New Coop: We Built a Chicken Palace (and Survived)!
It’s done! Our feathered overlords finally have their dream home. Here’s the chaotic tale of how we pulled it off, for anyone who may consider this option.
We started with two boxes that promised they would become a Lifetime 8x10 shed with skylights—two big ones and a row of little ones along the roof. Lots of natural light in case the chickens want to party under the stars.
The Base: A Curse-Filled Odyssey
The shed demands a fancy concrete pad or wood platform. Did we do that? Ha, nope! Instead, we went rouge and put together an 8x10 cinder block rectangle with a middle row, stuffed with sand, gravel, and rock. The ground was sloped, so we dug, swore, and dug some more to level it.
The Build: Less Pain, More YouTube
Shockingly, the shed went up without a hitch. It’s 500 lbs of plastic and metal frame but the pieces were light enough for us mortals. The doors, though? We wrestled those suckers for hours to make them hang right and shut without attitude. The instructions were written by someone who hates humans, so YouTube became our guru. Pro tip: worship the algorithm. Oh, and the shed’s vents are decent, so our chicks won’t suffocate in their own sass. We drilled concrete screws into the base to keep this beast from sailing away in a storm.
To-Do List: Send Help
Still gotta carve out a hole for the auto door (praying I don’t botch it), hang roost bars, and drag in the nest box. Also, I’m hauling 2 tons of construction sand in my poor Jeep Gladiator—four trips to the gravel pit, because apparently I hate my suspension. Send snacks.
I will have pics this weekend once it’s chick-ready. Our feathered dino’s are clawing at their tent, so it’s good this is almost done or they might make it out and take over the living room!
