When we got chickens we enlisted our grandkids, Katie and Evan (cousins, not brother and sister) to help with the design. Katie is 8 and lives across the street and Evan is 9 and lives two blocks down. We gave them rulers, graph paper, pencils, and washable markers and turned them loose, and we told them we'd use the best ideas from both and add them to our ideas. The only reminders they got were to include some way to get fresh air in and old air out, and that Grampa and I were too old to bend over so we had to be able to stand up in it. I was pleasantly surprised at how clever they were! Katie's design ended up being a pink and purple princess castle - complete with turrets for ventilation. Her nest box idea was great - we used it. Evan designed a little lean-to to hold food cans and tools and such, and although we didn't build that on to the coop because I wanted to be able to move it into the run during winter to make my chores easier, we did built a wooden box for that. Evan's color scheme was fantastic - he marked off little rectangles on the whole thing, outlined them in black marker, then colored each block in either red, yellow, green, or blue. It looked like it was made of Legos, just like he wanted. He even put two circles on the top of the exterior nest box lid so it looked like another Lego waiting for the next one to be stacked on. I came real close to using that, too but calmer heads prevailed.
What we ended up with was a very nice coop. The best part is that it's so easy to use and clean that now when Ken and I leave town (as we do very frequently because of his position as a state wide officer in his fraternity) the two kids alternate being in charge of the chickens when we are gone. Their moms accompany them over, but Evan and Katie know just what to do and need no adult help at all. They gather eggs before they go to school, time permitting. After they get home they put on their coop shoes and let the girls out while they gather eggs, clean the poop board, check food and water and replenish as needed, and then do what they call "chicken patrol" for a little while. They each have a lawn chair out there that they fold out, and they have their "chicken persuaders", long bamboo sticks normally used for staking plants, and they know exactly where in the yard the girls are allowed to roam. If one gets away from them they know to either tap the ground in front of the chicken to move it or behind it, whichever is needed. Then when it's time to leave they toss a little scratch in the run, make sure all the chickens are accounted for, lock everything up tight, change out of their coop shoes, bring in the eggs, mark the date they were laid on top, put them in the carton and pop them in the fridge. Evan does his chores meticulously but he likes the chickens - he's not crazy about them. Katie, on the other hand, loves them and comes over just to visit them. She has even "adopted" one particular chicken, an Easter Egger named Agatha.
They are "just kids", but because they had a hand in the design, the care of the chicks, and moving them out to the coop, they do their chores with the pride that comes with "ownership". I would not have missed this opportunity to share in this family activity for the world. Katie and Evan know where their eggs and fried chicken comes from and understand that we all share the responsibility - that good care from day one results in the best quality of life for the animals and in the end products. I admire people who take the time to include the kids in doing this - and I wish you as much joy as having Katie and Evan helping us has brought to our entire family!
And a very nice egg it is, may your girls lay many more for you, bet it is exciting collecting them every morning!
