The secret world of sheds

The shed we 'rescued' from down the street many months back has been sitting, neglected once again, in the corner of the allotment waiting to be transformed into a chicken shed. There are always so many other more pressing things to do (like planting and weeding) that it has been put on the back burner. But with the chicks getting bigger by the day, they'll soon need a bigger night-time hideaway than the hutch, so sorting out the shed has become a more urgent job.

I'm not bad with a saw, and getting more proficient with a power drill, so I gave Alan a hand laying the floor this afternoon. Being a former builder, he was far more measured in his approach than I would have been, so it took us an hour just to get it level. I think the chickens would have been fine on the slope a little (they could all snuggle up in a heap at one end) but apparently that's not the way it's done.

So, many hours and a few bribery home-brew beers later, we now have a chicken shed with a good floor (the top bits courtesy of Alan's old hallway) and a door, all for the cost of a few hinges. Not bad for a day's work.

The chicks also had an interesting morning, as Alan showed me how to cut their wing feathers to stop them flying off (they were getting a little too good at reaching the top of the hutch) and naturally Ethel (the mother hen) went mad, having a good peck and squawk at both of us. She's only just forgiven me, and it's taken a lot of caterpillars, snails and worms to get to that point.


In between all things chicken, I managed to plant out the broccoli into the raised beds and replace the brassicas that had been munched by snails and slugs. Listening to the rain outside now, I think I've probably just given them another night's supper as they'll be sliming all over the place.

The plant sale on Monday went well, and there were a few new visitors to the allotment, so hopefully some may even think about volunteering! The living salad packs (above) went down really well, so I'll definitely do them again.