Luxury Egg-laying

I saw this article in the New York Times today...
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/23/garden/23goods.html?ref=garden



For a cool $3500 you can purchase your own "modernist, high-end" coop (and then assemble it of course). With its 3 levels - a "run" level, a nesting level and a roosting level - the coop was supposedly designed for "discriminating" poultry.

Ah, discriminating poultry. Does that mean they don't poop all over everything? I'd love to see a photo of this coop 6 months in...

Animal Friends

Sometimes my husband amazes me. A year ago he didn't know how to build anything. Now we have a finished coop and run that he basically built (with the help of some friends).

I asked him to build me a bunny ramp... and voilà! He built it quickly and installed it. I was so impressed and grateful. Thanks, Tim. You must love me a lot :)

Here one of my Orpingtons - curious gal that she is - braves the ramp. The bunnies haven't quite figured it out, but the chickens immediately were curious.

I am not exactly sure how chickens and bunnies become friends, but I followed my friend Terry Golson's instructions/advice on her blog. She's my go-to gal for all backyard animal farming information.


Here the bunnies pose - we took our Christmas card photo this morning. Cottontail is on the left, Peter is on the right. August renamed them even though their original names are Floppy (left) and Peekaboo (right).

I also realized today what a wonderful dog I have. He drives me crazy sometimes with his needy golden retriever traits, but he's remarkable. He didn't bark at the rabbits. He wanted to play with them. He kept circling the run, but when I told him to lie down, he did.

Here the chickens eye him. I wanted to get all of my animal friends in one photo... some day!

Red Bird Farm

The second half of the Monument Street Coop is released in their coop! We are calling our chicken adventure something a little less sassy, Red Bird Farm.

When we bought the house it was a snowy day, and strangely there were 12 cardinals (TWELVE!) on the crabapple outside the kitchen window. I insisted on Rhode Island Red as part of our flocks (which should not be complicated, but was) so that we could really claim a farm full of red birds.

The glee of wood shavings...






The inside of our coop...



Stay tuned for photos of the almost-finished coop (more siding, paint, sigh...).

AND a post on...

OUR ROOSTER.

The First Foray in the Run

Thanks to our dedicated, former Navy pilot neighbor, our run is finished! One afternoon he brought over the door because "he needed an indoor project." It was so unbelievably nice of him to help us with this part of the construction. And I think this was the worst part (see my Grave Digger post...).

Just for your information, our run is 10' x 20', allowing 10 square feet per bird outside. We have hardware cloth sunk in the ground, 1' down and 2' in. On top of that is dirt, and then play sand. And then about 35 bags of pea gravel (courtesy of Home Depot) to cover the area. We also have a large plastic tub for dirt baths that I intend to sink.

The chickens, which are growing faster than we can build, LOVED being outside. I tote them in a large plastic storage container from the garage to the run and then release them. August is thrilled to be able to run after them and pick them up on his own. (Note: He did drop one of the Orpingtons and injure her foot... perhaps a bit more supervision on my part would have been better).



The dog is also thrilled (as you can see). He is exhausted running after them.



You can start to see the personalities of the hens as they interact with you. The Orpingtons are so curious and almost like dogs - they'll come right up and climb on you.



The Rhode Island Red are also very brave and inquisitive... and they're a week younger.



I can't wait until they're outside for good!

Just call me a Grave Digger

The worst part of this coop project thus far has been digging the trench for the run. We were advised by many people to dig a foot down, and a foot in so that we could run mesh under the ground to ward off wily digging predators (raccoons, fishers, etc.).

Unfortunately instead of 2 foot wide mesh, we received mesh that was 3 feet wide. Which meant we could either cut off a foot (which in retrospect would have been smarter), or widen the trench. Tim and I chose the latter. It was back breaking and involved removing a lot of roots with a hand saw, but we can always get work as grave diggers.



Here August is helping me fill the hole back in with dirt. Not as bad as digging it out, that's for sure. We are all glad that this part of the job is almost done.

Raising the Roof

My dad came up yet again to help us build the coop. With our lumber delivery we could finally put up the plywood.



It was another exhausting day. But we cut in the door from the old shed and it finally looks like a little house. Big progress.

Lumber Delivery

Lisanne was smart. She bought her coop. Why didn't we do that? The advantages are twofold: 1) it's finished and 2) it will likely have cost less than the one that we have built.

Today we got a lumber delivery from Home Depot. $800 later (or something like that), we have Phase 2 of our lumber needs completed. We have 50 bags of pea gravel for the run, plywood, pressure treated lumber for the run, etc. etc.



The best part about the delivery was the flatbed with a forklift attached to it. August thought this was fabulous - and at 8 in the morning no less. What a way to start the day.

An Old Fashioned Coop Raise

We have joked that this weekend was going to be like that scene from "Witness" (one of my favorite movies by the way). A lot of wood, straw hats and frosty lemonade.

August and his cousin Blair were on hand with serious digging equipment should we need it.



Cousin Jim helped Tim with the framing.



And up it goes... almost like Harrison Ford and Viggo Mortensen. Almost.



I of course played Kelly McGillis - the lemonade was cold and refreshing.



This has been a huge group effort thus far. Friends and family have all participated in getting this coop built. If only it were remotely close to being finished...

Lisanne's Coop Arrives

No, it wasn't an April Fool's joke. Lisanne's coop from Horizon Structures arrived early, along with 2 other coops headed to other Massachusetts chicken aficionados.



The coop weighs 700 POUNDS. That's a serious coop. You can see it just clearing the septic caps. The maneuverability of the flatbed was remarkable.



It's new home - doesn't Lisanne look excited?

Coop Envy

I have been looking at this photo longingly the past couple of days. Maybe it's because my yard is dirt, dotted with piles of unsightly brush. Maybe it's just the touch of sparkle in the chandelier.

All I know is that I have serious coop envy. A few boxwood, a chandelier... a girl can dream.

Framing and Building

Thank goodness for my dad. He can BUILD things. And he has more energy than Lance Armstrong, so he's a good person for projects. Anyway, we hashed out how we were going to build this coop, then headed to Home Depot with Tim and Augu to buy the materials.

Here is a diagram of the floor, which is now 78" x 96" (the finished interior will be 6' wide). Stay tuned for more gripping renderings (to scale no less... that's what you get with a graphic designer):



Here is Tim cutting the studs down. Go Tim! This was his first adventure with power tools since middle school. He is very handy.



Here are Tim and my dad surveying the floor studs.



By the end of the day, we had cut most of the wood for the frame. We had removed all the felt weatherstrips from the windows and sanded them down. Tim and my Dad built the frames for the windows as you can see below.



We are going to have to transport it up to Concord and build it here since we wouldn't be able to get it out through my Dad's bulkhead. It's just too big. Here you can see all the wood packed up and labeled for its trip north.



Don't miss the chicken ramp... Tim built it himself! Bock bock...

A Trip to the Salvage Yard

We went down to Rhode Island this weekend to pow-wow with my dad and make some serious coop headway. After reviewing all the emails that I had received regarding coop construction, and visiting Terry Golson's coop, we revised our design.

One consistent piece of advice (courtesy of the Carlisle Chicken Group, Carlisle being the next town over) was to make the coop bigger than we thought we needed. This was recommended a) because we would soon become obsessed with chickens and want more than 10 and b) because of the hard winter here, it's nice to give them a little extra indoor space.

So we revised the design. Instead of 6'x4', it will now be 6'x8', with two basement windows to give it some light.



And based on the very important knowledge gleaned from my visit to Terry's, we're going to cut through the existing shed's window and replace it with a screen door. That way we can store all the chicken paraphernalia in the shed. This also eliminates the need for a door on the outside of the new structure, which I like.




Tim and I headed to New England Demolition and Salvage in New Bedford, MA on Saturday to try and find some attractive salvage windows for the coop (sorry Terry, you had so many good ideas). This place can be cool, and it can be a nightmare. The people working there are decidedly unhelpful and it doesn't really seem like they want to sell anything (although I find this typical of many antique dealers). However, if you find good stuff, it's worth it.



Here Tim shows off our narrowed-down selection of screen doors.



Here he is with the door of choice ($35)... and the windows.



I originally picked some Victorian sidelights for the windows that were very sweet, but the gentleman wanted $100/each for them. My chickens are not going to be that snobby. I picked up these vintage storms for $20/each. They need a little love, but they're solid.

When you see a SEA of salvage house parts, it's a little depressing. All those homes... in pieces. It's a bit shocking that there are so many usable pieces for home building out there and yet we all go to Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. just because it's easier. Now granted, it IS easier. But I do love the hunt, AND we're recycling :)

A Visit with Terry Golson

Today was an exciting day! Augu and I were invited to visit Terry Golson's home, to see her gorgeous coops and her chickens. Terry is the author of The Farmstead Egg Cookbook and Tillie Lays an Egg, a wonderful new children's book about a curious chicken at Little Pond Farm. She also mans the rocking "Hen Cam" which I link to on the sidebar.

Terry lives in the next town over from us and has a flock of hens on 3.5 acres. She has TWO coops (serious coop envy), one sweet shingled coop decorated with salvage windows that I fell in love with. The other is more like a small barn, pre-fab and FANCY from Country Carpenters, which she used to photograph Tillie Lays an Egg and also will soon house two goats.

Since we were getting ready to start planning our coop, I wanted to get some ideas from a chicken aficionado. Terry was most accommodating and had LOTS of great ideas, many of which we will incorporate.



Here is Terry's shingled coop. Love the purple barn door and the salvage windows. Augu tests the strength of the chicken's ramp.



A few of the hens puttering about. Candy, the lop-eared bunny, has a hutch inside the run. This bunny has to be the cutest thing I have ever seen. Augu was scared of her.



Terry has an 8'x16' structure for her coop. Half is devoted to storage for all things coop - galvanized barrels contain shavings, food, etc. A screen door divides the two spaces (the coop itself is 8'x8') and allows for ventilation.



Here you can see Terry's metal nesting boxes and her roost. Terry had an ingenious idea for the roost - it's on barn hinges so that you can lift it for easy clean-out.



Terry shows Augu her lovely speckled Sussex named Lulu... Thank you Terry!!!!!

Building the Coop

Well envisioning it, rather. We are going to build the coop off an existing 1940s shed on our property. Yes, it's sinking into the earth but I have been reassured it can be jacked up and revitalized. It matches the house - yellow with dark green doors and trim.

Here are the dimensions for our coop builders...

Width:


Back of shed:


Window dimensions:


And here is the coop envisioned:


Oooh.... I am so excited.

Apparently we need about 2 sq feet INSIDE per bird. With 10 birds, we need at least 20 sq feet. For the outside, the gurus at Drumlin Farm recommend 8 sq feet per bird. Which makes for a rather long coop.

When do we start building?