Nestled into Chrissy and Chris Doolen’s acreage, a retreat-style visitor cottage emerges from the forest. No! What? On nearer inspection, it’s a hen coop!
As DIYers, the Doolens began with a 30-by-40-foot backyard in 2011. Then in February 2012, Chris constructed Chrissy’s 13-by-13-foot artwork studio. A steel smith, Chrissy is knowledgeable artist who makes use of torches.
“Chris was actually fascinated about getting me out of the home,” Chrissy says with a smile.
The 2020 pandemic’s meals shortages alarmed the Doolens. They wanted to feed themselves and their rising household of rescued cats and canine. That they had the backyard however wanted a protein supply for themselves and their animals.
And Chris was pondering forward, contemplating a meals scarcity would possibly repeat itself sooner or later.
Eyes on Eggs
Rooster eggs appeared the best protein. However the Doolens dwell within the East Texas Timberland Area, which hosts more-than-can-be-imagined wildlife, together with a variety of raptors akin to bald eagles. Herds of deer are all over the place.
The San Jacinto River Basin has lakes, creeks and swampy areas, too. So even alligators are on the prowl.
The host of predators required the hens be confined, and Texas climate necessitated sturdy hen breeds. Plus, ever-the-artist Chrissy wished a various, feathered flock, with a rainbow of colourful eggs.
She studied web sites for concepts to design an artsy coop.
“We had 4 to 5 coop design evolutions earlier than we got here to the intersection of ‘sure, I can construct that,’” Chris says. “It was all Chrissy’s thought. But when we had been going to do that, I wished to have enjoyable. The chickens present a sustaining, wholesome meals supply for Chrissy, myself and our canine and cats. It’s additionally satisfying that we completed this working collectively each from the design and fabrication perspective.”
And who wouldn’t desire a post-and-beam-style barn of their yard?!
“Chickens have facial recognition,” Chrissy says. “They’re rewarding and enjoyable. Nevertheless it’s additionally a dedication, arduous work and troublesome. They usually include a variety of poop and spiders.”
Of Chris, she by no means thought she might discover somebody who hears her and may translate her concepts right into a tangible actuality. “We went overboard,” she says. “However realizing the chickens are protected makes all of the extras price it.”
Learn extra: The pandemic period impressed chicken-keeping for lots of people, together with this household!
Fence Me In
To deter wildlife, a 5-feet-tall fence surrounds the natural backyard, and 10 raised beds additionally assist. Organically-approved merchandise beat back bugs.
Chrissy grows herbs with pure antibiotic properties, calming properties and general well being advantages for chickens and eggs: oregano, thyme, rosemary, lavender, mint and basil.
“I additionally use herbs across the coop and within the ladies’ nesting packing containers,” she says. “And I develop all types of greens for our household, plus watermelon.”
Chrissy offers the hens every day backyard and leftover treats. When it’s scorching sizzling, she offers them watermelon or frozen treats to chill them down and encourage ingesting water.
A Full Setup
The smaller 400-square-feet hen run features a hen swing and different playground gear. When Chrissy calls a hen’s identify, that hen runs to her. She has roughly 14 hen breeds and never fairly 20 cluckers.
Days start about 7 a.m. with hen chores. Chrissy spends two to 3 hours every day with the chickens, but it surely actually takes about 45 minutes to look after them. Close by compost bins include black soldier fly larvae that digest natural compound earlier than the waste begins decomposing and leaves no odor and limits possibilities of illness within the bins.
Mechanically Engineered
With a level in mechanical engineering, Chris’ profession includes fluid energy movement management methods. He drew architectural plans to match Chrissy’s imaginative and prescient, constructing the hen coop (on the correct) and two runs. He constructed the bigger run by partially utilizing post-and-beam model.
At just below 500 sq. toes, the 4 predominant assist frames match along with mortise and tenon slip joints, then held agency with lag bolts. Chris constructed the primary body, then laid out the second on prime of the primary, third on prime of the second, and so forth., stacking them so that they had been all as an identical as doable.
“I took all of them aside and moved them from the storage to the run location,” he says, “and reconstructed them and put in the lag bolts to carry the body joints collectively. We erected the 4 predominant frames and leveled them, set in concrete.
“We used cardboard tube collars across the posts to offer an additional 6 inches of concrete safety to the submit beams from the chickens kicking up filth and dirt—hopefully to forestall wooden rot.”
As soon as leveled and set, normal 2-by-4s linked the frames collectively, to finish the partitions and roof sections. They screwed on the roofing and roof flashing cowl, then lined the partitions and gaps with mesh wire. It took plenty of staples from the pneumatic stapler gun and a few endurance, combating with the mesh wire to get it as flat as doable.
Enjoyable Run
Contained in the hen coop, chickens are busy. “You don’t need your chickens bored and depressing,” Chrissy says.
“Giving them one thing to do retains them completely satisfied, entertained and wholesome! It was enjoyable constructing all their swings and ladders! I chuckle watching them climb throughout their steadiness beam and swinging with one another.”
Going Out
This door permits chicks out of the brooder field into the develop out pen. Chris created chicken-sized doorways all over the place, however whether or not doorways for chickens or folks, each door has a latch and lock.
Learn extra: Good doorways make for excellent chicken-keeping!
Nesting Bins
Hens use plastic tubs for nesting packing containers that sit in a classic armoire. Electrical followers are mounted far and wide. Working electrical energy to the realm proved price prohibitive.
As a substitute, 4 100-feet-long 10/3 extension cords string from the home to the hen coop.
“It’s 325 toes from our home to the coop, and much sufficient away to maintain flies and smells at bay, and to offer me a cause to stroll extra every day,” Chris says.
“It’s in a shaded space among the many bushes and a excessive level in our yard which retains the runs and coop dry when Texas experiences torrential rains.”
Preserve Out!
Besides snakes, four-legged predators populate the realm.
“Some predators will cease at nothing to eat chickens,” Chris says. “Wire, run alongside the bottom, retains predators from digging beneath and into your run or coop. It’s common welded wire with a plastic coating to maintain the wire from rusting and failing.
“It’s 4 toes vast and goes beneath the cinder blocks on the backside of our run. It’s held in place with panorama pins. The grass grows as much as maintain the wire down for good.”
Protected & Safe
In the hen backyard, Chrissy crops seeds in mesh-
covered grazing packing containers. The chickens eat the greens, however they’ll’t pull up the crops via the mesh.
On the correct are a number of coop home windows. As a result of bobcats will rip open screens, Chris put in bars over all of them. All of the home windows are open through the summer season. Moreover followers, there’s additionally an air conditioner. When it’s steaming sizzling, the Doolens flip it on, cool issues down and switch it off.
Throughout winter, the home windows are closed. The chickens stand in entrance of warmth plates to heat up.
The hen coop is nicely ventilated, and the whole lot is nicely caulked.
“Chickens like temperatures from 65 to 75 levels Fahrenheit. However they put on feather coats. They puff up, huddling collectively to remain heat. I fear about them being too sizzling, relatively than too chilly,” says Chrissy, whose great-grandmother was a farmer from Opelousas, Louisiana.
Reuse & Replicate
A Buff Orpington, Harriet, enjoys the rocker contained in the bigger hen run, which additionally has a ladder and wagon wheel. All furnishings had been roadside pick-ups, from resale retailers, scraps or from social media.
Chrissy selected hen names, drawing from her long-ago-country ancestors, and different sources. “Their names provide you with a sure really feel of the previous, of days passed by,” she says.
This text initially appeared within the January/February 2022 situation of Chickens journal.
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