Run reforms

As usual the weekend weather was against me. We had almost constant rain, varying from drizzle to buckets of water thrown down (Yes, really that intense. Got me soaked down to my underpants through jacket and layers of clothing in under a minute, and my boots were full too).
As always I ignored it and went out in the garden to fix the run. I had planned to fix it this weekend and I didn't care if the rain gods agreed or not.
Rain wasn't that bad when I started cutting down the trees. I didn't climb them though but instead used a short two step ladder, which was dangerous enough as it was both slippery and kept tilting because of the slope. I was going to used my chainsaw but actually got away using only a handsaw.
There were 3 tops to be cut, and I started from the smallest and moved up in size. My method was to secure the branch with ropes to the fence post, and used another rope higher up to pull the branch outwards as I cut it, thereby forcing it to lean outward and as soon as it got severed it would fall outside of the fence and hang there from the securing ropes. I could then pull it in and put it away. The first two branches worked perfectly, but the third was just too heavy for unbalanced me to pull in (it was still raining and I was barely holding myself on top of the ladder while trying to reach over and pull the branch in) so I left it outside. Figured its dense and sharp twigs would serve better as a cat obstacle on the other side of the fence.
Then, I went further down along the fence, to its shortest point (only 1,5 meters tall) and jumped over a gate to get to the other side. Positioned the branches and other obstacles properly outside of the run, and installed metal netting on the lower part of the outside as well. Now there is netting on both sides so even if a cat would try pushing its way in, it would get stuck on the second layer. After making sure the fence is completely cat-safe, I made my way back to the run, and dug in the post for roof net support.
By this time the rain had gotten much worse and everything was a muddy mess. I took a break, and a few hours later when the rain was normal I started with the roof netting. While I was doing this the rain keep getting worse plus the chickens somehow found it extremely interesting to come out despite the rain and play with me and the net while I tried to focus so I decided to give it a rest after the first two sections were done. At least I covered the trees and the coop, and did almost all parts of my plan.

Stupid rain

The trees are shorter now (still pretty tall) and manageable. At the same time they still provide cover for the birds. The chickens don't seem to be interested in the bush (on the right side) leaves, so maybe I will replace it with something else. I will also try planting quick growing vegetables/weeds all over the run so the chickens can have some green to eat. Still have not found a good tree to put in the run.

Of course, on Monday when it was time to go to work, the weather cleared up and sun came out. Nice, I bet this weekend will be rainy again.

Can Tora has birds?

Lucky for the birds I keep Tora on leash when he is out. He is extremely interested in the chickens.