The area around our coops has always been a muddy mess. Way down on our list of to-do’s was to fix it. Then, within an hour or so, it moved to the top of that list.

We had cement poured for our back yard patio and there ended up being quite a bit leftover. We weren’t prepared for another section of cement being poured, but it was going to get poured somewhere. So, Farmer John threw together a quickie form of mix/match wood pieces in front of our Chicken Hut turned goat home and a cement pad was poured.

PATIO SECTION 1

The beginning of this project was a last minute cement pad. We had the cement dyed brown for our patio, which is why this pad is brown.

I was thrilled! During the rainy months the entire area is a mud pit. In the cold weather, ice sits on top of the mud. I slip every time. I haven’t fallen yet, but I kept waiting for it to happen.

PATIO SECTION 2

The second section I worked on was to the right of the newly poured cement pad. This area is in front of another chicken hut.

It was a bit tricky making sure there weren’t tripping hazards. This chicken hut sits lower than the other one. Any cement pieces obviously had to be lower than the door. So this section has a bit of a slope on one side.

It is a mosaic of pieces. Somebody nearby had cut up an old cement pad of their own and were getting rid of the chunks. We grabbed the ones we could. They are thick and crazy heavy. I loved them, though, once I got them installed. They are really sturdy.

I had a few leftover pieces from when I completed our cement path, so I added those here.

The final pieces were bricks we had laying around.

I didn’t get too perfect with installation. Since the pieces varied in thickness, the most difficult part was getting the pieces to be level on top. Once all the pieces were layed, I filled in the gaps with play sand.

PATIO SECTION 3

This section in front of our chicken tractors took the longest to install. I dug out the grassy bits and poured sand over the entire area.

I used a variety of new bricks, old bricks and hand poured cement stones.

Once I got all the pieces organized and layed in place, I filled in the gaps with sand. These bricks and stones aren’t quite as sturdy as I would like, but it’s not a heavily traveled area so it should be fine.

Wouldn’t ya know, just a week after I had it complete a damn mole came through and pushed up a number of the bricks. Blah.

AND, DONE!

Once I had all the sections complete we had a load of gravel delivered and made the entire area level-ish.

It’s a wonky patio and perfectly us. Ok, let’s be honest, it’s perfectly me. Farmer John just puts up with my wonkiness.

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This spring I brought home a new animal species to our little farm, 2 Nigerian Dwarf Goats. We didn’t have a fence for the goats, so Farmer John quickly got one built.

FENCE PLACEMENT

We had the perfect place for the goats right behind the chicken coops.

He used string as a guide line.

DIGGING POST HOLES

Farmer John dug each post hole by hand, using a post hole digger. After he was satisfied with the placement of each post, he filled the holes with cement.

CREATING STRONG CORNERS

To make sure the fence held up well and the corners would not fall in, Farmer John connected 3 posts at each corner.

He used a chainsaw to cut notches in each vertical post to hold the horizontal supports.

The horizontal posts have a few nails through them to hold them in place within the notches.

He then tied tension wire from both outer posts to the center post.

To make sure the wire bracing was good and tight he used a stick to twist the wire until it was firm.

Our fence has 4 corners, each one looks similar to this with 3 vertical posts, 2 cross supports & diagonal tension wire.

T-POSTS & FENCING

The corners have round, wooden posts. About every 8 feet between the corners are T posts. Four foot tall field fencing is secured to the outside of the posts.

THE GATE

Farmer John used a similar method as the corners to secure the posts holding the gate.

COMPLETED FENCE IN USE

The fence surrounds a field with lots of good eats for the goats…

… However, they spend a lot of time reaching for goodies outside the fence.

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A couple years ago we got turkeys & Farmer John built them a shelter, which we referred to as the Turkey Hut. We no longer have turkeys, but the hut worked well for chickens. So well that Farmer John built a second hut just for the chickens.

THE CHICKEN HUT

INSIDE THE HUT

THE RUN

THE DOME SHAPE

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Last Spring we brought home 3 Coturnix Quail. They’ve been living right outside our back door, which is nice because they’ve been getting plenty of attention. But, they’ve been living in 2 large dog crates. Not the ideal home. Finally, they’ve been moved to a better home.

Our oldest son came running upstairs frantically hollering that the doors on the quail’s cages were open & the quail were gone. Poor kid, he was so scared. He didn’t know Farmer John had just moved them.

New quail digs in a chicken hut.

Hopefully the ladies won’t bother their new roomies too much.

Our quail are a finicky trio. The 2 girls don’t get along well & the male is rather aggressive in his mating attempts. Hopefully, the new area is large enough to give everyone the space they need.

Mr. Quail was very curious about my camera & kept coming up to get a closer peek.

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A number of years ago Farmer John told me about chicken tractors. I thought he was crazy. Cuckoo. It did not go with my vision of a cutesy coop surrounded by flowering perennials and a picket fence. I also couldn’t imagine why you would want to move your chickens throughout the yard.

Let’s be realistic, my cutesy coop was not practical. The majority of our chickens are livestock, not pets. We have to house them in ways that are efficient for the purpose & cost effective.

Luckily, that’s where Farmer John & I work together & both compromise a little. He tries to be efficient & cost effective while keeping my cutesy stuff in mind.

He came up with a chicken tractor that’s both efficient & looks nice. The bones of the tractor are 1/2 inch electrical conduit, tin roofing & plywood.

THE CHICKEN TRACTOR

THE ROOST

THE DOORS

MORE THAN JUST CHICKENS

CHICKEN ROW

We have 3 similar, but not exactly the same, chicken tractors. They have all done their share of moving around our property, but lately have been sitting in a more permanent place alongside our two chicken huts.

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Before the Chicken Huts & before the Chicken Tractors was our main coop. Farmer John built it in the spring of 2009. The coop hasn’t had many changes, but the run has. We still consider this our main coop since it is where most of our egg layers call home.

INSIDE THE COOP

The coop has the necessary roosts and nest boxes. The ceiling is insulated. We have a light on a timer during the winter months.

NEST BOXES

Farmer John built the nest boxes so they are accessible without going in the coop. Genius!

2009 & 2010

Left: 2009
Right: 2010. Notice the added chicken wire on top of the run compared to 2009. It didn’t take us long to figure out that it was necessary to protect our flock from predators. We’ve never had a problem with raccoons, opossums or skunks digging under the fence. Our fiercest predator seems to be bobcats climbing in, grabbing dinner, then climbing out. The smaller addition to the run was built for our ducks. We continue to call it the duck pen even though ducks have not lived in there for quite some time. That area seems to have a rotating variety of critters living there, including chickens, turkeys, goats and pigs.

2012

THE TROUBLE WITH SNOW

We had to lay chicken wire across the top of our run to keep the bobcats out. However, it was not built to hold the weight of snow. Two winters in a row the run collapsed multiple times.

REBUILDING THE RUN

A couple winters with the run caving in meant it was time to fix the problem before another winter came. So, in the fall of 2012, Farmer John redid the entire run. Unfortunately, that meant making the run about half its original size. But, in return, the chickens got a well covered area year round.

Who knew when Farmer John built this coop over 4 years ago that it would lead to our own little farm with a variety of animals and a small business? Maybe Farmer John envisioned that, but I certainly did not see that was our path.

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