Look what finally bloomed today!! Thought it would be nicer to start with an image of that rather than my grotty chicken coop!
It was really past time to clean it out – so after running about with several errands in town, I got home and into the gardening clothes to make a start.
Safety first – all that chook-poo dust and following using lime, best find a mask…
Took a bit of digging and scraping to get the coop back to some semblance of reasonable. The main compost got a boost of poo & hay!
The whitewash is easy to make – one part lime to two parts water. Apparently you can put salt in it too, but I didn’t bother.
It goes on really thin – its amazing how much it whitens when dry!
Even though I still have more to do, at least its been cleaned out. The whitewash helps kill mites and other bugs. I put a load of fresh hay in – it took the chickens a couple of hours but they had kicked half of it out the door by the time I went to lock them up!! Little snots!
I like adding fresh herbs to the coop and nest when I have lots.
Jeff said its like we are pre-seasoning them! 😀
Ruby told me she got into trouble for whitewashing the dunny (toilet) when she was a young teenager. Apparently painting it bright white was a no-no as going to the loo was all very hush hush in those days – the toilet out the back needed to be discreet!
Anyway, it was messy and fun and the chooks looked fabulous tonight up on their roost – all the black ones standing out beautifully against the white backdrop! Will have to take a snap of them tomorrow!
Hope you have had a great day too!
Cheers
Great post… love your sense of humor! Flowers and coop all looking wonderful!
Thanks! It was a bit of messy fun!
Love the white washing technique. I kinda want to white wash a wood wall in my home but am a little scared. It looks like it really lightened the wood a lot! I wonder if I used more water if it would be less white and more wood would show through. Also, I have different types of wood so they may absorb differently. Any advice would be great! I have a very rustic looking home and I am searching for some cheap ways to change the look a bit.
The dried product of what I did is not ‘stable’ If you brush up against it, it leaves a bit of a chalky mark on you – washable, but maybe not suitable for something indoors?? I wonder if people added certain ingredients to make it more like paint. The recipes I read when I googled it included salt, and another linseed oil (I think that was for water-proofing) It sure is a cheap way of doing it though! Very suitable for a chook house, but maybe a tweak to the recipe could be good for inside a home too. At least its cheap enough to test it out on scrap wood to see! 🙂 I’ll let you know if I discover anything else about it!
Good ideas! I’m gonna research this a little more. I love that chalky look!!! I’m gonna browse Pinterest for more waterproofing ideas. I will send you some pics if I ever muster up the courage to go through with it
Would love to see photos if you get around to doing that!! I am really loving going into the coop with its lovely bright feel now!