It was one year ago when I began a new project. I was going to build a chicken coop and start a little back yard flock. The endeavor quickly grew to much more than just a coop, adding an aquaponics garden and ultimately, re-landscaping the entire back yard.
I started out spending a lot of time surfing around BYC looking for what was and was not working for everyone in coop designs. I ultimately settled in on what I could fit in my yard and what I thought would provide adequate space for the chickens.
I've been pleasantly surprised that very little maintenance is required to keep chickens. The coop has automatic watering for the birds, both in the run as well as the coop. I fill the feeder once every few weeks and so far, I have never had to clean out the coop or run.
I took a lot of pictures over the year. To see everything, have a look at my blog - http://blog.monafamily.com/chickens-the-garden/
The mahogany chat went in yesterday to complete my ground cover, and the fish for the aquaponics garden just arrived 2 days ago.
Below are a number of pictures in chronological order which sort of tell the story of the past year.
This was my initial drawing of how I envisioned the coop and aquaponics garden.
Brought back a load of lumber to kick off the project.
A couple of pictures of the roosts.
There is a lot of roost area in the coop, but the 4 girls all like to crowd together on the small section shown above.
The day the chicks arrived
After a week the chicks were moved out to the coop.
Beginning work on the patio cover for the garden
Patio complete
Chicken nipples used for water. There are 4 more in the run just under the coop.
Happy chickens - grass is in!
We average 3 eggs a day from our four hens.
Construction of the aquaponics fish pond.
Landscaping begun in the rest of the yard.
Lighting added to the garden area.
This weekend the final rock - mahogany chat was added to finish the yard.
Fish were added to the pond 2 days ago -- they are about 1" long right now.
I started out spending a lot of time surfing around BYC looking for what was and was not working for everyone in coop designs. I ultimately settled in on what I could fit in my yard and what I thought would provide adequate space for the chickens.
I've been pleasantly surprised that very little maintenance is required to keep chickens. The coop has automatic watering for the birds, both in the run as well as the coop. I fill the feeder once every few weeks and so far, I have never had to clean out the coop or run.
I took a lot of pictures over the year. To see everything, have a look at my blog - http://blog.monafamily.com/chickens-the-garden/
The mahogany chat went in yesterday to complete my ground cover, and the fish for the aquaponics garden just arrived 2 days ago.
Below are a number of pictures in chronological order which sort of tell the story of the past year.
This was my initial drawing of how I envisioned the coop and aquaponics garden.
Brought back a load of lumber to kick off the project.
A couple of pictures of the roosts.
There is a lot of roost area in the coop, but the 4 girls all like to crowd together on the small section shown above.
The day the chicks arrived
After a week the chicks were moved out to the coop.
Beginning work on the patio cover for the garden
Patio complete
Chicken nipples used for water. There are 4 more in the run just under the coop.
Happy chickens - grass is in!
We average 3 eggs a day from our four hens.
Construction of the aquaponics fish pond.
Landscaping begun in the rest of the yard.
Lighting added to the garden area.
This weekend the final rock - mahogany chat was added to finish the yard.
Fish were added to the pond 2 days ago -- they are about 1" long right now.
