Chicken House

It was decided that raising our own chickens (for eggs and meat) would be another step towards long term self-sufficiency. Our plans rapidly evolved from a chicken tractor (what we required would have cost $1,000 to buy since I have negative handyman skills!) to renovating the detached garage/shed behind the house for under $2,500.

We lost power to that structure almost 20 years ago but I wasn't concerned because it was used for storing yard tools, the snow blower, etc. For $875 an electrician determined the splice in the cable from the house had failed, exchanged the ancient fuse box for a circuit breaker panel (with 4 of 6 available circuits populated) and 3 ceiling light bulb sockets to replace the old fluorescent lights. The remainder of the $2,000 will be for a carpenter to repair part of the roof and build a wall separating the chickens from the rest of the space. A door will be built in this wall to give access for people to the chicken coop from the inside of the building. A permanent improvement to an out building is always a more valuable investment.

One circuit would be dedicated to the heat lamp, another for the bird bath heater in the winter which keeps the chickens' drinking water from freezing. During the summer, a fan will replace the bird bath heater and a conventional lamp will be used to extend their laying hours. The electrician reused the conduit that ran around the side opposite the chicken area and back and added a wall switch for the 3 overhead lights. Once cleaned and reclaimed the old workbench and my tool cabinet will have power for tools and lighting.

The building once had a dog run on the side. The opening, which the carpenter will frame and install both a screened and security door, is still visible in this pic. A ramp to the rear corner on this side will also be built to lead the birds out to a fenced-in yard area. The side window will be screened to provide additional summer ventilation.

I am waiting to see how many predators (raccoons, skunks, foxes, hawks, owls, feral dogs & cats) will be attracted by the 2 dozen chickens. The carpenter will fix the 2 sliding doors to the coop so they move with greater ease as well as the double doors to the other part. This will allow the birds to be segregated while one uses the storage/work area of the building.

Our choice of chickens was dependant on several factors; cold/heat tolerability, dual purpose egg/meat birds, egg size, and egg color. We want "easter basket eggs", therefore we chose either brown, blue, green, or terracotta egg layers. We have ordered 3 of each of the following: Speckled Sussex, Ameracaunna, Easter Eggers (these lay the blue and green, and possibly pink eggs), Plymouth Barred Rock (ok we ordered this because the abbreviation is PBR), Black Copper Marans (terracotta eggs), Wellsummers (terracotta eggs), Silver Laced Wynadottes, Buff Orpingtons. An amazing amount of information about raising chickens at home is available at http://www.backyardchickens.com/ .