The Chickenhut in our old backyard.

Our old chicken coop went off to its new home today, to live in the backyard of our dear friends’ house, and shelter a new set of family egg layers. We build the chicken hut (editorial note: any time I refer to ‘us’ building ANYTHING AT ALL, feel free to assume that E is designing and building it, with the unskilled help of me. I’m pretty handy in general, but power tools are not my thing) 2 years ago, to shelter our first set of ‘hens’.

We’re totally roosters.

Of course, those first four all turned out to be roosters, which is a story for another time, but chickens 2.0 grew to healthy egg-laying maturity, there in the chickenhut. It was lovingly painted to match the house and had a human-sized front door (important if you like to hang out with your chickens). With the exception of the clear polycarbonate roof, every bit of it was made from recycled materials. It was BEAUTIFUL, and I’m a little sad to see it go, carrying the memories of daily checks for our first eggs (in vain…they were totally roosters), our first tentative free-ranging experiments, and our initial forays into growing our own non-plant food.

Inside the chickenhut.

Once we moved out here to our country place, got a rooster (RIP Earl, another story for another time) and started growing out our own chicks, it was definitely not big enough. So we (see editorial note above) built the chicken chapel, our much bigger coop. It’s a bit like they moved from a condo to an old farmhouse. This one is all recycled stuff as well, not as pinterest-y as the first coop, but is spacious even when we’re at full production before processing a batch, has stadium seating, comfortable nest boxes, and an interior brooder for growing adolescents. It’s very functional…and pretty in the summer with vines growing up over it.

So much room!

I’ll sure miss that little blue chickenhut, though. I hope it’s happy in its new home.

Until next time,

~Fae