Good morning everyone!

Many of you know we purchased chickens (26 to be exact) in March, 2011.   We created a chicken coop out of a shelter on the side of what we call the car house.   It was fine to start with and much bigger than what most chickens enjoy …

Did you hear it?  You knew there was a “but” coming didn’t you?


Now that it is almost a year later, I want to make some changes.

Wouldn’t it be neat to have a girlie looking coop?  Don’t worry hubby — I KNOW this isn’t an option unless one just falls out of the sky.

Adorable!    Picture came from: http://www.therachelberryblog.com/

It would be nothing short of a miracle if you saw something like this here, but I do want to spruce things up a bit this spring!   Much to the chagrin of my husband (who thinks the chickens are a big waste of time), I have my wheels spinning!

Don’t you admit the little pickets around the fence are adorable?

Another idea I have is to experiment and get different breeds of hens.  I really don’t know much about the different breeds since all I have ever owned as an adult are the beautiful Rhode Island Reds.

Check out this web site I stumbled upon.  During the day, you can actually watch this woman’s hens and goats.  Ha.  Adorable!  Her name is Terry Golson and she has a HEN CAM!  What are the chances of me ever setting up something like that?  Slim to none I’m sure, but wouldn’t it be fun?  You can visit Terry’s web site by clicking HERE.  If the hens have walked away from the camera, you can click on the coop cam, goat cam, or chick cam.

In my search for cute chicken ideas, I found this adorable coop at TheFancyFarmGirl.com:

Wow, now this is too fancy.  It must smell better than our chicken coop!  I certainly wouldn't find it a place to lounge and relax.  ha.
That really made me want to clean up my act.  I mean really!  How cute is that?  Those hens are divas for sure!  I don’t want to have an all white coop or furniture in my coop (though I must admit the pictures are a neat idea), but I want to make changes.

For instance, my husband put an old gate in one corner for the chickens to use as a roost.  I want to drag that thing out and give them another wooden roost.  Just easy stuff like that.

With that said, my first project is to have a wooden shed created for the chicken water basins to sit.  If any of you have chickens, you know the struggle of keeping their drinking water clean.   I drew a sketch of a contraption that might keep the chickens from pooping in their water.  I have some friends coming over Friday night to take measurements and make plans for my new water shed idea!  How exciting!   You know pictures will follow once I make some changes.

If you have any cute chicken coop ideas, let me know.

Have a super blessed day everyone!

 

(Photo credit:  1st girly coop, Fancy farm girl coop,