This year has flown by. I have been meaning to paint the Convent since May, but the inclement weather has made it a bit difficult. So, today, while the weather was fine, I decided to just get on with it.
Painting the Convent has two purposes. Firstly, it should protect the wood from the worst of the winter weather, and hopefully prolong the total life of the coop. Also, it just looks better. I picked up the paint months ago, so all I had to do now was keep the girls away. Easier said than done.
I hung about this morning until Doris had finished laying her egg. No one else made a move for the nest box, so I set about dismantling the coop for a clean, and began the painting. After an hour or so, most of the first coat was applied. It was at this point that Mabel began pacing back and forth by the netting. Oh bum.
I hurriedly completed the first coat while fending off an increasingly agitated Mabel. A hen that needs to lay is completely single minded, and my top hen would not be dissuaded. Time and time again she bounced/jumped/crashed over the netting and attempted to barrel her way past me into the nest box. In the end, I gave in and let her enter the run.
She looked around at the new decor, looked at me, and then bobbed her rear end to the ground and deposited a large poo. Now, logically I know that she was just clearing the way for her egg, but I couldn't help but view it as a statement on my choice of colour scheme. With a bad tempered bok, she took herself off to the nest box.
Much to her fury, I propped open the lid. She squawked and screeched at me, doing her best harridan impression. I ignored her though. I wasn't about to risk bumping her off with noxious paint fumes.
Hopefully the colour will grow on her.
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