My neighbor Chino the Handyman has been working on a backyard chicken coop, for what seems like forever. My neighbor Girly Girl, {Chino’s wife} heard backyard chickens are all the rage, and had to have some. The Girl and I have been patiently waiting for him to complete the coop {we have our motives}. He’s been at it for 5 weekends in a row now.
When Girly Girl first started talking to me about chickens it was around mid-February. We had just brought home our first batch of baby chicks. And although Girly Girl thought the chicks were cute, she was definitely not interested in raising chicks. She wanted full grow chickens when it came time to fill her coop.
So when she half jokingly asked me if I had any “extra chickens” she could buy from me, I quickly offered her two. For FREE.
Buff the Wayward Chicken and Peter the Trouble Maker.
“Oh sure, I said. They are great egg layers. Green and brown eggs. You’ll love them!”
“Really? Sweet. I’ll tell the kids.”
So every Saturday since Chino has been working on the coop, The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird and I call him for a status update. Hoping, praying, that he finally has the coop completed.
This was last Saturdays conversation
“I just installed the insulation and the roof.”
“Huh? You had a roof the last time we were up there.”
“Roofing, I installed the roofing, you know, shingles.”
“Ah. Chino, maybe you could get it finished if you would just stop adding vending machines and manicure stations for the chickens. They’re CHICKENS… Not tween girls.” C’mon Chino, get er done!”
“Geez, your starting to sound like my wife.”
“It has been 5 weeks Chino. I could have walked to Texas and back by now. Do you think you might possibly have it done this weekend?”
“I hope so. Call me on Saturday and I’ll let you know if it’s time to bring up the chickens.”
“Okay, talk to you then.”
_____________
So what do you think?
Do chicken coops need insulation, tiled floors and weather vanes? Or am I just being impatient?
Thinking about building a chicken coop? I bet if you tried real hard you could have one built in a weekend. Check out Backyard Chickens’ Guide to Coops and Tractors. Amazon currently has it on sale for $14.20.
*Amazon prices can change at anytime.
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Susan says
This is so funny! My son has his first batch? flock? of chickens (EVER!) and recently built the coop.
I guess they DO need a shingled roof, lap siding and slip-resistant steps. And don’t forget the gated picket fence!
He sent me a pic and it is really nice. He thought he had over done it, but went to a yard and garden show and said they charge astronomical prices for a NOTHING coop.
Sarah says
That coop is huge for two chickens! 🙂 They could do a Walz in there.
I’m thinking of building a small coop to keep 3-4 chickens to start with. I thought about insulation, too, because winters can get harsh here. We have a tiny backyard, but I’ve been reading that you can still build a 3-4 chicken-sized coop as long as they can get out and run around a bit. Do you have a hard time rounding up your chickens to put them back in their coop and run? Do hawks swoop down and grab at them much? Maybe we’ll add on a bigger run eventually…
Melissa says
Ohhhh … the chicken coop … so here is my story …. we started with 8 RIR chicks last sping … my husband (hesitantly) built me a beautiful coop … it is raised off the ground, had outside attached nest boxes, huge doors for easy cleanout, and a wired door so I just have to pull the door closed at night to “lock” them in (or more like keep the preditors out) without stepping into their 10 x10 foot COVERED run (here in the northwest I’m glad its covered for those really yucky days that we don’t let them free range). Well after all this time and effort (many, many weekends) he put into the coop (not to mention the money) he has fell in love with our laying ladies and decided he wanted to add to our family this spring … he went sooo crazy he added 23 new babies … which was too many for our little coop … end result we now have 2 coops! 🙂
Lisa says
Finding your blog, Mavis, has finally pushed me over the edge. Yesterday, I ordered 6 chicks from mypetchicken.com and they are scheduled to arrive the week of June 11th. I’m not sure if I should be excited or scared to death!!! 🙂 Guess I should be thinking about a coop of my own….
theresa says
This is our first time raising chickens. It took the husband & brother inlaw 2 weekends to build ours, with shingles and siding.
Heidi says
Oh the coop…..For mothers day I asked my family (husband, 3 boys, & 1 girl) to build me a chicken coop for our new chicks (arrived this past Monday). After they agreed to my request I panicked. My mind flashed to past building attempts that failed. I spent the week before mothers day ordering wood, having it delivered, cutting out the coop parts and pre-painting it to make mothers day go a bit smoother. Now my birds have a future condo to live in:) I found the plan on etsy.com
Question: What do you keep you chicks in for the first few weeks until they can live in the coop? I have ours in the house in a very large rubbermaid tub w/light, food, water, etc. I can clearly see now that they are about a week old that I need to come up with a bigger living space SOON!
m says
Oh my, that is one FABULOUS chicken coop! Buff and Peter will be the happiest chickens in the neighborhood!
If my husband built me something like that, i’d sell tickets for showings. ha ha
Amy says
I think insulation is overkill (they have feathers for a reason), slip resistent floors? eh. Not needed. Our coop has no insulation, made of OSB on the exterior with a metal roof (material for the roof was free!) no insulation. I agree with you, they are chickens. They have feathers to keep them warm. But, if you have the money to do something like that and you want to, go ahead.
Robin in SoCal says
Ok I’ll add my story I asked my husband if he’d build a coop if I finally gave in and agreed to get chicks…5 weeks later we have the Chicken Taj Majal 8 x 8 complete with lineoleum flooring, 2 windows w/ screens, cement shingle roof (hubby got the door at a habitat for humanity store) door has decorative spindles and a glass insert. I won’t go into details abour the run….oh my.
Amanda M. says
My theory is that if its going to be in my yard I don’t want it looking like a pile of crap scraps. Our chicken house has siding, roofing, gutters for my awesome automatic chicken waterer, and windows. My husband is a commercial carpenter and would go crazy with something that looked like crap in the yard full time! So we have a chicken castle and I love it!