When you think of chickens what comes to mind?? Well after seeing these little girls (and it looks like 2 – 3 boys) grow and feather out from their soft, downy, fluffiness…I don’t see dinner!! Those clean, pudgy fryers that I buy at the grocery store could never have been one of these cuties….I have to keep that separation…at least at this point. Tony thinks differently, he thinks that when the time comes we will have a delicious meal sitting before us that once was in the chicken coooo…..uhmm …house. Only time will tell, although I have no doubt that if it were the best option to feed the family he wouldn’t hesitate….but, there is a grocery store 3 miles away….and hunting has never been his thing. Age and time has a tendency to change you…maybe it will me too……but I’ve named them, maybe I shouldn’t do that.
Shelter….that was the big question on our list a couple of weeks ago. What are we going to use for a chicken shelter as they grow out of their brooder? We started looking around for premade chicken coops. There are some really cute ones out there, but I couldn’t see 10 fully grown chickens spending a rainy day or many successive rainy days, as we have here in Oregon, squished together in such a small area…. #1: these little gals like to stretch their legs… #2: I don’t want them having to be so squished together that they have poop everywhere they walk. I realize that they are going to have poop everywhere they walk no matter the size of the chicken coop….but if the shelter is a little bigger, it will be more spread out and they won’t have to be walking through fresh “piles” of it. That’s my inexperienced way of thinking. It may be really inefficient in poultry management principles…but doesn’t it make sense…a little?? BTW, Tony agreed with me on this one. 🙂
Not being able to find just the right shelter option, Tony decided to build one. We thought about contracting with Adair Homes (our home builder), but decided to take the project on ourselves…hahahaha. After looking at many different plans, Tony decided to combine a few different ideas, and the chicken cooooo….naw….chicken house was built. It really is a thing of beauty….
Tony Building the Chicken House (with a little help from Penni)
The Two Rooms and Nesting Box without Interior Wall
The Front People Door
Clean-Out Trap Door
Looking Out the Chicken Door
Roosting Ladder
Looking Out from the Chicken’s Area
Nesting Boxes
The Work Area and Egg Gathering Side of Nesting Box
Looking Out the Chicken Door
The only thing left to add now are the chickens…………….
BTW…our family would like to wish your family a Happy 4th of July!!! Our prayers go out to our wonderful country, that our footing would once again become solid in it’s foundation, and that God’s hand would not be lifted as we continue to move away from the principles that made our country great. May God continue to bless our United States of America, and may His people never forget the sovereignty of His love.
Build Me a Dream 
Comments on: "Chicken Coooooo…… naw……. Chicken House!!" (2)
We decided early that when our girls stop laying we eat them. 😛 As such a few of our girls have names to remind us of that intent; Crispy, Tender and Nugget Chickens live in our coop. If we don’t we could face 5 years of barely-laying hens eating five years of feed, essentially making our eggs cost some $9 a dozen in the long run. That’s a lot for free range eggs!
LikeLike
That’s a good point!! We’re thinking that our original 4 are safe from the fryer…but the second brood bunch are named after different types of wines…for some reason, I look at them a little differently :o)
LikeLike