Our homemade chicken coop

We've been raising meat chickens for a few years now and each year we've learned a few  things to add to our list of disasters and a few to add to our triumphs.  

Let me explain how we started.  A few years ago when we lived in the city we built the worlds most expensive chicken coop.  You can read about it here.  In many ways it was fabulous - for 6 chickens.  When you get a few more - like 50 meat birds - it won't do at all.

Every summer that we've had chickens at the farm they've been in different pens.  We would solve one problem by making a change the next year only to create more problems we didn't anticipate.  The first year we used the only pen we had available in the barn but it was a little small for the 60 chickens that lived in it.  We figured they would be outside most of the time anyway and it WOULD BE FINE.  Leaving the feed in their pen at all times was also a mistake as it caused them to grow too fast.  We didn't get the chicks until September which meant they needed 8 weeks to grow to full size which also meant we were getting into wintery weather by the time they left.  Oh dear - can you say chicken poop?  They were the laziest chickens you ever saw. They hated going outside even though we chased them outside every day.  They just sat and got fat and pooped.  End of story.  By the time they were ready for the butcher we were REALLY happy to get rid of them because the coop was impossible to keep clean. Without enough exercise and with too much food they got so big they had leg problems too so we lost a few birds in the process.

Fast forward to the next spring when we had the great idea to build them a huge pen.  You can read about that here.  It was such a good idea except now we couldn't get them to gain weight because they got TOO MUCH exercise.  They didn't have any leg problems though!.  After a few extra weeks of feed before we brought them to the butcher we ended up with really yummy but rather scrawny birds.  Sigh*  I don't think we got close to breaking even when we sold them that year.

So - lets try that again!!!  We recently purchased an old dog kennel through Kijiji - it's 5x15 feet and made of chain link with a good sturdy door.  We know from our past coops that Overkilled Fort Knox is the way to go. There can be NO WAY for animals to get in or reach in.  

We started by wiring the chain link fencing on far more securely than it was originally - we wanted to keep a dog (and others) OUT!   We used two 4 foot pieces of hardware cloth on the ground and zip ties to connect them together - slightly overlapping the pieces.  This provides a strong bottom so predator animals can't dig under the coop.

Then we wrapped the top edge of the kennel with 3 foot wide hardware cloth - attaching it with zip ties as well.  The bottom section is a full sheet of lattice.  It covers the hardware cloth on the top and is connected with zip ties again to the frame and the hardware cloth that makes up the floor.  The roof is plywood sheets cut to fit so there is a 6 inch overhang ( 4 sheets cut to 6 feet each - the roof is 6 feet wide and 16 feet long)  We cut an old tarp to size and stapled it on top.  We were going to have the tarp overhang and peg it to the ground but it made the interior too dark.  It took some creative cutting to fill in all the little spaces around the door to create a tight fit but with enough space that we could still open the door.

After adding shavings and a waterer we had to solve the problem of feeding 50 starving chickens at once without them killing each other in the process.  They get pretty excited when they're hungry.  We have multiple feeders but they never seemed enough.  I solved the problem by purchasing a new 10 foot eaves trough with ends and screwed some 1 foot pieces of an old 2x4 across the bottom to act as feet - I used four pieces.  When it's situated in the middle of the coop the chickens can access it from both sides and finally there is room for everyone to eat.

The coop is bright and airy and doesn't smell bad at all...of course I am not really an expert on that subject! There is great air flow, plenty of space but not too much space and it's a safe place for them to spend the night.  We also built the coop within sight of the kitchen window so I can keep an eye on them.

In past years we let them free range as far as they wanted to - but sometimes they didn't come back.  Our losses were just too great so this year they are kept in a large fenced area.  They still have access to plants and bugs and sunshine but they don't disappear as someones lunch!  So far this year we haven't lost any birds to predators.

We also situated the coop in the shade of several large trees.  Meatie birds are not that smart and sometimes when it's really hot they will lay in the sun and die of dehydration before they get up and get a drink.

The rake in the picture is my Chicken Encourager - I use it to gently encourage the chickens to leave the coop!

The fencing we used is something we've also used to fence our vegetable garden.  The material is a plastic mesh that comes in 50 foot rolls for less than $15.00.  The posts are a little pricey but since they can be easily moved and re-used we thought it was worth it.  You may be wondering why the fence is so short - it's only two feet tall. The fencing comes in three foot height as well but the due to a problem in the pricing for the fence posts it was more economical to buy the two foot fencing instead.  We've found that our meat birds grow so fast that they don't fly very well.  Occasionally one gets out but they never go far and the fence is more to contain them than to keep them safe from predators. 

This coop is not going to be used in the winter - it's a little too airy for subzero temperatures but it could be modified in a pinch.  Necessity is the Mother of Invention they say!  If you can get a good deal on a kennel and shop around or use what you have already have you can make a similar coop and have the fencing like this for under $450.00.  If all goes well it should pay for itself this summer and last for many years.

The chickens seem to like their new digs and are growing well!  Three tries and I think we got it right!!

New chicken pen in the Jesus Tomb

Summer is in full swing at the farm and we were in need of some more space for some of the animals so we fixed up what we affectionately call The Jesus Tomb.  When we first arrived at the farm it was the creepy building with about a foot of old cow poop in it - dark and dirty and full of junk.  We ignored it for almost a year barely venturing a peek in the door until one day we decided to have a better look.  We cleaned out the ancient poo and took the wooden covers off the windows and discovered that there might still be some life in the old place. Eventually we decided to use it as our meatie bird pen and after lots of elbow grease and some carpentry work by my kids and myself all we needed was a better door.  Son-in-law Joel to the rescue.  He spent a whole day re-building the frame and installing a new door and finally we were ready.

We moved the 60 meaties we have currently into their new home yesterday.  They seem happy with the extra room to move around.  We built a temporary outdoor run for them this morning because we didn't want them venturing too far and forgetting where home was.  It's a thing of beauty huh?  Old snow fence and a few T-posts and voilà we have a run.  This would of course NOT be strong enough to repel any intruders but with the sheep and the donkey near by we haven't had any problems during the day with free-ranging.

We have been fortunate to have had a stash of leftover wood and random bits and bobs left here by the previous owner.  It's been very handy to have it all around but we're getting near to the end of the pile!

This building must have been a chicken coop in the past as it had a chicken-sized hole in the wall.  The "hatch" was made out of old backdrop sets from a drama company now defunct - thus the fancy paint job!


As we were standing and admiring our work I asked the kids approximately how big they thought the pen was - we decided it was about 18x24. My son added that it was almost as big as our house in town - we laughed - the chickens have it pretty good!

A minute later we hear the clop clop of tiny hooves - ON THE ROOF!  The building is set into a hill and as you can see in the picture above it's only a a foot or so from the ground to the roof. Harriet the baby was happily running across the metal roof with no concern at all for her safety - I could imagine her falling off the roof!  We improvised some rope and all the branches laying around to prevent another incursion.  Hopefully that will do until we can think of something else.  There's one in every crowd herd!


Tomorrow morning the rest of the new chicks arrive - 100 Black Sex-Link egg layers and 120 more White Rock meaties.  It will be full-house for the next few weeks.

Questions & Answers about Chickens from Sharon

Sharon and I have been emailing each other the past few days and I asked her permission to share our conversation - she said yes :)

Hi, Anita in Canada! Sharon in Nevada here, again. I saw that beautiful picture on your blog and now I have a ton of questions... How did you get started with your laying hens? Did you start with chicks or full-grown hens? And then I've heard that we need at least one rooster if we want eggs... is that true? We used to have chickens when I was a child, but I have forgotten the answers to all of these questions, so I hope you don't mind me pestering you about them.

I love your enthusiasm Sharon! Oh what an adventure you have awaiting you with chickens! So much fun!

We got “18 weekers” the first time we got chickens – that means they are almost ready to lay. They cost more of course but if you calculate the feed required and babysitting of chicks you might find as we did that it was worth it to have some success right off the bat. They were laying eggs regularly after the first week or two. We got ours at the local feed store/coop and honestly unless you can order easily from a hatchery it’s the best way to go. Later on we did buy from people on kijiji/craigs list but we haven’t always bought healthy birds that way and you can risk your whole flock if they bring disease with them. Better safe than sorry until you get the hang of it.

You do NOT need a rooster to make eggs – only to make baby chicks. I didn’t know that either J If you think about the birds and the bees it makes sense. The kids and I watched Magic School bus in hopes of finding out the answer and we DIDN’T – hee hee - so someone had to explain it to me.  Roosters are handy for protection as well but they are unnecessary FOR EGG PRODUCTION and the crow all day long some days not just in the morning. I rather like the sound but the kids have been known to groan and roll over and go back to sleep with visions of shooting the rooster right out the bedroom window J

I think she means this one!

The photo you have on your blog page of the big bowl full of eggs looks like a little piece of heaven to me!

Even though we live on an acre here in Nevada, we are not allowed to have chickens because we are inside the "city" limits. The good news is, we are moving to the "country" soon, where we CAN have chickens, and are kind of excited about setting up a coop. Any hints you can give me? Do you turn them out to scratch? Or is your hen yard big enough that they don't care? If you do turn them out, how do you convince them to come back into the coop? Do they come when called? Or is there a food motivator? (My horse has a food motivator!) Where we'll be going there are coyotes and raccoons, both of which love chickens, but in the wrong sort of way, so I really do want them locked inside their coop at night where it will be safe and they can at least make it to Day Two.

Any hints you can give me would be greatly appreciated. We go through a lot of eggs at our house, and recently the grocery store topped $2 a DOZEN for large eggs. UNREAL! I know there are reciprocal costs involved in growing your own, but still, I am looking forward to it.

Thank you! I hope all is going well in the frozen north. We are finally getting a little bit of snow here (but it is LATE).

~ Sharon in Nevada

 

Our chickens are locked up tight in their coop for the night and let out later in the morning.  We wait till 10am or later in the winter so they lay their eggs in the nesting boxes or else they will lay them all over the farm!  We let ours free range during the day and they look after themselves really well.  They get into the kitty food sometimes – actually they race to the back door to see if there is any left and then fight over it J  Night time is easy – once they know where home is they will go back there every night at dusk.  When you first get them lock them in for a few days so they get the idea that THIS-IS-HOME.  Trying to get them to come in earlier than dusk is a bit of a challenge and shaking a feed bucket works after they learn that the sound means food.  They will learn quickly so having a pail of kitchen scraps and leaving them in the same place – preferable near the coop –will train them quite well.  Problem of course if you free range is they will follow you everywhere – to the mailbox, in the garden, for a walk down the road – unless you can distract them first and then sneak away.

We have coyotes and racoons here too. We have a donkey and some sheep as well and we think just the smell of the donkey has kept the coyotes away from the barn.  We have lost a few to foxes though and several to racoons too.  The key is making their indoor coop predator proof.  You can find lots of info online about how to do that.  We have a big-old-bank-barn so we made an old cow pen into a coop.  It works great and most of the walls and the floor are made of concrete – once they are in there – they are safe.

I can’t honestly say you are going to save money raising chickens – it will depend on the feed situation.  I am still working on a LT solution of growing some of the feed myself but it looks like it will be many years before I get the hang of that! One step at a time!

Eggs for $2.00 is a good deal J  I sell mine for $4.75 a dozen and that just covers the costs.  Of course once you eat a farm fresh free range egg you will never want the grocery store version again!  YUM!

Hi, again!  Thank you so much for writing me back right away.  Yes, it's true:  For the first time in probably six or seven years, I find that I am VERY excited about the future and looking forward to things to come, and I have you to thank for helping me realize that.  That actually makes me feel better about the current "space" that I'm in.

The $2 a dozen price is for store-bought eggs, large size (not XL), and that are most definitely not free range, and I totally understand that part about once you have a "home grown" you won't want to go back.  The same can be said for tomatoes.   I know that there is an expense to feeding them (the chickens, not the tomatoes), but I am also looking forward to my own fresh eggs.

 (I can't wait for fresh tomatoes!!)

Good news about the rooster.  I was not looking forward to the cock-a-doodle-doo's at the crack of dawn and beyond.  I DO remember the annoying crowing that (you're right) seemed to go on at all hours and not just at sun-up.  But then, we had a screwy rooster, and as I recall, he ended up in a pot of dumplings.  Not sure if the excessive crowing had anything to do with that, though, or not, but the end result was the same. Yum!  I LOVE dumplings!

http://www.backyardchickens.com/

Here is a link to a website I used to study-study-study, back in the day.  I guess I need to study some more.  My son, who's been asking to raise chickens since he was 7 years old (he's just turned 15) wants to help build the coop and chicken run, and there are several fun designs in this website.  You can go from beyond simple enclosures, to chicken tractors (a concept that struck me as hilarious), to creating your own chicken princess castle, to an entire western frontier of buildings.  In addition to the plans, most of the coop designs have many, many pictures of step-by-step construction, so you can actually see progressive photographs of how they were built.  I just pulled up the website after eons of not looking, and see that they've expanded to include chicken breeds and many more interesting bits of information.  Feel free to share with whomever.  Oh, and yes, you can use my question in your blog.  :-))  I didn't realize I HAD so many questions until I started writing them down.

The backyard chickens website is definitely the place to check out for more information on raising small flocks of chickens.  There are some very creative people sharing their ideas for chickens tractors and coops that will make you laugh!

Thank you again, Anita, for taking time to write to me.  You are always so refreshing to read, and you make me feel uplifted when you write.  You sound like a very happy person.  I will keep you posted as we progress.  It's still one day at a time, but the target timeframe is early this summer.

Oh, wow!  and oh-em-gee!  all at the same time!!

Thanks more than you know,

~ Sharon  :-))

 

You are MORE-THAN-WELCOME!  Hope that helps!  Congratulations on the upcoming move – I know how the excitement can be.  I am still amazed I live here! 

THERE'S-NO-PLACE-LIKE-HOME!

Bless you as you make your own adventure in country living!

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Urban Chickens

The Cost of My Education

When I was in high school I was a mostly average student except in Math - were I was a complete dunce.  My grade nine advanced math teacher gave me and F+ - the plus for trying really hard and still not getting it.  Having to go through life and not understanding the intricacies of higher math didn't really impact me at that stage of my daily life - and I have so far managed without it more or less. Practical math was more my forte - but then again - you be the judge.

My DH and I have a philosophy in life. We are of the mind that a non-traditional financial educational system can be very effective.  Some people have another name for our philosophy - they call it paying Stupid Tax.  We've paid stupid tax many times over our lives and this was no exception - perhaps we should have had a little more input from a professional about building the coop...

Our first chicken coop was some mathematical equation that reversed all the known rules of our Universe or at least everything we had ever learned up to that point in our lives about financial wisdom.  On the whole we're a frugal bunch but somehow it all went out the window when it came to housing the girls.   I'm sure it was OK/LM x BH=UCC which means Overkill over Lots of Money x Big Headaches = Ultimate Chicken Coop

Our chicken coop was amazing!  We started out with our children's playhouse (long outgrown) and turned it into the Most Expensive Backyard Chicken Coop on the planet.  It had to be perfect.  I didn't want my chickens to live in squalor - they were going to live in a Fort Knox safe, Martha Stewart organized, Better Homes and Gardens beautiful coop.  Oh it certainly was.. We designed and painted and fiddled and had Handyman Lew come and make changes till we got it perfect. We even laid sod in the covered outdoor run. It looked so cute and adorable…

 

...until our 6 red sex link chickens arrived.  Darn things pooped everywhere and ate the grass down to mud in less than two weeks.  It seems they were much less concerned about looks than I was. I'm not sure that they appreciated anything since they are rather bird-brained.  They just pecked and scratched and did chicken-stuff while making some quiet clucking sounds now and then and a few loud squawks when laying eggs.

We worried about them being cold over the winter.  DH won't admit this in public but he woke me up several times on cold and blustery nights just to ask if I thought the chickens were warm enough.  My sleepy and half coherent reply probably went something like - if you are so concerned why don't YOU go an check on them and LET-ME-SLEEP!  Ok - I worried too - a little.  But I had been reassured by many others online that they would be fine even in sub-zero weather and it seems they were.

Our coop was not insulated but it was small enough that the body heat of the six girls did add up to raise the temperature a few degrees from the outside.  Of course without the wind it really wasn't unpleasant at all but then again the hens declined to give me written statements.  We installed vents near the roofline to deal with the "fumes" and in nice weather we left the windows - which were covered with hardware cloth - open.  Air quality is of great concern for birds.  A dry and reasonably well ventilated space is more important than a closed up tight and warm one.  One of the challenges of any chicken farmer is keeping the water from freezing.  We used the simplest method - we had two waterers and brought one in to defrost and fill while the other was in the coop.  We changed out the water several times a day if it was super cold but usually once a day was enough in good weather.

The outdoor run caused us the most trouble.  We built it to withstand an army.  We went overkill on the size of the wood we used but it was good and sturdy - you could walk on the joists.  We used hardware cloth - not chicken wire which is far too flimsy and not enough to withstand an attack by raccoon or neighbourhood dog.  We also added polycarbonite panels to the roof so the run wouldn't get so muddy in the rain - that was a luxury I'm not sure was worth the money.  We made one huge design flaw that we were unable to fix and that was the height of the run.  It matched up to the roofline but it was a very VERY unpleasant job to clean out the run while bent over - make the run at least 6 feet tall!

For the record we used chicken egg layer pellets from our local co-op store for feed.  That's pellets instead of crumbs - much less waste with the larger pellets.  I am in the process of finding a more sustainable feed option but it has been problematic for several reasons I won't go into right now.  At that point I was more concerned with learning how the whole farming process worked while not killing the chickens with my lack of knowledge.  Time for getting creative comes with some more experience.

Starting out with any new project means there needs to be some money involved.  I consider it money well spent when I learn from the challenges and mistakes I've made.  When I added up the expenses and divided by the number of eggs we got in the one year the coop was in use I think the eggs came out to about $6.00 a piece.  A great deal don't you think when you consider it also made a chicken farmer out of me and that was priceless!

Backyard Chickens in the City

Sometimes the waiting just GOT-TO-ME. I felt as if I was spending so much time waiting. So - we decided to get CHICKENS for our backyard. Thankfully, we live in a city where backyard chickens are legal but just because they are legal doesn't mean your neighbours will approve. We certainly got some strange looks when we announced our plans - we weren't really asking for permission but we thought giving some of them the heads up was a wise thing to do.

Thankfully, our neighbors were delighted! On one side we have a young family who moved from the country to the city so mom could be closer to school - they thought it was a great idea - they have since become our main chicken-sitters if we need to go out of town overnight. Our neighbors on the other side are an older gentleman and his wife and he had chickens as a child - he was also fascinated with the girls. He says he especially likes the quiet sounds they make. We've given away some eggs when we had an over abundance - a great way to keep goodwill happening!

If ever you think to start this little project for yourself let me tell you - start up costs for us were CRAZY! That's mostly because we're CRAZY!! We built them the nicest coop on the planet! We started with our kids old playhouse and remodeled. We had help from a dear friend Mr. Lew. He came back numerous times to make modifications to our original plan. One of the doors opened up backwards and it was very awkward so that had to be changed, we added a roof to the outdoor area so they wouldn't get rained on or snowed on, we moved their nesting boxes, added roosting bars…I think our eggs cost us about a dollar a piece at this point and since we're moving we can start all over again when we get there!



I still find it completely amazing to go out in the morning and find a little pile of fresh eggs. I feel like a proud momma - wow - they did that "all-by-theirselves"! We decided on Red Sexlinks because that's the kind you could get from the hatchery ready-to-lay. It was the best thing for us but we didn't get to see them grow up from little chicks - maybe next time. They lay the most beautiful brown eggs of all different sizes. I thought chickens laid small eggs at the beginning of their egg laying life span and the eggs got bigger as they aged - NOT. They lay teeny tiny ones and monster sized ones the next day. For those of you who do not know - YOU DO NOT NEED A ROOSTER TO HAVE EGGS. Yes, that was a surprise to me as well. I had quite a conversation with a neighbor as they tried to convince me otherwise.

One day a little boy from down-the-street came over to visit and see the chickens. He stood with his hands on his hips and said: NO WAY YOU CAN FOOL ME. THOSE ARE ROOSTERS. I KNOW WHAT ROOSTERS LOOK LIKE AND THOSE ARE ROOSTERS. He could not be convinced! I told him he could call them whatever he wanted - they laid eggs!

Both of these examples have led me to agree with many others who say: WE HAVE LOST TOUCH WITH THE SOOURCE OF OUR FOOD. Food comes from a grocery store and that's where the thinking ends. No wonder the farmers in my rural area have signs that say: Farmers feed Cities.

I am looking forward to having the space to have even more chickens. It's just one step but it has opened up a whole new world to my family and besides the EGGS ARE DELICIOUS!

My long-awaited adventure of God-proportions continues...