Raising alpacas is not all we do here at Moonshadow. We also started raising chicks last year and have some laying hens. We'd like to do more and have more options, but space was always limiting and we didn't have a hen house. So it's always good to have friends in odd places and Deb had an ongoing friendship with someone who wanted all the chicks we could provide at a variety of life stages. From 4 weeks on up to egg laying age. For anyone who doesn't know about raising chickens, you can't have all different stages of age living under the same roof. Hens can get rather aggressive and bullish and really aren't healthy for the young ones to be around. In fact, they won't survive it. So we built a brooder box for the hatchlings that has been in our garage, which works well, but creates an amazing dust mess and we would like it outside. Our laying hens have been living in a converted dog run since last summer, which worked very well for stage 2 and 3 of a hens life. The problem now is we have no rotation ability to have stage 1 and 2 going simultaneously.
So back to friends in odd places. Deb's friend ended up having this building she was willing to provide that could be perfect. It was an 8'x12' wood building, they would even deliver it! All we had to do was get it off the truck once it got to our place. No worries! This is not the first time we've moved a building. So for anyone interested in seeing how we did this, we documented it in photos. We have a great neighbor, Roger, who must have grown up solving puzzles, but is amazing at tackling unique challenges. Click on the link below the picture if you are interested in seeing the slide show off getting the building off the truck.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonshadowalpacas/sets/72157626186560023/show/
Okay, so it's not pretty now, but it made it off the truck and has tons of potential. Stay tuned as we turn this little shed into a little haven for our hens!
