Our Chicken coop has been a process. We started planning it out a few months ago with the hope that it would be finished by the spring and thankfully we are almost there, it just needs a little more paint. I sketched out what I had envisioned, with a chicken coop being the center of a garden area with raised beds. I wanted it attached to our back yard so that our dogs could guard them, and the kids and I would have easy access.
We started with the garden boxes. With the cost of lumber being so high right now (thanks 2020) I knew I wanted to use most of what we had around here left over from our barn and other projects first. Of course if you don’t have any scrap lumber laying around you can always buy garden boxes. We ended up with 2 large, 1 long (for climbing plants), and 2 square boxes from the lumber that we had. For our potatoes we decided to use 2 galvanized troughs. We added a fence surrounding the garden and attached it to our backyard. At the opening we used a sheet of cattle panel and made an arbor over the entrance and planted grapes which we hope will someday climb and fill the arbor.
For the Chicken coop we used square bricks for the flooring to make it easier to clean. We built the coop 6ft by 8ft and 6ft tall on the sides with a tin roof. We then added a run on the side with a long-slanted roof that we covered in clear PVC roof panels. On the inside of the coop I used a window that came from my great grandparents house that had been saved when it burned down, and a nesting box I picked up at an antique shop with a ladder for the chickens to climb up and roost on. With a little wood shavings on the floor and a heat lamp the chickens were ready to move in and I was so happy to have them out of my house.
Our garden is a work in progress and I can’t wait to see it in full bloom. The kids enjoy it as much as I do and I love having them be a part of it. We always keep an eye out for treasures and happened to find a bird bath for $10 at an estate sale, it has become the center of the garden.
[…] Overall, the process is really simple and way less intimidating that some might think. Did I mention how rewarding it is to grow something and then harvest it. I know that herbs aren’t that expensive and definitely aren’t going to feed my family, but it will surely season their food. Ha! I’m hoping to try my hand at Blueberry- Muscadine jelly or syrup this year, if I can get to them before the birds and deer do. If you are interested in trying your hand at gardening and never have before I highly recommend a raised bed garden. In this past I have had regular garden and a raised bed. I prefer the raised bed for a planting small amounts of veggies. They are so much easier and are not so overwhelming. Can can see how we did our garden here. […]