I am a city girl who never grew up with chickens. The thought of cleaning up chicken poo wasn’t pleasant to me. However, I have to admit that the hens and chicken coop our good friends have down the road had intrigued me for some time.
They made taking care of them look so easy!
When the pandemic hit, it seemed as though my husband and I went through a midlife crisis! The eLearning was driving us all insane! We needed something to do that provided some joy, taught responsibility to our children and kept them from being bored.
Chickens should do the trick, right?
Read more: Good doors and gates are key to a functional chicken coop.
Surprise!
It just so happens that my husband, Blaine, is extremely gifted with woodworking, and I love to decorate! He had already remodeled our backyard shed to be a “she shed,” complete with cedar walls and vinyl flooring. He turned our backyard into an oasis, including a koi pond!
No joke, it’s amazing!
I introduced him to my harebrained idea by coming home with five baby chicks. Isn’t that how all “chicken ladies” do it? To my surprise (and after his initial shock), he had no problem building a chicken coop for them and knew just where to put it!
Our side yard was empty and provided a blank canvas for my husband and me to dream. The area was made for a chicken coop!
While I wanted a small coop for the five birds, Blaine had bigger plans.
(He was way ahead of me on the chicken math thing!)
A month and a half later, he finished building our amazing 8-by-6-foot chicken coop and 8-by-10-foot run for our little chickens.
He built it by hand, out of pine, corten (or weathering) steel and galvanized metal. With insulation donated by a friend, it’s ready for our cold Indiana winters. We currently have one rooster and seven hens and plan on adding a few more to the flock next year.
Read more: Ready for chickens? Here are some tips for chooring the right coop.
We keep Cochins and Silkies. They immediately made themselves at home and have been living happily in their palace ever since.
This coop has been a great addition to our backyard and has brought lots of laughter and smiles to our four children. Now if only the gals would start laying eggs, but that’s another story. For now, they are freeloaders through and through!
Mendi and Blaine Godbey live in Anderson, Indiana, with their four children. Mendi works as a behavior therapist for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
