Chicken House

Backyard Poultry

Checking Things Out

Did you guess which chick has tried out the high roosts? It’s Acorn again! Before long, all nine were flying up to those roosts to sleep at night. They soon began to like their beautiful house, too. Built in the corner of our shed, the four-by-eight-foot house has a scrapwood floor raised on skids. The right-hand window is covered with screen and a glass shutter. I wasn’t sure at first, but it has proved to be completely predator proof!

The New House

Backyard Poultry

Still Babies

Welcome to the brand-new chicken house! We were very pleased to move the chicks in the night we finished it. As we found out, they weren’t as pleased! Once inside, they began cheeping loudly in the dark, unfamiliar house. After we gave their box and light back, they finally all perched on top of the box sides and went to sleep. In the picture, they’re huddled on their baby roost the next morning rather than the new roosts above . . . Chickens are sure slow to change!

Fun Outdoors

Backyard Poultry

Up on Top

There’s nothing like a bird’s eye view of your play pen! We actually had to lift up the chicken run to get this box in and then crawl inside with the feed and water. Getting the chicks back in the box was even harder: luring with treats, scaring with a broom, and climbing in to catch them didn’t work; eventually we created a cardboard/string system to herd them out. Now I know, this is the first reason not to take chicks outside! (Did you spot the chicks huddled in the back corner? They look pretty scared of Acorn!)

Chicken Run

Backyard Poultry

Moveable Poultry Pen

This is our first chicken run. It was designed to be portable, predator-proof, and economical. Two-by-fours, scrap wood supports, and one-inch chicken wire did make a cheap four-by-eight-foot pen. No raccoons have ever even approached the thing. The catch is the “portable” part—it takes two strong people on each end to move it! Not being wiser, we hauled it around anyway. We’d take the chicks out to fresh grass every warm day and sometimes even move them while in the run!

First Time Outside

Backyard Poultry

Venturing Out

At three weeks old, the chicks were still growing like everything. And with every day, they also became more eager to escape their cardboard box and get outdoors. So here’s the photo of their first time out on grass. From the safety of the box, Acorn’s getting its first taste of lawn weeds with my patient coaxing. Later I found out nobody lets chicks outdoors when they’re only three weeks old—these birds sure had it all!

Forest Fire Photo

Artist's Gallery

Original Scene

Did you think this is my painting? No—I’m not that good—it’s my reference photograph. It makes it clear really how little detail the watercolor has; that’s why artists often use pen and ink on top of watercolor. You can see how I made the green and blue in the painting less intense and buffered the orange. I think the vibrant colors make a more peaceful and interesting scene than the photo. I guess that’s what they call the artist’s liberty!

Forest Fire 3

Artist's Gallery

Final Detail

Now that everything’s dry, it’s time to finish up the tree leaves and pond ripples. I put even sharper detail on the fence posts since they’re in the foreground. After removing the rubber cement, I nestled in some nice barns and houses below the trees. The way to harmonize two contrasting colors in a picture like this is to buffer the intensity of one of the colors.By adding some of the complementary color, in this case blue to the orange, the red-orange does not clash with the intense blue and green. It sounds complicated, but really makes a nice painting!

New! You can now purchase this painting as a greeting card here at my Countrygirl Art shop on Etsy.com!

Forest Fire 2

Artist's Gallery

Darker Colors

Next layers give depth to the light washes—paint a little, let dry, add a darker color, let dry, and let dry! The tree is just beginning to get some good body in the leaves. In contrast to the bright orange, the background trees are shades of brown and blue. There was a trick I used on the background buildings to keep them nice and white: apply rubber cement with a toothpick to those areas, let it dry, paint over it, and then peel up the rubber cement. Much easier than trying to avoid the little houses with that wet paint!!