A Little Chicken Real Estate

The Chicken House

When it comes to designing your Chicken house take some time to research what you want.  Size, style & charm will not only add to the appeal, but will keep your neighbors happy as well.  I live in a home built in 1924 so it was important for me to build a house that mimicked that period.  I went to www.backyardchickens.com and was delighted to find this design called Monica's Chicken House.  I then found myself a good carpenter and he scaled the design down to fit the spot I had in my garden.
This house was designed for three hens.  It is very easy to clean, with many doors for good access.  It is also very solid and has been proven safe from the neighborhood gang of racoons.
This is one tiny house that won't be coming on the market any time soon.

Chicks for Spring

If your wondering where to buy your chicks I would recommend the Urban Farm Store on SE Belmont.  You can find their web site at www.urbanfarmstore.com   Their chicks are healthy, the staff wonderful and the selection great.  Last spring I purchased two Laced Wyandottes and a Brahma.  The Wyandottes are beautiful and lay yummy small brown eggs.  They are social and a good match for our climate.  The Brahma makes me laugh, she has a very strong personality and honks a bit.  She is a very large bird.  Get your chicks early as they will need to grow indoors until they are old enough to live in the Chicken House.  I use a large farm watering trough with a heat lamp.  I keep this in my garden house.  If you have children they will love watching them grow.

The Secret Coop

I am currently working on a Coop that I am really excited about.  I have a very old healthy grape arbor that grows across our back deck.  It gets crazy and climbs all over the place.  I thought it would be fun to build a Coop that the vines can crawl over and hide.  The Coop is built and positioned in the perfect spot for the grapes to find.  I imagine by the end of the summer I will have the look I am after.  I will share photos at that time.

Heres to Happy Days & Happy Hens,

Teri

Here's to Happy Hens,

Teri