"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Monday, April 23, 2012

The coop is done!

Our original plan was to build our own chicken coop from scratch.  We had gotten plans and started making lists of supplies, it was adding up to be a lot of time and money.  My sister, who also had bought chicks the same day we did, found an ad on Craig's List for coops.  After both of us talking to the man that builds them we decided it was worth it to just buy one that he built, and bring it home to put together.
My husband and I rented a truck to drive the hour plus drive down south to the town where we would pick the coops up.  The small town of Orting is on a river and pretty rural.  If I wasn't so worried about the directions I would've taken pictures.  We passed lots of farms and ranches, saw just about every type of farm animal and made it where we needed to go.  The man (Donald) that builds them and his brother helped my husband load both our coop and my sister's in sections onto the truck and off we left to go home.  Then we got lost, in a rental truck (with the fuel light warning on), with no phone service.  It all kind of looked the same and we weren't sure if we had passed a part of the river or piece of land or not until we finally came to a crossroads and realized we had gone the wrong way.  Luckily I wasn't fired from my co-piloting job and we eventually made it back home.

 A few weeks ago Sweet Pea helped me get this part of the side yard ready for the coop.  I was so glad we already had that part done.  The coop itself was easy to assemble, it was the leveling of the ground and putting the coop up on the 4x4 frame that was hard.

 I was too busy helping to get any pictures during the assembly part.  I was up on the roof and assembled almost all of that balancing on top.  Here there are smiles because the worst part is done!

 My husband making a few adjustments to the door.  If you notice the lock on the top is locked, we took turns locking each other in as a "surprise".  It also has a lock on the inside which I said may be where I go to hide from everyone and they can't come in to bother me. ☺

 I think it looks really pretty unpainted, but we wanted to add some color to make it fun.

 We decided on Barn red.  We first primed the wood, then it took two coats of paint.  Luckily the temperatures were in the 70's all weekend.

 Here it is all finished!  Our neighbor was happy to hear we were going to have chickens because she said she grew up on a farm.  We promised her eggs.

 And from the other side.

 The Littlest Gardener thought the chickens needed a little decoration above their door.

 On the side there is a window that opens for ventilation.

 The whole side can come down too for easy cleaning.

 The nesting box door.  The coop was designed really well and we're really happy with it.  If anyone is interested in getting the information for Donald, who built this, just email me.  He builds other sizes of coops as well as a really cool rabbit hutch that we eventually plan to get.  Once I get the run set up I will put the chicks out there on warm days so they have more space.  They are quickly growing!

 And since this is a garden blog I thought I would share a couple of new blooms today.  First are the apple blossoms.  We have a 4 way (used to be 5) grafted apple tree, all but one graft have blooms.

 And the first of the columbines!!

And I had to share this beautiful picture that Sweet Pea took while we were up in Skagit Valley for the Tulip festival.  If we would've spent the week building the coop we never would've gotten to see the tulips!

There are so many flowers starting to bloom that I promise the next post will be just garden pictures!
All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress. Pin It

34 comments:

  1. I can't imagine a better chicken coop, yours is pretty and practical and your hens will think they are on vacation. Except they will be busy laying eggs, of course.

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  2. Wish we could have chickens here, but our HOA wouldn't allow such a thing! Imagine that. Harumph.
    I should have thought about those things before we chose to move here. But back then, chickens weren't on my mind! It seems the 'thing to do' these days, getting chickens. I love it! Like going back to 'the old days'. I wish you well with your chicken adventures:-) All the photos of them show how cute they are and how much they are growing! I hope you get all hens and no roosters;-)

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  3. I LOVE your chicken coop! I hope you save the info about Donald, because if you're still happy with it after the chicks have been living in it for a while, I might use him for mine (when I get them, and I will.) Taking turns locking each other in the coop sounds like something Nigel and I would do. Littlest was right, they do need that cool star over their door. It looks great!

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  4. Catherine, the coop looks wonderful! Can't wait to hear more about your adventure with hens. My younger son and his wife live in Seattle and they went to Skagit Valley for the tulip festival, too. Sent me a picture of acres of beautiful tulips! Would love to see that one day. ~~Rhonda

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  5. That is a really well-designed coop. If I ever have to move into the city I will definitely get one of Donald's coops. I love the photo that SP took. She has an amazing feel for composition. I hope she takes a lot more photos.

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  6. Yes, WA ST has some of the most exquisite fields of flowers to enjoy. The tulips are just gorgeous. The coop is really neat! I do believe its guests will enjoy it.

    Have a beautiful day ~
    TTFN ~
    Hugs,
    Marydon

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  7. Your coop is awesome. Those are some lucky hens! And it's wonderful that your neighbor is on board with it. Great photos and kudos to your entire family.

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  8. Wow, that's the fanciest chicken coop I've ever seen. So nice, love the red you painted it. Great job building it (looks a difficult project - for me anyways!). Your hens should be very happy. My columbine look to start flowering soon, so a little behind yours. Love the tulip photo! :)

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  9. That's a great looking coop, love the color you chose. Your hens will be very happy!
    I say every year I want to make it up for that tulip festival. Some day......

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  10. I love the style of the Coop, the color is great and with the nice touch of decor the chickens will feel very special. I was wondering the opinion of your neighbors? Glad they are excited too!

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  11. What a wonderful coop, your hens are going to love it. I love the decorations on it and am also glad your neighbor went along with it. Free eggs will be nice for her. Just think of the nice free fertilizer you are going to have. That tulip photo is wonderful. Love your apple blossoms and your columbines too.

    Have a great week ~ FlowerLady

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  12. Catherine,
    Love the coop, the chickens will be happy and safe! Sweet Peas photo is amazing, she did a great job!

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  13. That is the fanciest chicken coop I have ever seen! This really fits so nicely into your garden area, part of the landscape.

    Eileen

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  14. Wow a chicken coop. I would love to have one but out bylaws do not allow animals in town. And I live in a semi rural area:( Fresh eggs for breakfast are the best. We are having snow today so all the spring flowers are closed up tight. Have a wonderful day, Jen.

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  15. What a wonderful chicken coop. It has everything you will need for the chickens. You did a great job of getting it together and painted up. Of course we gals have to decorate too. LOL! It looks so cute. I would love to see all of those tulips just one time. The pictures are so wonderful. I see them in pictures but I cannot comprehend it all in my mind of how beautiful they actually must look in person.

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  16. Congrats on getting your chicken coop finished! It looks fantastic, I really love the barn red and the star over the door, nice touch! Also, beautiful tulip photo, we were there over the weekend (omg crazy busy) I'm hopping to get my photos posted today. Cheers Julia

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  17. Have never seen a coop such as this one! How unique and looks like a really well built one indeed! Love the barn red and how lucky your neighbors to get fresh eggs!

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  18. AWESOMELY beautiful coop! And how lucky you are to have a neighbor who is actually happy about having chickens next door :-)

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  19. Love your coop! I look forward to seeing further pictures once you add the chicks! It really looks lovely! Have Fun!
    Mindy

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  20. Love your coop!! It's beautiful!!

    :)

    http://munchtalk.blogspot.com/

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  21. That is one nice looking chicken coop. Love all the features and that it is red and decorated. Very stylish chickens you'll have. Sounds like you found a great solution and it looks good in your garden. Can't wait to see the chickens in there.

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  22. Love it! I am very impressed. I love the fun colors.

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  23. Wow, those tulips are amazing, and Sweet Pea is quite a photographer. And I love those purple columbines!

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  24. Wow - that looks adorable ! I live vicariously through your spectacular garden and now your chickies. I grew up on a chicken farm and would love to have laying hens here, but our town would run us out with torches and pitchforks if we dared! Having a nearly completely shaded tiny (barely a 1/3 acre) yard doesn't leave me much for gardening either... so I'll just enjoy yours!

    thanks for sharing!
    gena

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  25. Never apologize for not having many garden photos when you post something so cool as this coop! I can't believe how fast you turned your chicken dream into a reality. It seems like it's going so smoothly (except for the getting lost part) & it's fun watch from afar.

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  26. What a lovely abode! Will the girls have access to the yard as well? The colour of your columbine is lovely, maybe I can find one this year, mine is blue. :)

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  27. What a great coop! I just love it. Can't wait to see your chickens! You will love those eggs. We are blessed with many nearby farms and fresh farm eggs - and now a food co-op to carry all local food. Those chickens will be such a great addition to your beautiful garden, too. Great that your neighbor is also excited. I just planted some native Columbine seeds - bright red for the humming birds. Just love your purple variety. Truly a beautiful flower. There's always room to plant more!

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  28. Well done, that is one very fancy chicken coop. I am envious as I would love to have a few chickens, but we still travel too much and would have no one to care for them.

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  29. What luxurious accommodation for your chickens Catherine - I'm sure that they will show their appreciation with lots of tasty eggs to come :)

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  30. Color me jealous!!! What an adorable chicken coop! How fun!!

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  31. Congratulations on the coop! It looks well thought out, and I love the 'window' too. I always think the most important part of coop design is how easy it is clean, so the drop down door will help immensely. If you have raccoons, just be aware that swivel locks are quite easy for them to defeat. That lock is up high enough, it's probably not an issue, but those darned nimble-fingered critters are very clever. If it becomes an issue, changing lock style is easy. I love the color you choose, and the fresh egg sign is adorable!

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  32. You have inspired me to upgrade my coop decor. I'm thinking wallpaper. I like photos on a blog but if I had to choose between picture or story, story would win every time.

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  33. Lovely! I like the design but I like it even more when you painted it red. Cool!

    sheds garden

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  34. That is the coolest coop! I like how it is high and the chickens have room under it to run around. It looks great painted. Love the tulips!!! Happy spring to you!

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