Ladies in My Backyard

Milk crate run for my three Cuckoo Marans chicks.
(not quite a hen's dream come true)

This spring I made a promise to three very important ladies in my life.  I gave them my word that I'd provide them with everything they could ever need. Three ladies in my life... well chicks: soon to be hens.  Cuckoo Marans hens to be exact, known for their exceptionally dark eggs and their striking black and white plumage. 

Starting this winter I began looking into chicken coop designs.  In the long term I'd like to convert one of my sheds out back into a multi-pen chicken coop where I can raise a variety of chickens; different breeds, sizes and uses.  That coop of my dreams is a ways out and a bit beyond my current coop budget.  Besides, there are many visionary coop designs that balance style with functionality.  I drew my inspiration off of the coop deville a very nice looking coop.

What I liked about many of the different coops I found online was the concept of a 'chicken tractor'. It is essentially a coop on wheels with no bottom that can be walked throughout the yard, allowing the chickens to scratch and eat a fresh patch of grass or garden every few days. The chickens themselves can be the rototiller in the garden between growing seasons. 

My car gave up its space in the garage for the coop construction; giving me the extra motivation to keep working on it throughout the busy summer.  The hens where carted in and out of the barn as the weather permitted.  The goal became to finish the coop before they began to lay, which I thought would be a fairly manageable deadline.  Especially, because it takes a pullet 20-24 weeks before they reach laying maturity.  Ironically, their laying is also greatly effected by day length and won't begin to lay eggs in the fall without supplemental lighting.  Turns out I had plenty of time.

Either way, I was determined to get these chicks a home.  Like many of my projects around the home and yard this one was fueled by materials on hand, scraps from other projects and re-purposed parts.  Everything besides the fasteners, wire, skid boards and wheels I had at the homestead.  Roof and siding were scraps from a project at the garden center, 2x4s were re-claimed boards and the widow was sitting in my garage.  The linoleum flooring was left-over scraps from salvaged flooring used in one of my basement rooms.  In a sense, this project was a great opportunity to clean up the garage. 

Access from underneath provides daytime shade
and keeps the food dry and water in place when pen moves.
(wheels and handle were added after initial chicken release)

Drop down back panel allows for easy cleaning,
nesting boxes are also detachable.

Their first night in their new home.

I finished the coop with time to spare the chickens have spent the better part of a month in their new home.  These three chickens make quick time with the grass and have had to be moved to a new patch every few days. And I am still waiting on that first egg. 

For the winter they'll spend it at their boyfriend's coop over at my folks'... we'll have to see what happens to my flock's numbers this spring.  

Update:  9/26/11

Shortly after moving the hens into my folks' chicken coop with the supplemental lighting, one of the hens laid her first egg.  Pictured is the Cuckoo Marans egg with some of the other variety of size and colors from the farm coop.