Comments on: Derm Dad built a chicken coop! http://thepantrybook.com/2013/10/23/kent-built-a-chicken-coop/ a notebook of homekeeping, crafts, and professional motherhood Mon, 17 Feb 2014 21:43:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: How did I do with my 13 Skills in 2013? | The Pantry Book http://thepantrybook.com/2013/10/23/kent-built-a-chicken-coop/comment-page-1/#comment-1456 Fri, 17 Jan 2014 21:34:20 +0000 http://thepantrybook.com/?p=2143#comment-1456 […] waiting on this one, although we have our Derm-Dad-built ark-style tractor ready to go as soon as we order our chickens. Hopefully in the next few […]

]]> By: Julie Gonsalves http://thepantrybook.com/2013/10/23/kent-built-a-chicken-coop/comment-page-1/#comment-1186 Mon, 18 Nov 2013 22:06:43 +0000 http://thepantrybook.com/?p=2143#comment-1186 hopefully you were able to replace the “vintage” hardware that my family broke ;)

]]> By: thepantrybook http://thepantrybook.com/2013/10/23/kent-built-a-chicken-coop/comment-page-1/#comment-1105 Wed, 23 Oct 2013 22:54:33 +0000 http://thepantrybook.com/?p=2143#comment-1105 Kent thinks the coop was around $400 for the materials. I know, it’s crazy, but to have someone else make it, I’ve seen over $1,000. This definitely isn’t a money-saving venture for us. We probably wouldn’t be able to have enough chickens to supply all our eggs (we eat a lot of eggs!! – between 4 and 6 dozen a week), so it’s mostly for the trial-farmer experience and the benefits for the garden. I think that a stationary coop with a deep litter and then paddocks is definitely a better option, but we live in suburbia and we rent, so this is our only option right now. If you do the paddock system (a la Paul Wheaton from permies.com), you can certainly be gone for a week or two with no problem.

]]> By: Love Chicken Eggs! http://thepantrybook.com/2013/10/23/kent-built-a-chicken-coop/comment-page-1/#comment-1103 Wed, 23 Oct 2013 20:59:27 +0000 http://thepantrybook.com/?p=2143#comment-1103 Hi Nicole, I’m loving all these updates, somehow I got them all at once today.

The coop looks great. Your husband seems very handy to have around. How many chickens can you fit in there?

I have been reading a lot about putting together chicken coops with a “fox proof straw yard” at this site: veryediblegardens.com which is some permaculture guys in Australia. They make chicken runs around the orchard.

I’m hoping to get 5-8 hens or maybe 4 chickens and 2 ducks. I want enough eggs for our whole family of four, in order for it to be “worth the trouble” and my kids LOVE EGGS. I’m not sure how much land we’d need to have for that. Also, I’m worried about the “travel factor” we go on about a 1-week vacation per year, and we’ll have to figure out the “chicken sitting” or else stock them with enough food and water while we’re gone and cross our fingers.

I’ve been thinking about making a chicken ark like this, but I’m not sure about whether it would accomodate all the hens I want. Also how much wood ($$) did it take? I was blown away by the cost of lumber at home depot. I was under the impression, if you made something yourself, it would be cheap! But wood is not cheap, so I’m having to pace myself on these DIY jobs, and look for lumber, etc. at Freecycle newsgroup.

Keep us posted. I love it!
Emily

]]> By: Homestead Dad http://thepantrybook.com/2013/10/23/kent-built-a-chicken-coop/comment-page-1/#comment-1101 Wed, 23 Oct 2013 18:03:00 +0000 http://thepantrybook.com/?p=2143#comment-1101 Looks great. One thing to consider based on your location. Many predators are good diggers, and fast too. If you think that predators might be a problem it wouldn’t be a bad idea to floor the bottom in hardware cloth or poultry netting. If you already haven’t that is. Enjoy your chickens, I miss mine and can’t wait to get more this spring. What kind are you getting?

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