Mavis Mail – Gorgeous Chicken Coop From Laramie, Wyoming

Wow! Check out this gorgeous chicken coop and story reader Valerie from Laramie, Wyoming sent in:

“I started following your blog after my hairstylist recommended it to me when I told her that I was the new owner of ten chickens.  My husband and I have been throwing the idea around of getting some chickens for almost a year now, as we have never owned chickens and live in Wyoming we did a few months of research to see what types will work best in long cold winters and settled on the Wyandotte.  In the city we are allowed to have up to 12 animals, with the two dogs, that leaves us with the ten chickens, other regulations is that you cannot have a rooster or have the coop right on your property line.  So if you live in the city and want to have chickens check with your local municipality to see what you can do.

This spring we purchased six Wyandottes and one Rock Partridge.  They lived in our garage for a few weeks until my husband came home with ‘The three reds’ to add to the flock. Thus began our need for a coop, we researched online and melded one we found with our own design and came up with this.  The Coop DeVille…

We used mostly new material and some reclaimed wood for the structure.  We chose not to insulate the structure but have two layers of plywood, one outside and one inside, then fence material on the outside for siding.  Barn wood trims out the doors, window and nesting box lid/roof.  They are able to freely run under the coop with out worry of getting picked up by predators.  Occasionally they are able to run around the backyard with supervision.  The goal of our endeavor is egg collection and 4-H projects for our two boys.  Wyandottes are great egg layers, tolerate cold and confinement well.

Our double barn doors for easy cleaning under the roosting poles.  The doors also have a double layer of plywood, for our long cold winters here.

Inside the coop, two roosting poles for them.  It took them quite a while to figure out how to get up and stay on them.

Three nesting boxes, they are raised up on our retaining wall for easy access to the eggs in the winter.

Hannah, on the ramp for ‘The Girls’ to get inside.

They have been interesting to watch grow up and have developed their own personalities.  They love their fruit and veggie scraps and love to get out and spread their wings and munch on some grass.”

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A big THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in their photographs and stories. I hope by sharing other peoples pictures and stories here on One Hundred Dollars a Month we can all have a rock star garden this summer. Keep them coming!

If you would like to have your garden, chicken coop or something you’ve made featured on One Hundred Dollars a Month, here’s what I’m looking for:

• Your Garden Pictures and Tips – I’d especially like to see your garden set ups, growing areas, and know if you are starting seeds indoors this year. If so,  show me some picture of how you are going about it.
• Your Chicken and Chicken Related Stories – Coops, Chicks, Hen’s, Roosters, Eggs, you name it. If it clucks, send us some pictures to share with the world.
• Cool Arts & Crafts – Made from your very own hands with detailed {and well photographed} pictures and instructions.
• Your pictures and stories about your pets. The more pictures and details the better.
• Garage Sale, Thrift Store and Dumpster Diving pictures and the stories behind the treasures you found including how much you paid for them.

If I feature your pictures and the stories behind them on One Hundred Dollars a Month, I will send you a $20.00 gift card to the greatest store in the world: Amazon.com.

Go  HERE for the official rules.