According to my mother, the only thing that was missing from my backyard was chickens. I am always talking about the eggs that I used to eat when I grew up in Calabria: the yolk was as orange as the sunrise and the eggs were so tasty that she would often whip a raw egg yolk with sugar and coffee for me as a snack.
A couple of weeks ago she came up with a brilliant idea: the area below the staircase leading into the garden was unused and right next to the fruit trees, where we don’t grow any vegetables. We could build a coop there! This would give the chickens lots of room to roam around, would use wasted space, and they could fertilize the trees.
It became a family project and since none of us knows anything about carpentry it was an interesting adventure.
Here’s the unused area under the stairs where we decided to build the coop:
The bottom floor is made with extra bricks that my parents had in their garden.
Framing the second level:
The nesting boxes:
Our chickens’ new villa. Not quite finished, because it still needs some trim and maybe a coat of paint.
We finished the coop on the very day we had made an appointment to pick up some chickens. We decided that we would get four hens so we could have eggs right away, and each hen of a different breed so that we could have a colorful mix of eggshells. It was difficult to find a farm that sells hens–most people buy chicks that are few days old. After looking around I found TruNorth Farms, which sold us ten-week-old pullets. Because they are so young it will be three to four months before they will lay their first eggs.
Meet our chickens:
Violetta, a Blue Wyandotte
Fluffy, a Buff Cochin with feathered feet
Favetta, a Barred Plymouth Rock
and Gelsomina, an Ameraucana
I can’t wait till that very first egg shows up in the nesting box!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Lucky you! There’s nothing like fresh eggs – that will be so wonderful. I buy all my eggs from a woman down the road who raises chickens. When I open the cartons, they are all different colors. She has some Ameraucanas too, so there are some pretty green/blue eggs. They’re great for fresh pasta.
That’s a nice looking coop for a bunch of non-carpenters. The eggs will seem like normal ones if they’re not foraging for bugs, but if you let them out, they’ll eat the garden. They can go out in the evening, about an hour before sunset, and then they won’t eat as much. It’s so much fun — enjoy!
Stefaneener,
The chickens will have lots of room to get out in the backyard. I plan to keep them out all day. We have enclosed an area of about 20 ft by 10 feet to roam around and look for worms and greens. I hope that the eggs will be as good as the ones I grew up with in Calabria.
how fun! welcome to the world of chicken keeping. my husband & I have enjoyed having the birds. You have a lovely mix there; good luck with them!
you mentioned a mix of coffee, sugar & an egg yolk? what kind of treat was this? a drink?
How fabulous! I remember my Nana’s fresh eggs when I was a little girl and they were simply the best.
Love the chick condo!
We got 6 Ameracuna chicks as day-old babies. We’re just finishing the hen house now. They’ve been staying in a BIG wire crate in our living room. It’s been fun having them inside because we’ve been able to handle them so much. But, I’m ready to have my living room chick free!