Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Update #2 - The "Chick Inn"

Matt and I searched for weeks trying to find a chicken coop that we liked. We wanted something that didn't take up a lot of room, was small enough for 3 chickens and cheap enough to keep our bank accounts at a positive.

We didn't find anything we liked or could afford. So we put together a design of our own.
We sawed, measured and hammered for about a week straight. It was a lot of work but so worth it. The finished product turned out better than I could have ever imagined.

Matthew is the man. He painted it and framed it the same color as our own house. I am so impressed with the "Chick Inn!"
We installed a locking "egg" door so that they wont have to be bothered when we collect eggs in the morning.
This is my artistic addition to the house. :) I also made a pretty fancy ladder.
Our lucky chickens even have porch lights. We are hoping that these, along with the solar powered motion light, deter raccoons and other predators from bothering the girls.
They have a lovely view of the garden. The whole front of the coop opens up for easy cleaning and the bottom door is opened for them every morning to have access to the backyard.
Hanging food buckets. These are imperative to keeping bugs and dirt out of the food and water. These were a good investment.
Oh yeah, and the girls LOVE their house. They can dig for bugs in the gravel, sleep in a warm room and gaze our their window.
Every morning they greet me at their front door, and every night they snuggle up together in their roost just as the sun goes down.

4 comments:

merideth said...

u guys are amazing!! seriously so impressed.

Tod Robbins said...

You're my heroes! This is the coolest coop ever. The tech is a nice touch for ensuring chicken safety too! We need to come visit.

The Owens Family said...

That is an awesome chicken coop! Josh wants chickens SOOOO bad but i think out neighbors would kill us! Are they loud? Plus I think that they would tare up the yard and ruin the grass, do you have that problem? BTW your garden looks FANTASTIC! Being the gardening nerd that I am, I REALLLLLY want to know what all that is!

The Grandy's said...

I love that one. My husband and I are going to build one soon and I have my heart set on this one...

http://coopplans.bigcartel.com/product/chez-poulet-coop-plans

I'm too cheap to buy the plans so I'm gonna wing it.

Do they get into the garden and mess with the veggies? We're thinking about fencing them off to the garden and having it open to the grass area. Would you recommend that or will they leave it alone?