Planning the Coop is All Washed Out!

I had to chuckle when Nora and I were watching the Cat in the Hat on PBS one morning. The Cat and the children were talking about bird nests and wanted to build one on their own. The fish smugly commented, "You don't know how to build a nest!" In the sage words of the Cat in the Hat, "I don't know how to now, but I will when I'm done!"

That's the mantra we have to follow to succeed with our daunting coop planning project. It will take time, lots of weekends, but it will be done just in time. We won't be incubating until June so warm (hopefully drier) spring and summer days are ahead of us for building.

If the rain would stop for one weekend, we could really get started on our coop. I can't complain too much, because I planted most of my early spring veggies last weekend and now I don't have to worry about watering them! The next seven days are all forecast for scattered thunderstorms. Such a bummer, and raincoats aren't my idea of a fashion statement! We're itching to get started, so I may have to just take a few rainy days and clean the garage out well so we can start building in there instead. I looked through several books with my husband, Derek, and we decided to start with a coop to accommodate up to 10 chickens. This way we have room to grow and add to the flock next year.

On the bright side, I went to our local library book sale last month and scored a bunch of books for the girls about chickens! I put the books in their Easter baskets and they continually pick chicken-themed books for our bedtime stories.

I also found some nifty wind-up chickens that lay bubblegum eggs for the girls' baskets. It was such a hit!

At my last visit to the library, I stumbled upon a really awesome book that I wanted to share with those out there with little ones. It's called Egg to Chicken/Tadpole to Frog (Flip Me Over) (QEB Life Cycles).

Emu at Reptiland

The book does an excellent job of explaining and defining essential terminology like nesting, brooding, parts of the chicken, what happens inside a fertilized egg and how it hatches.

What's even better, you flip the book over and the other half explains the lifecycle of tadpoles to frogs! The book appealed to both our daughters (almost 3 and 6 years old). Nora, our youngest, enjoyed the pictures and asked questions, while Ara grasped more and asked really thoughtful questions. The book had a picture of an ostrich and its egg, and she remembered her visit last month to Reptiland where they had emus.

She wondered if emu eggs where close to the size of ostrich eggs. I was impressed that she made the connection! This book was certainly apropos.

On a recent visit to our friend Bonnie's house, she gave us frog eggs to take home. Nearly every egg hatched and we now have a little two-gallon tank bustling with tadpoles!

One other book that I checked out of the library turned out to be wonderful for younger ones. It's called Dora's Eggs. It's a board book and the illustrations are great. I looked online and the library version appears to vary a lot of from the retail version.

We were also lucky this past week to meet Bonnie's daughter Raisa's ducklings! As you can see from the pictures, the girls doted on the ducklings and had a blast!

I was really pleased that Raisa allowed the girls to play with the ducklings. As I expected, there were a few ducklings that were a bit tenuous with two young, independent-minded girls!

Nora and Ara held the ducklings, watched them swim in the pond and followed them around as they quacked! Raisa paddled in her kayak with the ducks on the pond and watched after them carefully ... as any mother hen would!

We also checked out their coop. It was a great experience for the girls and it was awesome for us to watch them interact with the ducklings!

Coop on the Cheap! Cheap!

I love to make a game of saving money and spending less. I try my best to get whatever I need for the lowest possible price. I keep a vigilant eye on curb sides and go hunting at yard sales and thrift stores. My husband rolls his eyes when I gleefully show off treasures I found. Scoring free stuff really makes my day and re-purposing (upcycling) is nothing short of awesome!

"Free Friday" at Significant Elements

I've scoured several really great places within an hour's drive of our house. My first success was at Significant Elements in Ithaca, N.Y. (my old stomping grounds). It's a nonprofit architectural salvage warehouse. I shopped there one time many years back to get an old-fashioned door for our home when we became proud "home owners." I've always loved the charm of this store chock full of memories of days gone by from beautiful old houses. I found some magnificent hammered metal handles and matching hinges. Nora helped me count out enough matching screws. We picked up a few extra just in case (those with children understand me completely!). All told for two sets of hinges and two handles and screws cost $4.00. Not too shabby for a vintage touch to the coop. We toured all three floors of their building. Doors, windows, staircases, sinks, bathtubs, molding, and the list goes on.

Awesome array of hardware

The best part and the quintessential reason for my visit was "Free Friday." At the side of the building, was a large sign saying, "FREE." I saw most of the good stuff spirited away in a Prius (who knew they had so much trunk space?). Nevertheless, I scored a beautiful, working pair of shutters. I'm not sure how they fit into the coop design yet or even at all. As we can get some really hot spells, they may come in handy if we can add them to our building plans to ventilate the coop.

I also stopped at a Habitat ReStore shop on our way to Ithaca in Corning, N.Y. I kindly asked at the front desk if they had any free or scrap wood and was directed to the back of the building. I was told you can take as much firewood as you'd like. I grinned and said, "Thank you!"

Significant Elements

I found a sizable hunk of particle board and what looks like an old cabinet front with strips of wood on the back that would work wonderfully for a ramp to the coop. All the scrap wood was outside and still covered in snow. I learned an important lesson that day: Leave leather gloves in the car for pickin'! I started to feel a little like Mike and Frank from History Channel's American Pickers although my treasures are not even comparable to what those guys are after.

More good news to report on our jaunt to Ithaca is my godfather, Mark, was gracious enough to allow us to pick his scrap pile. He is a carpenter and builder extraordinaire and always has leftovers from jobs and remodels. Derek headed over with nest box plans to see if he could find some wood.

There were lots of wonderful leftovers. We scored an unfinished solid cherry cabinet 15" x 12" to use possibly as the base for our nesting box; four, six foot 1x4's; and two, three foot 4x4's to elevate the coop. He made us an offer we couldn't refuse ... all of this for FREE! We steered clear of the treated wood, since we want our chickens and the eggs to be as chemical-free as possible. Derek explained to him that we're building a living/green roof for the coop, and he's going to get us waterproof lining for the roof so it won't rot. Even better, Mark said to e-mail him with our wish list for building materials for the coop and he'd collect it for us as he cleaned out for his jobs. Upcycling people's refuse from remodels warms my trash-pickin' heart!

I also remembered that my mom's next door neighbor handcrafts furniture in his garage and always has wood shavings. I asked my mom to speak with him to see if we can get pine wood shavings for the nesting boxes when the day approaches that we need it. I'll return the favor to both my old neighbor and godfather by sharing the hens' eggs with them.

We still haven't made a final decision on the coop. Our plan is to show you how we make it on the cheap (pun intended), but we need to commit to a coop plan first. From our research online and in books, we understand that the essentials that makeup the anatomy of a chicken coop include: a nesting box, a roost (branch or wood that the chickens can perch on) and a chicken run where they can get outside and hang out. Important, too, is an area for feed and water. The coop must also protect the chickens from the weather and predators. Chickens don't like being wet in their home and they need enough ventilation in the summer that they don't overheat. Cats, dogs, possums, raccoons, bobcats, hawks and foxes all enjoy chicken for dinner. I'm going to avoid this scenario by properly protecting the coop and chicken run.

I'm keeping track of my expenses for the coop, so far:

• $4.00: Hardware from Significant Elements

• $12.43: Building Chicken Coops for Dummies book (Really good plans and general construction tips)

• $13.57: Chicken Coops: 45 Building Plans for Housing Your Flock book (Lacking complete building plans. Unfortunately, the coop we liked gave a web address where you can go to buy the actual plans. Great designs, drawings and photographs to get you thinking about your coop.)

• $16.47: How to Build Animal Housing: 60 Plans for Coops, Hutches, Barns, Sheds, Pens, Nest Boxes, Feeders, Stanchions, and Much More book (Diagram for nesting box, and information on living space requirements; very helpful)

• $4.20: Chickens In Your Backyard: A Beginner's Guide book (Straightforward, easy-to-read advice on raising chickens on a shoestring)

• $50.67: Out of pocket

Pickin' Chickens

Lands at Hillside Farms visit

We all have been busy thinking and talking about the chickens.

The girls checked out pictures online of various breeds. Ara loves Silkies, as do I. We saw them on one of our fall ventures to the Lands at Hillside Farms.

Silkies have amazing temperaments, according to my readings. The drawback is that their eggs are very small. I've been mindful of what breeds I see doing well close to where we live, because they will do the best in our climate. When I started researching last year, I knew I wanted to go with a heritage breed because many are endangered and I'd like to do my part to keep them around. Our neighbor recommended the Delaware breed and explained, "Delaware's are a heritage breed with many desirable characteristics: The hens lay nice brown eggs, the roosters are not aggressive, they are excellent foragers for bugs, they can roost in trees if need be, and the young roosters that you may not want to keep taste great." All great reasons for us. I also learned researching online that they are critically endangered and at risk for extinction.

Some Silkies off to the right by the feeder

Of utmost importance to us is having a breed that will be good with the kids. My first foray into the world of hendom as a child wasn't what I'd hoped for. I was 8 or 9 years old. I can still clearly remember trying to help my childhood friend Molly move her hens to their new coop with her family. Those chickens squawked and flapped and clawed. After trying fruitlessly to move a hen, I backed away from the cloud of feathers and decided to just watch as others scooped them up with ease. It wasn't a scarring experience. I did walk away thinking chickens weren't very personable and very skittish.

Another consideration is consumption. I love brown eggs and the Delawares lay large size brown eggs, perfect for cooking. I have seen an app from MOTHER EARTH NEWS. I finally relented and spent $2.99 for the MOTHER EARTH NEWS Pickin' Chicken Breed Selector App and gave it a try on my iPhone. I have to say I liked it well and it was worth the money spent. It confirmed what my neighbor had told me about the Delaware breed and gave me photographs and more detailed information specific to the breed. Nine other breeds also met my requirements, and we may consider them down the road. So we are going to start with a few Delaware chickens this summer and will add to our flock the next year with a couple of Silkies.

Bedtime Stories & Coop Roadblocks

I purchased a few books and searched for some books at our local library about building chicken coops.  Unfortunately, they weren't what I imagined.  I've searched the Internet endlessly and the Community Cluckers blog.  I have some ideas and great pictures, but nothing concrete with regards to actual plans.  I'm no carpenter, but thankfully Derek has a lot of aptitude when it comes to building and constructing.  Unfortunately, neither of us can put something together without some basic instructions.

I was inspired by one blog where a guy made a really cool looking coop from Ikea items, but there's no Ikea even remotely close to us and the supplies he used were really pricey.  I have a twin size futon frame that has taken up residence in the basement after my college days.  Maybe there's some potential with that piece to be re-purposed.  We have quite a bit of leftover chicken wire from garden fence projects.  More than anything we want to construct a coop on the cheap with whatever we have lying around.  I've ordered another book from the "Dummies" series called Building Chicken Coops for Dummies and Chicken Coops: 45 Building Plans for Housing Your Flock to see if it can get us on track with a design plan or a least give us a better idea of what we'd like for a coop.  I think a chicken tractor would be great.  I like the idea that we could move the chickens around our yard taking advantage of the shade from the pine trees in the summertime or have them closer to the house during those cold, northeastern winter months.  Did I mention that we've had a lot of snow?  "A lot" is an understatement this year!  I also really dig Community Clucker Rebecca Nickols' living roof on her coop.  I make living wreaths, so I have a wealth of sedums in and around and just about everywhere in the garden and lots of good friends always willing to share their sedum bounty.  I am definitely working a living roof into the plans!

On the upside, bedtime stories with the girls have been all about roosters and chickens.  Ara's favorite read was a great find at our local library's book sale.  It's called The Little Tiny Rooster by William Lipkind and Nicolas Mordvinoff.  It's from the 60's and out of print, but there are many used copies available online and hopefully some copies still in libraries.  Another good book we've read is Big Chickens Fly the Coop by Leslie Helakoski and illustrated by Henry Cole.  This one is in print and pretty easy to find.  We picked up our copy at the last Scholastic book sale for $2.50 at Ara's elementary school.  The girls love all things chickens and these books are filling them with excitement and inspiration!

Ara Wants Backyard Chickens!

This has been a constant and long-standing request: "Mama, I want baby chicks!"

Each time my daughter Ara asks for them, I cannot help but roll my eyes, thinking, "Fools rush in ...” The excitement at the idea of chicks crashes over her 5-and-a-half-year-old mind like an ocean wave. Her face lights up, she claps her hands excitedly and jumps up and down, imagining what it would be like to have the chicks.

Both she and her sister, Nora (2 1/2 years old), know it's chick time when we enter the post office in the spring: You can hear the young birds peeping in the mail room, waiting to be delivered to their homes. We've visited the baby chicks at the local Agway for a couple of years now. It's the only thing the girls want to see when we enter the store. They run quickly to the back of the store and beg for me to pick the peeping chicks up so they can take a look. I’ve stood strong and waited for more than a year, and Ara’s still pining for backyard chickens. Nora is pleased no matter what, but she is starting to want whatever her sister wants. Nora’s unconditionally willing to support her big sister's cause.

We took a field trip to our neighbor’s farm last summer and all Ara wanted to do was hold the poults (baby turkeys), as pictured above.

She intently checked out all the chicken coops as Derek and I inspected, too. Both of us were trying to get an idea for a coop that would work in our backyard. Our neighbors kindly offered to loan us an incubator so we could show the girls the entire process of raising chicks when spring rolls around.

It's obvious this is not just a momentary wish, but something Ara honestly wants. I'm hoping this will be an opportunity for her and her sister to learn more about responsibility and caring for another animal besides our cats, who couldn't care less about the girls most of the time. I'm a teacher at heart and love the idea of opening another awesome part of the world up to my girls. This indeed is a wonderful opportunity full of teachable moments. As well, we'll all enjoy the fresh eggs in the fridge. I'll also enjoy the chicken manure which, once aged, is wonderful for the garden. I'm an avid gardener and love growing veggies, perennial flowers, fruit-bearing trees and bushes with the entire family. It will be pretty neat having the hens around!

We've decided we want no more than four hens and two would even be fine for us. I've purchased some books on building coops, so our next step is to pick one that's right for us.

So for our next blog entry, the reading and planning begins for the coop! It is my intent to blog about our journey into "hendom" at least twice a month as we prepare for chickens in our backyard. I'll share the books we use and do my best to explain the highs and lows of raising backyard chickens. We live in rural Pennsylvania on almost four acres of land. So, join us on our journey into hendom!