The area around our coops has always been a muddy mess. Way down on our list of to-do’s was to fix it. Then, within an hour or so, it moved to the top of that list.
We had cement poured for our back yard patio and there ended up being quite a bit leftover. We weren’t prepared for another section of cement being poured, but it was going to get poured somewhere. So, Farmer John threw together a quickie form of mix/match wood pieces in front of our Chicken Hut turned goat home and a cement pad was poured.
PATIO SECTION 1
The beginning of this project was a last minute cement pad. We had the cement dyed brown for our patio, which is why this pad is brown.
I was thrilled! During the rainy months the entire area is a mud pit. In the cold weather, ice sits on top of the mud. I slip every time. I haven’t fallen yet, but I kept waiting for it to happen.
PATIO SECTION 2
The second section I worked on was to the right of the newly poured cement pad. This area is in front of another chicken hut.
It was a bit tricky making sure there weren’t tripping hazards. This chicken hut sits lower than the other one. Any cement pieces obviously had to be lower than the door. So this section has a bit of a slope on one side.
It is a mosaic of pieces. Somebody nearby had cut up an old cement pad of their own and were getting rid of the chunks. We grabbed the ones we could. They are thick and crazy heavy. I loved them, though, once I got them installed. They are really sturdy.
I had a few leftover pieces from when I completed our cement path, so I added those here.
The final pieces were bricks we had laying around.
I didn’t get too perfect with installation. Since the pieces varied in thickness, the most difficult part was getting the pieces to be level on top. Once all the pieces were layed, I filled in the gaps with play sand.
PATIO SECTION 3
This section in front of our chicken tractors took the longest to install. I dug out the grassy bits and poured sand over the entire area.
I used a variety of new bricks, old bricks and hand poured cement stones.
Once I got all the pieces organized and layed in place, I filled in the gaps with sand. These bricks and stones aren’t quite as sturdy as I would like, but it’s not a heavily traveled area so it should be fine.
Wouldn’t ya know, just a week after I had it complete a damn mole came through and pushed up a number of the bricks. Blah.
AND, DONE!
Once I had all the sections complete we had a load of gravel delivered and made the entire area level-ish.
It’s a wonky patio and perfectly us. Ok, let’s be honest, it’s perfectly me. Farmer John just puts up with my wonkiness.
