Monday, August 3, 2009

How much does a chicken run cost to build?

How much does a chicken run cost to build?

Let's see…

We have a trailer full of lumber, plywood, wire and roofing shingles that cost several hundred dollars.

We have the beginnings of assembly in the back yard.


We saved money by buying two 12-foot pieces of wood instead of four 6-foot pieces of wood. But they had to be cut in half. Of course.


So Farmer B got the circular saw. Thought to himself… I don't need to take the long walk to the garage to get eye protection just for two quick cuts. I mean, it's just two quick cuts, right? I've seen Farmer B saw through piles of wood and never had an issue with it. He always wears eye protection. But this was just two cuts.

Wind kicks up at just right moment.

Sawdust in eye.

Ever heard someone say they'd rather gouge out their eye than do something? Well Farmer B now completely disagrees with that expression. Completely and totally. Apparently a splinter in your eyeball sucks. Like really, really, really sucks.

First walk-in ER was on Saturday night. All sorts of gross eyeball procedures. They said we'd be good to go on Sunday morning with no pain.


Sunday morning. Pain off the charts. Trip to second walk-in ER on the other side of town.

Nurse begins eye irrigation, but she can't hold his eye open right. I said "You should use one of those eye contraptions like in Clockwork Orange" - giggle, giggle. Doc says "Great idea! We've got one of those."

10 minutes of eye irrigation with a Clockwork Orange-type eye contraption. Farmer B seething at my suggestion. Numbing drops. Pain killers. Eye antibiotic drops.


Super small pic so I don't get in too much trouble


Diagnosis:

Scratched cornea.

The doc asked Farmer B what he was building when he got the sawdust in his eye - was it a deck, he asked? Farmer B gave me the sharp one-eyed stink eye when he sheepishly said to the doc, "No, it was a chicken run." The doc perked up and said that one of his nurses has chickens and the eggs are to die for! He was quite interested in our brood and started up an excited conversation about chickens.

This didn't help Farmer B's mood though. He still had the Clockwork Orange contraption squirting fluid into his bright red swollen eyeball.

So how much does a chicken run cost to build?

Apparently they're priceless.

13 comments:

Vonnie said...

Oh no! I know who's getting safety glasses for Christmas this year. Isn't that the way. You plan a nice day in the yard and end up in the ER. Sounds like a campfire story in our family.

Ribbit said...

Oh, I cringed and screamed out loud for him. I'm soooo sorry. So, so sorry.

But, will he finish the chicken run?

:)

Lo said...

Our Farmer B :( The stuff he goes through to make his wife happy :)

Daphne said...

AArrrrgggghhhh! The very thought makes me cringe. I hope he is starting to feel better.

I bought some eye protection for when I was building the potato bin. They are stored by the back door near my gardening gloves. That way it will never be too much work to wear them. Even for the smallest project I wear them.

Erin said...

OUCH!!! Hopefully the little ones learned a valuable lesson from all the drama!

Jeff Vandiver said...

That's a bummer....I never wear eye protection, but do wear my prescription glasses all the time. Farmer B has my condolences. I think it's great that you just happened to have your camera with you at the hospital. :-)

Kate and Crew said...

My dad was a carpenter and I never once saw him wear eye protection. The hubby is usually very good about it, but it was just two pieces of wood. What are the chances?

100% obviously.

Ribbit - I am quite surprised and excited to say that yes, he is still planning on finishing the chicken run. I quite expected him to get home and chuck the chickens over the fence to the neighbor's house, but he's moving forward with the run. Now that's one dedicated husband...

Dani said...

Ouch, not the eyes!!!! I'm so sorry Farmer B! Hope it heals up quick.

berrypatch said...

Oh this made me LOL for a couple of reasons. One - we (as in hubby) built a chicken tractor when the chicks were small. Guess what - it's too small. We're going with a regular coop that we (as in both of us this time LOL) will be building. I could so see this happening to my hubby. And second - I know his pain - I've had scratched corneas - not a lot of fun. Hopefully the doc didn't draw an large (!!) eyeball on his eye patch like mine did to me.

hidinginmygarden said...

Ouchy Ribbit! So sorry for Farmer B. But you're right... how soon can he be up and running in the garden? lol

donna said...

Glad your husband is okay and may I say that he's a VERY good sport about the story and photos being posted on your blog. Or maybe he doesn't know??? I suspect he has a good sense of humor like you do. Your little boy with that long curly blonde hair is so cute. Our grandson has long slighly curly hair, only it's dark brown. Maybe a grandmother shouldn't love the long hair, but I do!

Amy said...

Ouch!
My stepson had some rust or something from working on a friend's car stuck in his cornea when he was in high school. They stuck that little disk onto his eye - by the time the saline stopped he could have sworn that thing was some form of midieval torture.
Hope he feels better soon!

Vonnie said...

This is our weekend to get our three ens out into a coop and run. My Frenchman has already started planning a lightweight chicken tractor framed in up-cycled PVC pipe and PVC fence. The plan for our urban chickens was to have a "stealth" coop, but it looks like this bright white 4x6 thing will be very obvious to anyone who passes by.

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