Our chicken coop is about a year in the making! We started with a cardboard box, and we slowly moved into a coop we bought online. As our flock of three grew to seven, more space became a necessity. This is when we embarked on our final addition to "The Girls' Summer Home" as we now call it. We did take inspiration from "The Chez Puolet Chicken Coop" online.
It was all a work in progress. Even after we started construction, our design changed several times. As you can see, we decided on a New England Cottage feel. Once we broke ground, we could not stop coming up with new features to add on: the copula, vent holes, storage in the back, four bars inside for roosting, batting on the siding, cross-bucks on the doors, and so many more!
All of our signs were found at a local shop.
The three vent holes in the top were added to improve air flow. We hope the chickens won't get too cold in the winter.
There are four bars inside the coop, each getting slightly higher. We have three nesting boxes, but all of the birds seem to like to lay in the same one. The arched design was also an addition when building the coop.
The back of the coop is normal with siding and batting.
The copula has turned out to be a favorite detail of The Girls' Summer Home! Since it was so small, we had to use one sheet of plexiglass per side. We originally wanted to put it on the inside, but that was impossible due to size.
Above is the doorway the chickens use to get up to the upper enclosure from the run below. We decided to replicated the arched design with this opening.
Under the entrance to the nesting boxes, we added separate storage for items such as food tins.
The nesting boxes are simple and easy to access. There is a latch on the door, and it opens down.
Now for the chickens! We currently have seven in our flock. See below:
Goob: Buff Polish. (Above)
Lucy: Buff Orpington. (Above)
Amelia: Ameraucana or Easter Egg Chicken. (The white one above)
Ricky: Silver Laced Wyandotte. (Above)
Coach: Cochin. (Above)
Dolly: White Silky. (Above)
And finally, Ethel: Salmon Faverolle. We adore our birds and don't think we could ever get rid of them after they quit laying!
We would like to especially like to thank two big workers: Brian and Mike. Thanks for the help!!
Well, I hope you enjoyed looking at our coop, and I hope that we provided some good inspiration for your next coop project! Updates will be made to the page as any more additions are put onto "The Girls' Summer Home!!" Stay posted!
God Bless,
lucylover
