A few years back I decided I wanted and needed chickens. At the time my husband wasn't to keen on the idea, so I sat back and patiently waited (okay not so patiently but you get the idea). This spring we decided it was time and we were ready to welcome baby chicks into our home. We researched breeds, talked to our chicken friends, decided on our egg quantity needs and placed an order with Mill Valley Chickens (a wonderful little family owned farm with a 10 year old chicken master who will just amaze you with knowledge). We picked up our darling little chicks on March 23rd, set up shop in our home office and the chick t.v. began. We couldn't get enough, they entertained us for hours upon hours and it was simply hilarious. The pecking, the prancing and the games were endless. Our next task was deciding whether or not to name them. We've heard mixed reviews but decided at Drier Farms all our furry and feathered friends will have names. So, we settled on Betty for our black Americana, Blanche for our big brown Barred Rock, Scramble for our silly and sweet Naked Neck and Dolly for our beautiful Delaware. Dolly started out with the name Sookie but my husband (remember the guy who wanted very little to do with the little ladies) feel in love with her and decided he wanted to call her Dolly, which fits quite nicely.
We weren't in a rush to start a coop seeing as most books, blogs and chicken lovers say that chicks are usually in their brooder for a good 5-7 weeks. Turns out our little chicks grew quite quickly and there feathers were coming in rather fast. So we (my husband, dear friend Mike and myself) started the coop around week 2. I had a general coop plan idea, I mean who wouldn't after multiple hours/days of searching via pinterest, books and blogs. But honestly I was driving myself crazy with all the options/styles and sizes and also making my husband nuts because I continued changing my mind. So finally, I threw my hands in the air and we decided to wing it (best choice ever!), use things we already had and/or things we could get for free or for very little cost.
And so "Project Coop" began. We spent the first couple days collecting old wood from neighbors, friends, local barns and any other resource we could think of. Once we had a good amount of wood and supplies the boys (Mike and Jeff) built the base in a just a couple of hours. Over the course of the next couple weeks, I worked on the coop with our friend Mike (he has some weekdays off and was willing to come over during the week while Jeff was at work and help me, or should I say I helped him build our coop). After building the base and framing up the main coop, we spent about another 8-10 hours piecing the details together, sweating in the beautiful Pleasant Hill sun and learning all about jig-saws, chop saws and the basics of building (Let's just say a chop-saw is high on my birthday list!). We were getting close but still needed a roof, planter box and to build the nesting boxes. My husband, Jeff came through with some galvanized steel roofing from an old local barn that was being taken down and it worked out perfectly for the roof. I decided to tackle the planter box one afternoon when the little man was napping and It complimented the window and coop perfectly. We added the finishing touches, hardware, plants, ladder and trim. BAM the coop was done!
A big thanks to my husband for putting up with weeks upon weeks of coop talk, coop pictures and a serious coop obsession. A high-five to Mike for all his help- his serious knowledge of building, the use of some pretty cool tools, his creativity and most of all his time. I am pretty sure I'd still be working on the coop if it wasn't for him. Thank you. Our ladies are loving their new home and we are very much looking forward to fresh eggs and long evenings of chick t.v.
Total Cost of Coop $76-Hardware Cloth ($30 for 2 rolls), hardware ($13) and Galvanized Water Feeder ($28)
We weren't in a rush to start a coop seeing as most books, blogs and chicken lovers say that chicks are usually in their brooder for a good 5-7 weeks. Turns out our little chicks grew quite quickly and there feathers were coming in rather fast. So we (my husband, dear friend Mike and myself) started the coop around week 2. I had a general coop plan idea, I mean who wouldn't after multiple hours/days of searching via pinterest, books and blogs. But honestly I was driving myself crazy with all the options/styles and sizes and also making my husband nuts because I continued changing my mind. So finally, I threw my hands in the air and we decided to wing it (best choice ever!), use things we already had and/or things we could get for free or for very little cost.
And so "Project Coop" began. We spent the first couple days collecting old wood from neighbors, friends, local barns and any other resource we could think of. Once we had a good amount of wood and supplies the boys (Mike and Jeff) built the base in a just a couple of hours. Over the course of the next couple weeks, I worked on the coop with our friend Mike (he has some weekdays off and was willing to come over during the week while Jeff was at work and help me, or should I say I helped him build our coop). After building the base and framing up the main coop, we spent about another 8-10 hours piecing the details together, sweating in the beautiful Pleasant Hill sun and learning all about jig-saws, chop saws and the basics of building (Let's just say a chop-saw is high on my birthday list!). We were getting close but still needed a roof, planter box and to build the nesting boxes. My husband, Jeff came through with some galvanized steel roofing from an old local barn that was being taken down and it worked out perfectly for the roof. I decided to tackle the planter box one afternoon when the little man was napping and It complimented the window and coop perfectly. We added the finishing touches, hardware, plants, ladder and trim. BAM the coop was done!
A big thanks to my husband for putting up with weeks upon weeks of coop talk, coop pictures and a serious coop obsession. A high-five to Mike for all his help- his serious knowledge of building, the use of some pretty cool tools, his creativity and most of all his time. I am pretty sure I'd still be working on the coop if it wasn't for him. Thank you. Our ladies are loving their new home and we are very much looking forward to fresh eggs and long evenings of chick t.v.
Total Cost of Coop $76-Hardware Cloth ($30 for 2 rolls), hardware ($13) and Galvanized Water Feeder ($28)