Modern Chicken Coop: rough draft created using Google SketchUP
I’m finally getting backyard chickens! You know what that means, it’s time for another DIY project. No, I’m not using chickens as another excuse to build something new. Backyard chickens provide fresh eggs you can’t buy in a supermarket, valuable chicken manure for the garden (more on chicken poop in future posts), kitchen waste recycling, and companionship.
Coop comfortably houses 2-3 hens. Photo: Colorado Chicken Coop.
Now that I’ve committed myself to 365 days of chicken care, I’m on to designing my DIY chicken coop. The internet is full of chicken coop designs, most of which I found over at BackyardChickens.com. I don’t like many of the design styles, but there is so much to learn from everyone’s experience in building coops. Personally, I prefer a modern design chicken coop that will allow (1) easy access to eggs, (2) easy cleaning and maintenance, and (3) provide protection from the neighborhood raccoons.
Google’s SketchUp for DIY Project Plans
My spacial imagery skills are not great and my 3D drawing skills are even worse. I love using Google’s SketchUP tool to help me visualize and construct my future chicken coop (see above photo). The design is based off a model sold by the Colorado Chicken Coop guys for $949. After a few hours of watching the instructional videos and playing around with tools, I’ve become pretty adept in creating 3D models.
Stay tuned for more backyard chicken coop design updates. Coming up: choosing my backyard chickens with help from fellow garden writer experts Amy Stewart, Arlena Scott, Theresa Loe, Chris McLaughlin, and sourcing my building materials from local salvage yards.
What DOs and DON’Ts do you recommend for a new chicken mama?
I have 6 araucana/rhode island red crossed hens. They are hardy and easy to maintain. We get an average of 4 eggs a day, even in the nasty cold weather we have been having. Plenty for 2 people!
Ours love being ‘on the ground’ and get out and scratch around even if there is snow.
Feed laying pellets and scratch grain, and they clean up a lot of the food scraps as well.
We had extra roosters, who have met a new home in the freezer, I know what went in them and they really taste good! Can’t compare to ‘store’ chicken.
Plan for how to compost/dispose of the used litter from the coop. We had four hens and there is a lot of poop. Nathan probably changed it every 10-14 days. Also, if you are going to let them “free-range” through the yard occasionally, be prepared to fence your lettuces, tomatoes, blueberry bushes, irises, strawberries, or any other plant you would like not to be pecked or scratched at.
Wow Jayme – mad skills with the GoogleSketch!!! Good for you… I really, REALLY want eggs – I keep trying to talk the neighbor girls into getting the chickens:) Companionship, ha!
So does that mean you have 12 chickens total Mary? Wow, what could I do with four eggs a day? I’d be the most popular neighbor on the block, or at least the favorite auntie/sister-in-law. I absolutely can’t contain myself, and February can’t come fast enough. Wait…it is just around the corner. Woohoo! Thanks for stopping by Mary! Let’s keep the “chick” talk going.
Kym, dahling, oh how I miss your chicks cakeadoodling in the background during our teleconferences. Those were the days. I plan to train my chickens to sit, beg, play dead, so I’m not worried about them eating or scratching my garden. If all else fails, I’ll install an electric fence. Ha, yeah right…right?!
Lorene, just you wait, those Google SketchUp skills are just about to get better. I learned how to view the inside of my designs. Maybe the neighbor girls need to be persuaded with a little greek-style scramble. Just a thought.
Jayme, we have 6 hens. One rooster. so 7 is the total number. They are crossbred chickens.
Oh, okay, now I get it. Thanks for clarifying Mary!
Hi Jayme! So… any progress on the chickens? I’ve been wanting to start my own backyard flock and was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled on this post of yours. Small world!
Kim
Funny you should ask Kim. I’m in the process of writing a follow up about the chickens. I hope to have something up by early next week, maybe sooner. Thanks for checking back in, see you soon!
So my question is (and I realise I should probably just Google this): If I have chickens, do I *have* to have a rooster to get eggs? I live in quite a densely packed suburb and a few years back, someone a few blocks away had a rooster that irritated the neighbourhood to such an extent, someone took him to court to remove the bird. I don’t want to be *that* neighbour.
This question is very common and I should blog about this very topic. In fact, I will in the near future. The short of it is: no. You don’t need a rooster to get eggs. You only need them to fertilize the eggs to make baby chicks.