Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Victorian Chicken House

There are some new residents at Hickory Hollow.
11 in all...
10 chickens
and one stray dog
(more about Maggie later)
for now let's talk CHICKENS!!!
Are you ready to see the Victorian chicken house?
She is now ready for the tour!

Doug and Tyler made 10 nesting boxes for the ladies.
I painted them with some left over paint from my bedroom.
That $4 a roll Waverly wallpaper sure is cute!


Remember these little bird needle point pictures?
They look right at home in the cozy hen house above a little wicker shelf.
I am going to keep my eye out for some cute chicken knick knacks.


You couldn't very well have a chicken house without a place to roost could ya?
Doug made this cute little roost out of the handles of broken rakes.


Cute little Mason Jar vintage feeder.


These are our young ladies...believed to be Rhode Island Reds.
The couple that gave them to us, said they may be Bantams, they were free!
These chicks were hatched at our little preschool. They aren't laying quite yet.

They are the sweetest things, they love to be around us.
Probably because they were handled a lot as chicks.
~*~
We do have some hens that are laying,
but they just simply refused to have their picture taken.
They have a slight problem...
called feather loss.
We bought them from the local farmer, where everyone gets their hens from. I called late one evening and they told us to drive on out and get them, it was about 9:30. He plopped them in the pet taxies and sent us on our way. When we got home and got them out, we were stunned! They are they shabbiest, most pitiful lookin' chickens you have ever laid eyes on. Maybe they are molting, I don't know. What I do know is they have already given us 5 beautiful brown eggs.
Hopefully, they will get some new feathers!

See the little egg basket in the corner?
It was Grandma B.'s.
So was this little white enamel chamber pot.


It is now filled with lemon balm and begonias

My little temporary herb garden, garlic chives, oregano, French tarragon, and sage

I purchased this little door knocker years ago!
I had been waiting for the perfect place to put it.
~*~
So what do you think?
So many of you have been anxiously awaiting this transformation from run down play house to Victorian hen house. It really was a lot of fun. I have been teased relentlessly by the locals for wallpapering my hen house, they think I have way too much time on my hands.
You know what I told them...
it is all about priorities!
Ha Ha!!!
~*~
Next time...
Maggies story!
~Jill~

34 comments:

Mary @ Framed and Tagged said...

How stinkin cute is that?? I just hope it stays that pretty after the hens have been there awhile...you do know they don't do housework...8-)
Have a good one!

SashaKay said...

Those are the best kept hens ive ever heard of!
thats soooo Adorable!
I now want hens just to have a cute hen house! hehe!
Have a great day!
Xo

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

I have NEVER seen a hen house that cute! I love it! And sweet photos!

southerninspiration said...

heck, those are some lucky ladies....what a precious little house!!! they should be so happy!

Suzanne

Crystal Rose Cottage said...

I love it! What a cute idea with the old playhouse! I just hope they get their feathers back...poor babies!
~Patti

Bluebell said...

This is unbelievable and so pretty your hens are so lucky I think I could live in this house. I love all the bits and pieces you have around the chicken house it really is a delight.

Stacey said...

I think that's the cutest chicken house I've ever "layed" my eyes on!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Jill! I've missed you! Oh, my goodness! These chickens are completely spoiled to death! The little chicken house is adorable! You are a hoot, my friend!
Be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)

Kim said...

Those chickens sure are livin the good life over there in Missouri Jill! Wowee! What a beautiful habitat. Every bit as lovely as I knew you would make it.

Salmagundi said...

Oh my Jill!!! That is so cute - I've never known anyone that spoiled their chickens like that. But, it is worthy of a magazine spread!!! Did I miss a post about your trip to Nell Hill's store? I saw the one with her house tour. I guess I need to check your archives. Have a great weekend. Sally

Unknown said...

That is absolutely the cutest Chicken Coop I've ever seen. I love all your special touches from the wallpaper to the door knocker. Great Job!

Kim's Treasures said...

Oh how cute! I love it!!! Very pretty chickens!!!

Lisa said...

Your chicks have a beautiful home!

The Mama Monkey said...

Oh, I love it! What a great place for the birds!

I cannot wait to hear about the stray!!

Michelle said...

Fabulous! I really enjoy your blog. Have a great day!

Unknown said...

So Darling! I love it! I'm glad you finished it!

When you talk about locals I have to think of my Aunt and Uncle that have a farm by Peculiar...LOL! I can just hear what my Aunt Connie would say..."Land sakes! Well I never!" :)

Have a great week!
~Liz

Nikki via The Scarlett Rose Garden said...

Those are some high society hens, let me tell ya!
It's just darling Jill. The girls are gorgeous. I have no idea how you will tell them apart tho, lol! Love the names, and you just HAD to have a Cornelia, hehe!
The herbs, chamber pot, and basket are wonderful too.

OK, so have I really been THAT bad with comments?! I went back to your other posts because I was afraid of repeating myself, but I couldn't even find my posts. SO, either it didn't go through or I actually never hit send. I'm also bad about thinking of what I'm going to say and perhaps I never really typed it out! ACK!

Anyhoo, I have been following along. I love the thrift store finds, and I could've sworn I asked you where you bought your fountain. It is perfect!

Nell Hill was lovely too, thanks for sharing.

Hope those chickies get their feathers back soon and I wanna see some perty eggs!
Do chickens take this horrid heat well?
Stay cool yourself!
Hugs!

*Ulrike* said...

Boy, I'll need to show this to my hubby. Your chickens are spoiled!! The most mine get are a new coat of white paint and of course a cleaned out chicken house!

lady jicky said...

Now that is the Ritz for chickens!

Chanda said...

Jill, you and your chicks are so lucky. It is adorable. Glad you have it all finished and enjoying it. My chickens did the same as your's withthe feather loss. Folks around here said I had too many roosters for my girls. I got rid of 2 and they started to look better right away and they do also molt, but usually I think they stop laying when they are molting. Did you know that you can keep your hens under a light during the night in the winter season and you will get eggs all yera long. We did this even thought my dad didn't agree it was right by the chickens, he said they needed a rest from laying once in awhile and he thought we were being mean to them. It's not really mean it's just science. It keeps there eyes dialated long enough to tricks them into thinking it is laying season. We use to keep our show horses under lights in the barn and they would never grow a winter coat, we did however have to keep horse blankets on them becaus they would get cold without the long thick hair they would normally have.

Good luck with your girls, and congrats they are beautiful.

Shanda

cottonreel said...

How about a recipe for chicken curry on the wall--cottonreel

Merrie said...

What a riot! A very pretty riot at that. How cute that you named them all too. Foghorn Leghorn himself would be very jealous.

Country Wings in Phoenix said...

Hi Jill!
I am Sherry at Country Wings in Phoenix. Oh my gosh. I am so excited to see this beautiful mansion for your beautiful ladies. My husband just chuckled and chuckled. These girls are "Uptown Girls" for sure. Inquiring minds want to know do they also have air conditioning in there? Thanks for sharing darlin. It is so absoultely precious. "Country Hugs", Sherry

Nancy Rosalina said...

OH now, This is Too cute!!! Love it all! Can't wait to see more of the Chicken family... ;) nancy

Colleen said...

Those are the luckiest chickens on the planet! Girlfriend,that little house is good enough for me to live in! It is one of the most adorable things I have ever seen. It really, really makes me want to go out and get some chickens!

Rainy Day Farm said...

That is the most adorable chicken coop I have ever seen. I better not show my girls those pictures, or I might have a riot on my hands. I love all your ideas, so very cute.
Don't worry too much about the feathers, they do come back nicely! Best of luck with your gals.

joyh82 said...

Wow your chicks sure have a nice place to nest and lay their eggs. Very cute!

Sharon said...

Oh my! How precious but we raised a lot of chickens when I was a child and if I remember correctly - they are not nice and neat and certainly not particular where they "relieve" themselves. I'm anxious to see how clean your ladies keep their house. If anyone can pull it off, I know you can!

dana said...

Well, isn't that the CUTEST little chicken house EVER!! I'll bet your little flock (is that the right term?) of hens thank their lucky stars they ended up in that swell place!! Hope their feathers are growing back. Dana

June said...

Oh, so darn cute!!! I love it.
smiles,
June

Peg said...

Just stumbled upon your blog. The chicken house is adorable. Those are some lucky hens. I can just imagine what they'll have to brag about at the next hen party!

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

Ok...now I have seen it all! I think it should be featured in a magazine! IMMEDIATELY! That is about the cutest think I have ever seen! Wow! just..wow!
:)

Shirley said...

That is the cutest chicken coop I've ever seen!! What ever gave you the idea?? Now if you could only train them to use a litter box!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Jill,
My name is Becca. I am a new member of your blog, which i find amazing and delightful! I was looking for victorian hen houses on the web , because I hope to start raising chickens in the near future! Hands down, you have the darlingnest little hen house I've seen yet! My question is this, can i submit some of your photos to a new online magazine for bloggers? Or you could contact me and i'll pass the info on to you and you can send them in yourself...whatever is comfortabe. The month of April is all about chickens! Anything and everything. If you would also like to say a few words or alot...LOL...that would be great as well. My fb friend Anna Looper is in charge and the designer of the new online blogger mag. My email is "southernladynred@yahoo.com"
I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Becca

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