The Wendy House
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Which came first?
The more observant of you will have noticed a cryptic message under the photograph of my Happy New Year post.
I told you to watch out for exciting news of the Wendy House.
What if I were to reword that slightly and tell you about our ‘eggciting’ news?
First, more about the Wendy House:
About 7 years ago, when Little Miss Green attended a local kindergarten, we were asked to take away the aforementioned Wendy House. It was rotten, falling down and a new one was going up in its place.
As we were known as a family who liked gash wood for the wood burner we were asked if we would remove it from the premises and put up the new shed. Happy to help, that’s exactly what we did.
The thing is, the house wasn’t really *that* bad. A few timbers were rotten, the roof needed mending and yes it had seen better days, but we figured Little Miss Green would love to play in it. Rather than rip it apart and burn it, we carefully dismantled it and rebuilt it in the garden. For the past 7 years it has provided countless days of entertainment. It’s had a little fence built around it (the unspoken boundary line for where water and mud play stops), curtains put up and has even been slept in a few times.
Recently we’ve been toying with the idea of getting some chickens. I wanted a goat but we don’t have enough land, so figured chickens would be the next best thing (as you do).
We looked into the prices of setting up a coop and to be honest were a bit shocked. So we set up a chicken coop fund.
With only 50p in it I had a sudden moment on Divine Inspiration!
The Wendy House, which isn’t really played in any more, would make the perfect chicken house! Surely we could find a chicken called Wendy that needed a house?
I discussed it with Mr Green; he loved the idea. It was Little Miss Green that would need convincing.
After a short negotiation where we were called to fix the tree house and throw a big cardboard box into the bargain (don’t ask), she agreed…
With a smile on his face and a spring in his step, Mr Green set to work. He went off to his man-garage where he keeps his piles of crap useful man things and hammered and sawed for a week. The timber came from an old dismantled hotel, the roofing was left over from another job, the chicken wire was donated by a neighbour and the hinges were found in another neighbour’s shed. All in all the remodelling of the Wendy House cost us nothing but time, effort and lots of cups of tea.
And here it is. Wendy’s House; containing the lesser spotted red-coated Princess:
And here’s Wendy – she arrived yesterday with her two sisters (as yet unnamed).
I think Mr Green has done us proud, so I’m giving him the weekend off before I get him working on another project I have in mind 😉
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That looks great! I hope your hens are very happy and lay you lots of eggs 🙂
wow, could I borow Mr G, my hens could do with a new home.lol
the house looks smashing, lots of room for them
I am so jealous!!! Congrats! 🙂
What a fantastic hen house! Enjoy your new ladies, and remember to thank them for the eggs!
Excellent! We’ll want to hear all about the eggs and how you make them! 🙂
miss green must be very proud of the architect in chief and master planner (ie: mistress planner)
big red is of one of the best laying breeds..she should provide! she’s no chick..she’s Wendy–The Hen!
What a good idea for reusing the wendy house. I hope your chickens are v happy in it and lay lots of eggs.
Well done! We chickened out, as it were, of building our own and bought an Eglu. We have a fox problem but luckily it has defeated them so far.
Brilliant!!!!! Big smiles this end!
Great – exactly what we did with the old Wendy House – add a fox proof run, egg boxes and a perch – greener and cheaper than an Eglu
Good luck with the chickens.
Here’s a great story. Make sure you find the beginning.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chiswick-Twilight/255339574505951?sk=info
Lovely hen house! hens are a steep learning curve though. Which I feel I’ve conquered, and foxes too. Now we are fostering ducklings and I say don’t be tempted – they poo too much, and it’s too liquid. Hen poo is much nicer, and of course fab for the compost heap! Nicola http://homemadekids.wordpress.com
and have you seen this one?
http://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/chicken-coop-made-beer-cans-and-salvaged-parts.html