousand dollars! We visited the store to look at them, learning that they are also cheaply made and would fall apart in a couple years of use. Pedro announced that he would build them a house and I was thrilled.
So far it’s not cheap, but much less expensive and much more solid, weatherproof, and thoughtful. We have spent around $800 so far, maybe more, and it’s almost done.
We have visited ReStore (by Habitat for Humanity) so many times, to pick up partially used tubes of glue, boxes of 2 inch wood screws, unwanted paint, trim boards, roofing shingles, excess insulation. Pedro insulated the roof and walls to protect our girls from the weather. I even picked up a metal vent cover and a gorgeous double paned window with a screen and an opening hand crank, for only $18.
I have to tell you another funny idea we had. See how the ceiling shape of the chicken house kind of looks like a church in the image above? Especially with the white paint. Well, we thought it would be funny to paint the Cistine Chapel image of Adam reaching for the hand of God. But great fun to make them chickens instead. I do not have the talent to create this image, so I asked Chat GPT to draw it for me:
At the corners and joints on the outside, I added more foam insulation and wood filler. Then he attached trim boards all around. Today I will probably head back to ReStore to look for a rubber piece to install over the nest box lid, so that rainwater will not fall into the crack at the hinges.
I bought a piece of linoleum from ReStore for $6 that had two little cracks in it but was the exact perfect size. I cut it to fit and glued it down, but it was too stiff to lay flat, and had bubbles and ripples in it. Lucky for us, we have Kellen, who is a rock enthusiast, and has buckets of interesting rocks taking up space on the property. I put down boards to protect the linoleum, then put buckets, a box, and a bag of rocks to weigh it all down.
It is Sunday, and Pedro is attaching the door today. He has been taking an online class from Carnegie Mellon in NLP and he wants the chicken project to be done so he can focus on school. Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a field of Artificial Intelligence that enables computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language. Specifically, he is learning about the use of NLP in a healthcare setting. It turns out that AI does a fantastic job of diagnosing and assisting with some kinds of human ailments, and Pedro is fascinated with the future of that field.
At the moment, he is involved in a research project that is trying to find evidence of gun violence in the homes of patients. There are a lot of ways that this information might be revealed in a healthcare setting, but the clinician will be treating the patient, not necessarily getting the details of firearms in the home. So Pedro is working on a project to teach computers to scan clinical notes and figure out who is at risk of gun exposure in a dangerous setting. (For people outside the US, one big problem with addressing gun violence in our country is that the NRA and other gun advocates have prevented most gun research. Without accurate statistics, it is very hard to know how to tackle the problem. Pedro’s research project is a sneaky way to get that information anyway.)
anyhoo, back to the chicken house
The door in the image will be the people door. He’s going to install the chicken door inside this one. We will re-use their current chicken door, that is made of metal and is battery operated and solar powered. It is connected to a photosensitive sensor, so the door opens and closes based on the amount of daylight. It has reduced my stress and effort, and saved the lives of my chickens by making sure they are ALWAYS shut in tight for the night against predators. The house is big enough now that I can store their food container inside, which will also make it less convenient for hungry rats.
His work on the house is mostly done and I’m up next. I plan to paint the whole thing. I found some barn red paint at ReStore, and I have white trim paint left over from my back yard office. So I’ll paint it red and white like a barn, which seems so cute.
Oh! We need to fence it in next! They already have a chicken tunnel from the side of the house to a spot just behind the green house. Have I showed you the tunnel? It’s also hilarious.
Once we fence in the new house, we will unblock the end of the tunnel and let the ladies into their new area. We will leave it all open so they can go back and forth at will. We will scrub out the old chicken house. And then scrub it again for good measure. And then it will become a tool storage shed, for items that won’t mind the heat or leaks.
Conscious Engagement 
That’s an impressive chicken coop – it looks better built than our town house! 😉 I’m calling it the Chick-teen Chapel.
Chick-teen Chapel is ridiculous!! ha ha ha. I am going to use that. It’s perfect for matching the silly names we give our chickens, like Chick Nhat Hanh.
It’s a chicken palace with it’s own Sistine Chapel Chicken ceiling!
Chicken palace is right. I’m trying to think of a good way to get that ceiling up. I researched custom contact paper, and it would be $60 just for one sheet of it. So I’m thinking of printing it onto poster paper, and gluing it up like wallpaper. It will be protected on the ceiling from the hens’ curiosity.
I am looking forward to progress reports!
It sounds like Pedro has done an amazing job with the home improvement project! 🎉👏 It’s always exciting to see a project come together and exceed expectations.
Thank you, Gregory. You are so right about the satisfaction when a project gets near completion and we can finally say: ok, yep, that’s what we were hoping for. This one of course, is exceeding expectations. It’s very solidly built and will reassure both of us about the future comfort and safety of the girls.
That’s good, the fact that it’s solidly built and will ensure the comfort and safety of the girls is wonderful.
fantastic build! We used to joke that our tomatoes cost about $200 apiece because of the cost of the beds, compost etc. We might be breaking even by now. 😊
I love the walls, that tunnel, and you MUST get that ceiling up there! Too funny.
Have you seen Jill Badonsky’s whimsical chicken art? So good, and I don’t even have chickens.
https://jillbadonsky.substack.com/notes
Thanks for that link, Nancy. I clicked here and there and ended up reading her post that Art is Agelessly Rebellious. It’s good. Did you read that one? Also, her chickens are marvelously whimsical.
Isn’t the tunnel the best? I had mentioned the idea casually to my therapist and she made me do it. She’s trying to teach me how to have more fun in my life. I have the habit of categorizing anything pleasurable as too extravagant in the face of the many, many responsible things I should be doing. I had the assignment of building a chicken tunnel before our next session and I am SO glad I did it. Now I get delight every time I see my girls running in there.
I know what you mean about the $200 tomatoes. People tell us how lucky we are to have “free” eggs. We just smile.
Yes, I read that one – so good!! I love that you have a therapist that makes you have more fun. That is excellent. How can you be serious around chickens anyway? Keep up the good work!
Fabulously well done Pedro. OK you helped too 😁 Love the Sistine Chapel idea. I wonder if the chooks will attack the wallpaper see rivals.
That’s a good question. I am sure they will peck the wallpaper at first, and I never thought they might recognize the patterns as chickens. But I hope they get bored with it before they ruin it. I guess we will find out!
Made they will or maybe they won’t, it will be interesting to see
I am in awe of your new chicken house. You and Pedro make a formidable team. I love the creativity of it all, including your chicken wall paper and Cistine Chapel inspired ceiling to be. Of course it made me giggle with joy! I’m looking forward to seeing the end result, as the idea of a barn inspired finish will be stunning.
Pedro is so clever, and his pivoting towards AI as a powerful tool to enhance lives will ensure he has a job for as long as he wants one. At least in my humble opinion.
Oh, and congratulations on being morgage free. What an achievement. You must both feel such relief. That is the one thing Michael and I love about our project here in Portugal – it is owned by us, not the bank. It makes a huge difference to how one feels on a daily basis when that underlying responsibility is no longer there.
I am glad our silliness made you laugh, too. There are a couple of things that make all the difference in a partner, and having one that makes me laugh is really special. He drives me bonkers with all his eye-rolling dad jokes, but daily he makes me laugh outloud. 🙂
I agree with your assessment on Pedro’s curiosity about AI in a medical setting. He has been talking about this for years and sees a potential future in the field for his current employer. Using that angle, they have been paying for and supporting his continued education. Now, he is beginning to get a reputation, and doctors – even unknown to him – are reaching out and asking if he will be a part of their new research as a principal investigator. It looks to me (also in my humble opinion) like he is placing himself perfectly to ride the wave when the funding starts getting directed at NLP. Most of it, I think, is pure interest. He just loves technology and science. But it’s also like adding a plan B for his future, if the Trump administration causes problems for his current employer.
Thank you for the congratulations on paying off the mortgage! It’s a great opportunity for us. We still have to pay off the loan for his workshop, and when that is done, the feeling of security will be undeniable. I can understand why Michael chose to keep working, to pay for the expensive infrastructure at the quinta, and not be in debt.
Jackie read this one first and was full of praise for Pedro’s practical skills. We both found the wallpaper hilarious. I admire your man’s research project
Thank you both for seeing what a gem Pedro is. He is quiet and calm and understated. I am loud and dynamic compared to him, so when we are around other people, they tend not to notice his truly remarkable skills. In the blog, you all get a better sense of Pedro. He is wicked smart, and sees so many challenges as a game that he can win. And you also see how funny he can be, a side that he often shows only to me.
I believe he is proud to work for OCHIN, his nonprofit employer. Their mission is to unite healthcare systems digitally, and particularly to support smaller organizations that are economically challenged, like rural clinics, Native American clinics, prison clinics, clinics for women and children, and LGBT specialists. Pedro specifically works in the research section as a Data Scientist, dealing mainly with the software (IT handles the hardware and is a completely different part of the company). He helps researchers access the data but also makes sure it remains anonymous, by stripping personal information and scrambling the stuff they do keep, so no one will ever be identified by the data used.
I’m so pleased he has a niche
This was a light dot at the end of the day. Loved everything about it. You two make a great team. Free eggs and $200 tomatoes made me laugh. I have a neighbor with a community garden plot bringing me things and I trade for brownies, etc. They aren’t allowed to take money for anything they grow. The chicken house and run should make those eggs about $40 apiece for the next 20 years. 🙂 Thanks so much for the giggles and the hard work. Love and hugs. m
You know, I never knew that abut community gardens, and I wonder if it’s common. Such a good idea to keep it down to simply people gardening for health and joy. My brother, Ian, has perfected a system of maximizing space by having most of his garden grow up structures. He puts a huge amount of expense and effort into building climbing structures and cultivating the best plants from seeds to work with that method. I’m sure he has $200 tomatoes too! I’d love to trade him some of my $40 eggs!