Help deep clean and repair my SF pigeon coop?

The e-mail I sent out said:

Hello! Who wants to help me deep clean and repair my 10 x 13' backyard pigeon coop? Doesn't that sound fun? My plan is to relocate the birds into the garage for a weekend, pull out the old, wonky nest boxes and tear off the leaky fiberglass roof and replace with a new (needs assembly) nest box and new fiberglass. It will probably only take one day (especially if a few folks can help). I know this is short notice but I wanted to see if anyone was available this Saturday 6/26 or would 7/17 be more "attractive"? Me and the pigeons send you our thanks for considering!

And people said, "Yes"! Can you believe that? MickaCoo volunteer/donor/foster and pigeon rescuer Cheryl helped me so much, she started the day before, meeting me at Lowe's so that she could transport the 12 foot long fiberglass panels and other supplies. The panels caught so much wind on the highway that Cheryl's SUV felt like it was a catamaran ripping across the bay. And of course, she had to put up with me taking pictures all the time.



Here's the before pictures. Notice the ugly blue tarp keeping the rain out because the roof was so old and leaky.






Inside, the wonky nest boxes that I had Jerri-rigged together over two years ago were in serious need of replacement and the whole place needed a really deep cleaning.



Cheryl arrived early (after stopping to buy the ice and vinegar that I forgot) and helped me relocate the 15 pigeons into the room where I first kept pigeons when I started doing this in September '07. Three of the 15 birds, Rocky, Louie and Country, had stayed in this room back before I had my backyard BBQ patio converted into a pigeon coop in April '08.



Cheryl hadn't realized that there WAS a BBQ in the pigeon coop and she wasn't sure that was too cool, considering king pigeons are bred for meat.



In addition to Cheryl, three Mickaboo volunteers came to help out- people that I'd never even met except through e-mail! Robert brought all the tools that I had no idea we'd be needing and invested hours into making the mis-sized pieces and often-inappropriate hardware that I supplied him with into two deluxe, 8-box-each nesting hutches fit for kings. Cheryl cleaned and cleaned and cleaned the coop and Katie and Eric worked on removing the old fiberglass roof and replacing it with a new one (for which I also miscalculated the needed supplies) and so Cheryl swept me back off to Lowe's to get what I hadn't. There was also a lot of work done on finding and blocking off any little mouse holes that hadn't been sealed when the structure was originally done. (BIG mistake- if you're creating an aviary, make sure and SEAL THE ENVELOPE. The whole structure needs to be mouse proof or you'll be creating a little Mouse Utopia- safe from all predators and with a never-ending source of food and water.)



Except for a 30 minute lunch-break, I worked these kind, generous and very patient volunteers like rented mules for almost 10 hours. During lunch, foster pigeon Rascal fell madly in love with Eric and tenderly preened his sideburns and eyelashes.



The weather ranged from a balmy 80 degrees in bright sun early in the day to about 55 degrees in a cold, windy and foggy summer-in-SF night.






The pigeons were full of questions when we finally showed up to collect them and return them to their coop. Katie felt as if they had perhaps formed a committee.



Here the team is assembled pre-pigeons.



And then, armed with a pigeon each, we triumphantly marched out to the new and improved coop. We made the trip three times.





Much was changed but I made sure that (old) Louie's shelf was just as she left it, only much cleaner thanks to Cheryl.



The pigeons were a little shocked to return and find that the nest boxes they'd had in the morning no longer existed and that they had both the thrill and the chore of choosing new ones.







One of the improvements is that the old, leaky and dark roof has been replaced with a nice, new, non-leaky and, for most of the area, clear roof that lets in lots more light. I was charmed this morning when I went out and found Louie basking in a sunbeam right from the comfort of her own cherished shelf, something she never had the luxury of with the old roof.








Two couples, Frances & Country and Rocky & Walter, had been sitting on eggs and so I transferred their nests into the nice, new coop as close as possible to where they had been and Rocky & Walter made the transition without a hitch but Frances was thrown into a perfect tizzy last night. He just could NOT figure out where his nest box had gone and ignored his (ever so prized) egg while searching round and round for HIS nest box.

Finally, this morning, I repositioned it a bit and something seemed to click (though it was now facing in a different direction than their old one had) and Frances settled in and got to work calling his mate Country in to sit on their egg.



Today, Patience, the injured, string-feet feral fledgling was discharged from my kitchen counter hospital and promoted to full-time in the coop and she went straight to the high, snug spot I knew young birds would be especially drawn to. See? I'm thinking like a pigeon more and more these days.



Thanks to Cheryl's gift of "a poor man's power washer nozzle", I was able to clean off the feral pigeons' rooftop watering hole too. It actually took me the whole day today just to finish up a few tiny details that we ran out of time for yesterday. I learned how VERY hard and time-consuming it is to put screws into Melagard board and what an extra challenge long screws are and it made me even more aware of how overwhelming and impossible this job would have been without the help and skill of Cheryl, Robert, Katie and Eric.



Look at this GORGEOUS, new and improved pigeon coop! Can you believe that people would give up their WHOLE Saturday to come and work their butts off for free to help me help homeless pigeons? Well, believe it.



And to Cheryl, Robert, Katie and Eric- I cannot tell you how touched and amazed I am that you have given me the gift of SO MUCH time, talent, energy, skill and generosity. Me and MickaCoo and the pigeons (present and future), thank you. Thank you.

Here's an album with even more pix from the days before, of and after.

My MickaCoo Pigeon Coop Make-over