Good morning from Chicken Paradise Hawaii. A lovely blue sky today — and the rooms just got bigger. Let’s do a room tour!
Building the extension
First, to make room, I mowed the grass behind the chicken coops (Dolly helped too). The plan: attach a new section to the original shed to make the coop twice as big, add a storage area in front and on the other side, and this time we’re also thinking about a rainwater collection system.
Once the frame was up, on went the roof. Working up in an unsteady spot is slow, but now we have a stretch that stays dry in the rain. The roof slopes down to one side. We cut and lengthened the netting, prepared boards for the new part, and took off the front wall to move it out. Director Dolly supervised quietly, leaving the work to the crew, while the chickens exercised in the playground. We moved the furniture back in, repaired the damaged feed bins, and once the netting covered everything, it was done. What a day!
The little rescues’ room
This is where the little rescues live. The old coop ended here, and now it’s doubled. Before, there was a table and a feeder in a pretty cramped space. Now the table has gone way over there, the nest boxes have moved to the far wall, and there’s a big open space in the middle.
Chickens don’t like the heat, and staying somewhere hot for a long time stresses them. Giving them plenty of shade is like a tree in nature — everyone can lounge underneath together. A lot of the walls are netting, which I designed myself: Hawaii is fairly warm all year, so even in rain like this there’s no worry about the cold, and I put airflow first.
We did it, everyone! With new floor to explore, they’re digging at a great pace. The nest box is in a new spot, but they’re already using it, and there’s one more perch, too.
The big egg-layers’ room
The big chickens’ room was still a little small, so we took on that expansion next. Before, the coop only reached this line; now it has doubled beautifully. Good for you, Jack!
For some reason, everyone had been laying under the nest boxes, so I got rid of the wasted gap below by raising them, and, as requested, switched to narrower boxes. And they’re laying in them — here and over there too! Yay!
Do you like it, everyone? It’s hot, so more shade is good news. Thank you for watching Chicken Paradise Hawaii! See you in the next episode.