Chicken Run (part three)

It's crunch time. Got to get serious. It was slow at the yarn shop so I left Errol in charge and headed home to put up some fence. First I had to unroll it and get it all ready to hang.


Yes, it was a mess. Whoever took down the pen, instead of rolling the chain link nicely, had piled and tangled it into a heap. Thanks, unknown dude. My husband thought we should just toss it and buy new. Hell no! I paid $25 for this....and I'm gonna use it. All I need to do is remove the edge wire and straighten out the edges a bit. No problemo. Yep. They're a mess.


This is a job for wire cutters and pliers.


I'll cut the wire and remove it from the edge, then I'll straighten and reattach the edges on the fencing. Good thing I like puzzles.


Aw. Look how pretty it is, all straight and tidy. Let's roll it up and get ready to hang it.


See, unknown dude? This is how it SHOULD look.


The tension rod is in place and it's ready to attach to our frame.


Looking good, so far. Let's get it pulled around the corner and get those wire wraps attached to the tops and bottoms. I put a LOT more wraps than the video said. I put them every other diamond, top and bottom. I don't want raccoons getting in....or chickens getting out. I'm not sure if I put the wire wraps on correctly, but the chickens won't care.


I had some speed parts. Here are the wire bits I removed from the top and bottom edges, as well as the chain link I didn't use.


Now all I have to do is hang the gate. Only one problem. I want it to swing to the right. Which means I have to remove it from that last pole, and place it on the first corner pole. Husband would've just left it to swing to the left. Not on my watch.


There. All better. Now to install that last pole.


Husband had bought 2 new bolts to replace the stripped out one, and one that was missing completely. The other bolts holding the clamps were 10mm. So I pulled out the socket wrench, and no dice. The bolts were too large. Great. Now I get to rummage around in the toolbox and try to find the right sized socket. Of course it was the last one I tried. Seems these new bolts are 7/16. We're back in business.



All done. So far, this pen is 100% girl made. And a clueless girl, at that.


Did my husband tell me how to do it? Not one bit, other than showing me how the socket wrench works. Any assembly help I had came from that video on the Petco web site. That's a damn good video, BTW. I gave him the list of parts I needed, and he picked them up for me. But I will need him to install the hardware cloth on that last panel, behind the coop. And his other job is to rig a door for the coop, and predator proof the egg hatch. Another female in the family had a big accomplishment today, too. Joanie laid her first "really big" egg. It looks like a double yoker. Here is today's egg next to the size she usually lays.


Good job, Joanie. Willoughby girls rock!