Chicken Stairs

[jthornton]

My next chicken project was to replace the temporary pop door landing that I cobbled up a year and a half ago from a 2x4 a kennel bottom an 8x8 two milk crates a 6x6 and a piece of OSB.

 

After laying out the rise and run based on a chickens leg I cut a couple of 1 x 4s for the stair stringers. I found a couple of boards with only one good end in the firewood pile and used them for the rear support post. Then I rummaged through the wood pile and firewood pile for some stair treads that would be about the same thickness and cut them to rough shape.

 

Rounded over the edges and got the treads ready to install.

 

Took a pithy board and edge glued it together for the landing, assembled and gave everything a coat of Tried & True Varnish Oil.

 

Started working on the bowl tray and landing reinforcement. The arm goes all the way across to keep the landing board from splitting at the white lines which are soft.

 

Building is done now to finish the rest.

 

 

 

Finished stairs and bowls or so I thought...

 

Installed the stairs under the cover of darkness because the hens don't like change at all.

 

Took quite a bit of treats the next morning to get the hens to come out of the coop and use the stairs.

 

After field testing by the hens they showed me that the bowls had a stability issue and needed a longer bottom so they could not knock them out of the holder. So I turned down some cutouts from the bowls to match the bottom and screwed them on.

 

JT

[jthornton]

Oh in the first photo you can see the tray that held crushed egg shell and crushed oyster shell and the tree branch bowl on the wall that held the grit. The chicken bowls were to replace those items and get them up high so the hens quit scratching straw into it. The tree branch bowl is my first attempt at making a bowl on my lathe.

 

JT

Edited March 12, 2022 by jthornton
add info

[4DThinker]

Beautiful work JT.  That should make all the neighboring chickens jealous. 

Of course your chickens may next be asking for hand (wing) rails, and the older ones will be asking for a chair lift.

4D 

[Cal]

Pretty neat JT, you ought to have some happy chicks now!

[sreilly24590]

JT, that's the neatest chicken coop I think I've ever seen. Better living accommodations that some people have. I'd say you're in it for more then eggs....great job.

[lew]

Now those are some pampered chickens!

[Grandpadave52]

Excellent craftsmanship all around JT. Love the back story of where and how you procured the material for the build.

Thanks for all your time capturing and posting the build pictures. Greatly enjoyed and appreciated.

[HARO50]

Nice work, jt, but I have just one question. STAIRS??? Why not just build them an elevator?

[DAB]

21 minutes ago, HARO50 said:

Nice work, jt, but I have just one question. STAIRS??? Why not just build them an elevator?

he tried that, they kept pushing the wrong buttons....

[jthornton]

24 minutes ago, HARO50 said:

Nice work, jt, but I have just one question. STAIRS??? Why not just build them an elevator?

Don't go putting ideas in my head... one day I was sitting on a buddies deck sipping on my favorite beverage and Ray says "JT why don't you build a ballista?" the George says "Don't use a torsion box use a truck spring" I reply well if I had a truck spring I'd build a ballista. Fast forward a few weeks and Ricky walks into my machine shop carrying a truck spring.

 

So I built a ballista with a truck spring.

 

Does it shoot?

 

JT

[DAB]

perfect for defending the castle from the siege army.....

[4DThinker]

I thought that was for dispatching with the chicken(s) that were guests for Sunday dinner. 

4D

[Woodman]

On 3/12/2022 at 6:42 AM, 4DThinker said:

That should make all the neighboring chickens jealous. 

The heck with them, I'm jealous. That would be great for displaying my pine boxes. And shoot, my cat saw it. Now she's agitating for real steps to the high sunny window sill, to replace a stack of rickety boxes! 

[4DThinker]

On 3/12/2022 at 3:45 PM, HARO50 said:

STAIRS??? Why not just build them an elevator?

An escalator might work, although you would have to train the chickens to step on and off otherwise they may get caught in the mechanism.  Chicken stew anyone? 

[PostalTom]

When I saw the title to your post on the topic listing, I was thinking "What the heck are chicken stairs?"  Imagine the look on my face when I realized that they are just like the title sounds.  Just one question though.  Did you eat that chicken leg after using it to measure for the stairs? 

[jthornton]

3 hours ago, PostalTom said:

When I saw the title to your post on the topic listing, I was thinking "What the heck are chicken stairs?"  Imagine the look on my face when I realized that they are just like the title sounds.  Just one question though.  Did you eat that chicken leg after using it to measure for the stairs? 

Well I measured them in-situ, no chickens were harmed during the fit up process.

 

JT

[jthornton]

12 hours ago, 4DThinker said:

An escalator might work, although you would have to train the chickens to step on and off otherwise they may get caught in the mechanism.  Chicken stew anyone? 

Not my hens... they are pets.

 

JT

[Cal]

12 hours ago, jthornton said:

Not my hens... they are pets.

 

Let me see if I can remember this correctly...

 

One day an insurance salesman (remember them?) stopped by a farm and struck up a conversation with the farmer about life in general - just trying to sell a policy.  After a bit a pig came hobbling out of the barn and walked past them.  Surprised that the pig would be lose like that the salesman asked the farmer why it had free range like that?  The pig, asked the farmer, why that pig saved my life!  How so asked the stranger - well, said the farmer - I was plowing out in that field by the barn when I slipped off the tractor and it ran over me!  That pig saw it all, and then he commenced to throw himself up against the fencing until he broke through and then he ran off to the neighbors and brought help back!  Just like Lassie use to do on the picture screen!!!

The salesman was amazed!  So then he asked, I noticed the pig was limping on his way by and looks like he has a peg leg?

He sure does said the farmer, when you got a pig that good... you don't eat him all at one time!!!

 

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

[Grandpadave52]

Wonder if it tasted "like chicken?"

Edited March 17, 2022 by Grandpadave52

[KevTN]

you're spoiling 'em!