The Coop...in mid-progress

Let me begin by saying that it never occurred to me that I would one day own chickens. And that is a huge understatement. That lower case "never" should be "NEVER". In fact, I had always thought of chickens as dirty animals. Mean little flightless birds that were only useful and pleasant if roasted or baked.

A few years ago my cousin Cheri decided to buy a few chickens for her new farm. When we went to the annual Easter egg hunt that she hosts I prepared for the worst...beaks and talons, poop and salmonella, flies and stench. I was so ignorant. (I know, no surprise there).


Instead, her coop was adorable! It was so clean and while there was a distinct odor, I would hardly call it a stench. In fact, it was rather pleasant. The hens were beautiful. Plump with downy feathers in an assortment of colors. I spent the afternoon on the deck, relaxing as I watched them go about their business of pecking and foraging.


At some point I picked up a basket and went into the coop on an egg hunt of my own. I squealed when I found my first egg. (Yes, squealed...it's the little things in life). And I was sold. I needed chickens. Not wanted, needed. As in "my life cannot be complete until I have some of those for myself").

Unfortunately I lived in the middle of suburbia. A planned community with tight rules and regulations. If I couldn't plant tomatoes...I felt fairly certain that a chicken coop would be frowned upon. A move was nowhere in our foreseeable future and even if it had been...it would have been to another equally regulated neighborhood.

That's the thing about the future...not everything is foreseeable. And within 18 months we found ourselves living on a 5 acre lot with no restrictions. I immediately began angling for a chicken coop.

In June, Mark was ready to convert an old goat pen on our property into my dream hen house.

It is now almost mid-August. The coop is almost complete...only a few minor aesthetic things are left to do. The ladies and one gentleman moved in two weeks ago and I am anxiously awaiting my first egg!

I have "before" pics...pics that show the disgusting goat pen before we completely gutted it. I'll reveal those in a later post. I also have "after" pics that show the completed nests and roosts. Unfortunately my card reader is lost so I can't upload them yet.


So, here are "mid" pics...

This first pic shows Mark attempting to square up the existing flooring...evidently the people that built the goat pen had an aversion to levels and t-squares...







This is the beginning stage of the nesting boxes. The side that is above open flooring will be where the ladies nest. The back of the nests will have drop down doors with handles so that you can gather eggs without actually entering the chicken area.

The completed nesting box frame.

The coop has two sides...one side with finished floors that is blocked off from the chickens. This is the area that has access to the nests without access to the poop. The feed and scratch will be kept in this area along with the tools that I need to keep the coop clean and salmonella free.

The other side has a dirt floor. This makes the ladies very happy as they can peck at the ground and scratch around for bugs. The dirt will be covered with a light layer of straw that helps with the smell and the poop. The straw will be composted. (Yes, I will also be composting. I have no idea what has happenend to me, but I kind of like it).

Before and current pics coming soon!

Vegetable Garden...Take two

The spring after Mark and I were married, I decided to try my newly domesticated hand at gardening. I was 3 months pregnant with Chloe and for the first time in my adult life I didn't have to go to work.

Me plus no job somehow equaled a vegetable garden.

I was a little overzealous in that first endeavour. Making my poor husband plow a 20x20 plot on a patch of ground that was pretty much boulder with a bit of dirt sprinkled on top. I planted corn, pole beans, squash, cucumbers, watermelon, pumpkins, potatoes, tomatoes and herbs.

Unfortunately the plot not only lacked proper soil...it also lacked proper light. If I'm not mistaken, my total crop yielded a few scraggly cucumbers and maybe a stray squash or two.

Me plus no job plus garden = FAIL.

It was definitely a learning experience though. I learned enough to know better than to try a second attempt in our second home that had the same crappy soil and the same lighting issues.

For the last 10 years I have yearned for the earthy taste of home-grown tomatoes, grilled squash and cucumber salad fresh from my backyard. And finally, I am about 2 weeks from a dream come true.

The lighting in the backyard of our third (and final) home is absolutely perfect! In order to overcome any soil issues and to avoid tilling up the lawn, Mark built raised beds for my Mother's Day gift.

Behold garden bliss:

Here are the squash and cucumbers just after planting...



And here they are last week...



16 happy tomato plants one week after planting...

And last week...

I am so freaking excited!!!

I also have an assortment of herbs and peppers in a third bed, but they are less exciting at the moment.

*side note: I'm reemerging from a creative and domestic funk that threatened to swallow me whole and I'm feeling more creative and more domestic (and I use the word domestic very loosely) than ever.