Long story here! Earlier this spring I got caught up in buying baby chicks. I knew we were needing a few more as some of our original flock is getting old and they aren’t laying anymore. But, I got a little out of hand and ended up with more chicks than our little coop could hold. Who could blame me, those little chicks are just so darn cute! And there were so many different kinds to choose from! And everywhere we went there were these little babies needing to be brought home! Unfortunately, about the time we were looking to buy or build a new coop, the price of lumber skyrocketed and we were not sure what we were going to do. Then Joe’s brother came to the rescue. He had this little building that he had originally built to be a playhouse for his girls. Well, he never got around to finishing it, the girls are grown and have families of their own, and he really just needed the building to be gone.
So off to Coon Rapids we went, Joe, Don and my dad tore the building down into pieces, and we hauled it home. Then Joe and Drew got to work. I couldn’t for the life of me see what Joe saw as far as how he was going to put this back together and attach it to his shop but I knew he knew what he was doing. He put the walls back together and changed the roofline. Then he moved the whole thing to the side of the shop. Drew loved that part – he was the one who got to drive the 4-wheeler and pull the building!
Then the work began. We used as much lumber as we could salvage from our woodpile but had to purchase windows, flooring and steel. But even at that, it didn’t cost us a fraction of what a new building would have cost.
The girls have been in it all summer. They love it and I love it. Choring is so much easier now. And gathering eggs is so much easier. And it will be so nice this winter to be able to go inside a building to chore and the girls won’t have to go outside if they don’t want to as I their feed and water will be inside. I loved the little prefab coop we originally had. It served its purpose well. And we still use it to house a chicken that the others pick on. But this big coop is just perfect. And then, over the weekend, Joe did this:
He added this sweet little porch. I just love it! It is so darn cute! I am so blessed to have a husband who knows me and what will make me happy! I love my silly chickens, I love having eggs to give to others and I love my sweet little chicken coop. And so do my chickens!
It turned out so great! I love how that came together. I love chickens, and miss mine, but it was time for them to go from here, and they live well at my daughter’s home.
The added porch is perfect! Your chickens will enjoy those pumpkins, too!
I can’t imagine not having chickens now that we’ve had them for a few years but you know yours went to a good home! Yes – the chickens will get to enjoy the pumpkins one of these days! They are pretty spoiled and get all kinds of fun things to eat!