Chickens in O-Town
For my mother, who only wants to see her grand-chickens. But first she must admire my handiwork.
In our fair city of Oakland, homeowners are allowed to own up to four hens (no roosters!) as long as the chickens’ enclosure is twenty feet from any residence. Here’s my fabulous Garden Coop. It’s about 6′ x 10′, and please note the salvaged tree guard as welcome mat.
This was my first foray into building any sort of structure, and it was nice to practice on something that could go slowly and didn’t have to be fit for humans. The design was really easy to follow, and Merideth ended up being jealous of the chickens as it went up. There may have been some attempted bargaining to make the structure her new office. I only made a few modifications to the design, the main one being that our door swings out instead of in. I was a little concerned about one sweet dog who has been known to push doors open with her dome head.
Here’s inside the coop with their sleeping perch. (The larger structure with the sand bottom is called a run, and the little house where the chickens sleep and lay eggs is the coop.)
Another shot inside the coop. This shows the egg door so that we can reach into the coop without going into the run to collect eggs.
Alright. I know why you’re really here. Here are the babies. From left to right, Violet, Doralee, and Judy. (Named for the women of “9 to 5.”) They’re about ten weeks now and their voices are just starting to change from peeps to clucks. They’ll start laying two to eight weeks from now. Happily, they don’t object TOO much to being held and loved a little as long as the holder is not the dog.
A close-up of chicken eyes (Violet and Judy). If they weren’t the dumbest animals ever, one would think they’re plotting something. Merideth jokes that the three of them together have half the smarts of the cat. And our cat’s not that bright. Sweet, though.
As all animals are in our home, the chickens are mutts. They’re a cross-breed called “Red Star” or “Red Sex-Link” because the females and males have distinctive coloring when hatched which makes it easier to separate and sell them with a certainty your little hen won’t grow into a rooster. Here’s a picture of Violet when they arrived three weeks ago. I can’t believe how much they’ve grown in just that short time.
But enough about them. Here’s one more shot of the run with the new berm that was created by digging out their run. It’s possible this whole project was a ruse so that I could have another bed to plant.
Gene said,
August 19, 2009 @ 3:00 pm
Suh-weet! Nice job, I’m sure the chickens will enjoy it.
And great to see you posting again
hello haha narf said,
August 19, 2009 @ 3:55 pm
so exciting! the fact that you built it AND that you have chickens living with you. way cool.
i want a pygmy goat so i don’t have to cut the grass, but i think my dogs would hurt the little guy. and i don’t think the city of pittsburgh would be all happy with me having a goat around.
sorry about the rambling there. anyhow, i’m happy the hens are doing well. give them a little scratch behind the ear from me.
Amerloc said,
August 19, 2009 @ 4:17 pm
Well done.
If we weren’t here six months, there six months, I’d be tempted.
kristy said,
August 19, 2009 @ 4:40 pm
Yay! Chickens!
SD said,
August 20, 2009 @ 10:05 pm
I applied for a totally online job this week. If by chance I get it, I’ll totally double or triple Meredith’s offer on the suite office, I mean sweet chicken coop.
artemis said,
August 21, 2009 @ 12:31 pm
Nice! This is on our to-do list for this winter, so I’m curious to see how it goes.
Also—how has your dog done with the hens? We have a lab mix and he and the raccoons are probably my biggest worries—I’m not sure our mutt will distinguish between chasing wild birds and chasing resident birds! Did you do anything special for your coop beyond switching the door direction to discourage too much canine investigating?
Mom Greivel said,
August 21, 2009 @ 1:52 pm
I am SO PROUD. Yes of the chickens and the egg-laying green stuff, but also of
the COOP/RUN. You are amazing. And to think it all began when you had to
(sniff) build your own doll house. Wasn’t that the beginning? Anyway, I think
I’ll come out to see the whole thing – how does September 11th look to you?
PS I totally understand the need for another bed to garden. Thankfully I’ve
run out of space, unless we dig up part of the driveway. After the hail
mayhem my enthusiasm has been waaaaaaaaaay down.
Beth said,
August 24, 2009 @ 11:09 am
Gene – Thanks! We were especially psyched that we got most of the wood from Urban Ore. Love that place.
hello haha narf – The pygmy goats are so freaking cute. I read a blog with them and end up almost making awwwwwwww’s at the computer.
Amerloc – The changing of the locations does make it a little hard to have livestock. Best to stick with dogs.
Kristy – Yay!
SD – I don’t know why we can’t all share. I’m positive you could teach the chickens to type.
Artemis – The coop design calls for hardware cloth (fancy chicken wire) to be dug a foot into the ground to discourage predators that dig (dog and raccoons). Our dog has been VERY interested in the chickens and does enjoy running around the run in order to get them all to go to one end or the other, but then she gets bored after awhile. When I had everyone out in the yard one day, she did retrieve Doralee and bring her to me, something Doralee did not care for, but luckily our dog has a soft mouth. Needless to say, I haven’t had them all out in the yard since.
Mom – September 11 sounds great! And your poor, poor garden.
Yolanda said,
August 25, 2009 @ 12:30 pm
Where have you been!!?? You’ve always been one of my favorite blogs. So glad to see you are still around.
Nice Coop!
V.Escalante said,
August 28, 2009 @ 3:52 pm
I cannot begin to tell you how happy you have made me and my Friday afternoon. When they start laying eggs (and this might be a stupid question but), do you guys plan to feast up with some scrambled eggs? Or does that mere question offend?? (Which, if it does offend – you know I don’t mean to!!) But i’m really curious about this… what with the loving of the hens going on and all.
Beth said,
August 28, 2009 @ 3:59 pm
Yolanda – Life just keeps getting in the way.
V – Oh we’ll eat those eggs up. Never you fear! The eggs won’t even be fertilized, so there’s no moral dilemma if we’re eating baby chicks. (I won’t go too far into how we would eat them in that case anyway, but this way we don’t even have to think about it.)