We built a coop

Last year, Quinton destroyed our chicken coops by climbing and dancing on and in them. He exceeded the weight limitations (he's a tad larger than you standard hen). During my last two or three work trips, I spent the airplane time designing a coop that

1. Incorporated a shelter that is not the primary roosting area (because hens will not go to their sleeping area no matter how bed the weather is)
2. Is strong enough to withstand Quinton (and his friends and/or successors), 
3. Is tall enough to keep the hens of the roof (and tall enough that I could stand inside to clean it when my children are grown and gone and aren't here to do the cleaning)
4. Does not have eggs boxes that jut out from the side but are still easy for children to collect eggs from

My carpentry skills are limited, but got better as I went. The children helped and I hope I was able to teach them something along the way. I was planning on taking it slow over the entire summer, but Jillian got me started on Easter weekend (the first weekend in April) and we finished the first Saturday in May.

The site, between the two pre-fab coops we will be getting rid of (or burning)

After digging the holes, I had to cover them so the hens wouldn't fill them back in.

The start of frame, view from the northeast. I cemented twelve 8  foot 4x4's 2.5 feet into the ground.

early framing, view from the west. The south side (right of this picture) is the roosting area

A snow storm interrupted progress. We were blessed to not have blossoms freeze despite the snow.

A u-shaped tunnel is built on the bottom in hopes the hens will take refuge there in poor weather.  The chickens enter the tunnel from either the left or right and access the coop proper through the door you can see behind the orange extension cord.

Close-up of the door. We don't have predator problems, and until we do, this will remain permanently open even at night.

The door, opened.

The back side, this will get walled in top to bottom

Siding started, this is a close up of the laying boxes. Below you will see pictures of a door going over this. The latch is low enough that Payge can reach, but not younger children (Quinton also had a habit of throwing eggs at chickens last year).

A close up of the venting put around the top 8 inches of the coop. The roosts are in the background.

Our barred rock pullets on the roosts. The primary roost is a large wooden ladder that came with the property when we bought it. We placed a dowel a little lower so they can access the higher ladder. Sunlight is coming through the ventilation protected by hardware cloth. 

The finished product. The tunnel access is on both the left and right. The large door in the middle is for cleaning access. The bucket under the left tunnel access is filled with extra feed. The smaller door on the right is access to the laying boxes.

An ameuricana checks out the laying boxes. The upper laying box is not divided, maybe I'll get to that someday, but I suspect the hens will use just one box as they have done in the other coop.

Here you can see the access door behind the ramp. This picture is taken standing in tho doorway of the large center door. Hardware cloth blocks all put the entry in case we ever actually need to use it.

The coop as seen from the back yard, just after freecycling the old coop. 

Treehouse Museum

In late January*, Jillian ran a Thrive foods booth at a homeschool conference in Ogden at Weber State. While she was there, I took the short people to the Treehouse Children's Museum and got these cute pictures. 

* January 2015, yes, I know, I'm getting these up out of order

She thinks she rules the place

Quinton the firefighter

Ride that train like it's a horse

Except for Quinton, these people are all related and organizing a grandchild photo shoot. Some proud grandparents of 17 grandchildren will be wondering who this 18th child is for ages to come.

Her highness will not be listening to you at the moment

Spiral Jetty

There is a piece of artwork on the north end of the Great Salt Lake called the spiral jetty. If you've heard of the Golden Spike Museum, you go there, and then follow a dirt road another 16 miles. When the water is low, you can walk out to it. I have camped there with my scout troop, and Zachary has gone with me, and we had an open afternoon to take the rest of the family to see.

The jetty (picture taken from the end of the dirt road you must follow to get to it).

Running on the salty beach.

The children loaded bags with salt, which they intended to start a business selling

Zachary and his bag of salt

Another shot of the jetty from the hillside above the parking area.

Lillyth woke from a nap at the last minute and popped out from the baby wrap to photobomb this shot.

Camping

While Zachary was off on a scout camp, I took Chayce, Payge, and Quinton up Providence Canyon. I let the girls pick the camp site. They selected one next to the creek, right on the single track, across from a shooting range. Fortunately, it was late evening and the gun enthusiasts soon left. The mountain bikers kept coming through until dark. After dark, kids started dragging the canyon (what ever happened to dragging main?) blasting what sounded like carnival music with cars decked out with florescent lights in the interiors of their cars.

Roasting dogs. In theory at least. Mostly getting soot and ash on them. 

I could high-five the cyclists from my hammock. With the noise of the creek and the the 10 yards between my hammock and their tent, I couldn't hear the short people, which didn't make me feel obligated to repeatedly tell them to go to slee. It was a peaceful night to watch the moon rise while in bed.

Shortly after this picture, s'mores were made using pop-tarts. 

Cold, but not frozen.

Trapped

Lillyth snuck upstairs, but after a while called out for help. She had crawled into her diaper basket, but couldn't get back out without tipping the whole thing over.