Chicken Coop in your backyard

Chicken Coop getting the finishing touches

I was in South Carolina a few weeks ago with a work acquaintance and while we were driving to our first appointment he mentioned his new project: a chicken coop. I was very interested so after our meeting he took me to check it out and it was impressive! He tore down his deck to put in a smaller one and he used the old wood from his deck on the coop. They bought about 10 baby chicks for about $2 each and were bringing them up in the garage until they were big enough to get in the coop. They had the backyard fixed in to keep those rascally foxes out!

Chicks getting ready for coop!

They put the coop in their garden so the chickens could roam the garden eating bugs and then turn them into eggs! My only question had to do with noise, but they said that chickens shouldn't be too noisy, it was the roosters that made the noise. While I don't think my HOA would allow a chicken coop, I plan on building one when we move in a few years (as long as there are no city laws banning them). I think it would be a great learning experience for kids. Along with a compost pile, they are a great way to make your backyard more sustainable!

Here's an interesting coop featured on MNN and Jetson Green has a bunch of great posts on chicken coops. I like their one on modern chicken coops.

Tags:

backyard chicken coop

chicken coop

modern chicken coop

Comments

psmith Sat, 07/16/2011 - 02:35

I don't think my wife will let me keep chickens. (at least until I talk her into moving to the country)

ckmapawatt Sat, 07/16/2011 - 21:42

Don't you live close enough to the country as it is? Come on, a few chickens wont cause any harm!

Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 06/02/2011 - 01:03

I recently completed my backyard chicken coop to house my 6 hens. They are currently 6 weeks old and so far so good. BTW, we are currently prohibitted from keeping chickens here but I will be working to get that changed.

Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 06/01/2011 - 16:17

Two words for you and other aspiring backyard chicken folks - Chicken Tractor. Also, in areas like Seattle, they recently changed city codes to allow for backyard chickens - even in the metropolitian areas; which is pretty neat.

Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 06/07/2011 - 19:59

My daughter's family in downtown Portland, OR have chickens in the backyard

Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 01/29/2012 - 11:31

I have maintained a small (20+) flock for many years. Being fortunate enough to have a few acres in the suburbs of Atlanta they are allowed to roam, truly free range. I have a small devoted customer base who value human treatment and delicious eggs. I have to give a word of warning! It's very cute to speak of a coop, or chickens at all, in the garden. Really, how sweet a notion it is to believe you will be the happy recipient of free pest control! What you will actually get is a marauding group of opportunists availing themselves of every tomato, squash and scrap of lettuce your garden can dish out! It's true that the birds will happily take any insect that they happen across but their overall effect will be negative and if allowed to free reign will end in more or less complete destruction of most of your treasured crops. I don't wish to burst anyone's bubble but I feel the truth needs to be put out there.

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 01/30/2012 - 15:58

Johnny, You make a very good point. Those of us with small properties need to keep the chickens contained in escape proof, predator proof runs. I would love to let mine free range but my limited space does not make that practical. Jeff

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