Hey, welcome back. Free-range or coop life, that's what we're talking about today! I'm Holly Capelle,
I'm a gardener and backyard homesteader in the pacific northwest, and today I want to talk to
you about keeping your backyard chickens. For us, the decision to free range or stay in a coop was
sort of made for us. We live on a creek, we back to it, and so the predators of the creek attracts
are numerous. So, letting them live that free range life back here is a little bit difficult.
Add to that, we're in the middle of the city and it just sort of made sense for us to keep them in
an enclosure. So, we started out with a prefab coop that we just assembled, that we purchased
in advance. And then, we designed and created our own run enclosure. Sort of a work in progress and
learn as we go project, but they're really loving it. There were definitely some roadblocks along
the way and some things we've learned as far as successfully keeping rodents out. I
feel like that's kind of a constant battle and something that we're always learning.
But I have discovered a few tricks that we thought we would share with you along the way. Number one,
like I said, is rodents. They are coming for you! So, it's really good, if you can,
to keep your coop as far away from your house as possible because they're going to come.
The other thing that you need to do is make sure that you dig a trench around your coop,
and your run about two and a half feet to three feet deep, and then bury that close gauge wire,
that way when the critters go to dig into the run they run into that barrier. And you know,
almost three feet deep, they're gonna get tired of trying. So, that is something that we learned the
hard way, we did it originally one feet deep, they went for it, got in. So, we had to dig it back up,
put it back down. Then we learned that we were using the basic chicken wire, that gauge is way
too big, and rodents can get right through. So, we had to dig it back up and then lower in the
trench a much smaller gauge. Since we've done that we've had no breach of security, but they
certainly do try. You can see little tunnels where they try to dig and they just give up.
We also had to add a wood plank along the bottom to just also try to discourage them from coming
in. We did the same thing around the coop with the trench and added the fence, dug down around
just in case they did get in to the run. This way they had to work again to get into the coop. So,
doing everything we can to try to slow those guys down has been key. Another thing that we
did was we wrapped our hoop originally in the basic chicken wire, again that large gauge,
and they can get right through that. So, we've had two cents, upgrade, and we've installed just
right over it that smaller gauge fence, we've done that um on the small section all the way
around, and we will do that for the upper section as well. Again, work in progress.
And then, for the top what we did was we added a bird netting over the top, just to keep the
squirrels out and the hawks, and all of the other scary friends. And, that's worked great so far.
We did in the fall have a ton of leaves that were falling on them, and I just used the broom
and kind of hit the net and they all went flying and so I was able to keep that cleared off. It's
really turned out to be a beautiful place for our chickens to live. We have this huge yard though,
so it is certainly a shame that they're there all the time. So, we intend on making them a
chicken tunnel or chicken run of some kind that will allow them to get to the garden and be able
to forage and eat in the places I want them to where they safely can. In the future, that's one
of our up-and-coming projects, so we'll be sure to share that with you as well! As you can hear,
this creek living brings a lot of friends and foe our way. Those are the geese that
have taken up residence just down the way. We've added all of these branches here to our fence,
this is helping to keep deer away. We just add them every time one falls,
or we have to cut something down, and then we just fill it in so we do have areas of this
fence that are filled in much more than others. Again, another security work in progress, but
it looks cool and it is helping some, so it's good. So, this is the wire I was talking about.
This is what we originally used. You know, chicken wire. Us city farmers thought that was right.
Not right. I don't even know why they call it chicken wire. The rodents can get right
through it, as you see the holes are enormous. So, it's not really going to protect them
from mice and rats getting in, which are the ones who are harboring all the bad disease, and germs,
and parasites. So, we need to keep them out. Then, we upgraded to this much smaller gauge wire
and it hasn't been a problem since. So, save the money, learn from my city farm and mistake, do not
buy actual chicken wire buy this much stronger, sturdier, smaller gauge wire and you'll be set.
Another cool thing we did was add these motion detector lights all around the coop. These are
really inexpensive, they're like five dollars a piece, like an as seen on tv kind of a thing.
My husband loves them, they are all over our backyard. They shine really bright when
you pass by them or a creature comes by. Our bedroom is just beyond the chicken coop here,
and so the first three four nights after we installed these and they'd come on,
they shine a light right on our bedroom ceiling like it's the bat light, and needless to say I
didn't sleep for the first couple of nights. I felt like I was on chicken security all the time!
I've since let that go, knowing that I have other security measures in place, but this certainly is
nice to have. You can see them as they light up as the creatures walking around the coop,
and sometimes it even scares them off. So, they have definitely been a beneficial addition to our
coup security. Another thing that we're doing is creating this chicken garden here along
the sides of the coop. I'm hoping that I can plant a bunch of herbs and mix in some climbing roses,
some thorny things, that will also hopefully kind of keep critters from trying to bother,
to bust in the barricade. We'll see, if not, it'll look nice.
So, here is the inside of our coop. Ladies are all foraging for sunflower seeds right now.
A couple fun things about the inside of the coop, we've just added these boulders here for them to
just stand on. We've got this, I think these are for squirrels, but we love to pick garden goods,
and greens, and then we fill that up and make them work at it. So, these are very inexpensive,
get them at any feed store, anywhere they sell like squirrel food and stuff. And then, we have
these cute little chicken gardens that right now need some serious revamping. We have this
wire over it so that they can't pull the whole root of it out. That actually works pretty good,
I mean once it's fully green it just takes them minutes to get at it, but it's cute. And then,
we've lined the inside again with all of these logs and stuff that we have. Just as extra,
keep out barrier, and then we've got perches over here in the corner. This one is a favorite
for the chicks because it overlooks the creek. As far as bedding for the run and the coop, we really
haven't made a firm decision on what material we like best. I know that some people use gravel,
some like to use the wood shavings, or the straw. We go back and forth from the shavings and the
straw. I know when it got very cold in the winter the straw was incredibly helpful in keeping the
girls warm. You'd see them really nest down into it, so I was really grateful to have it then.
But, I also really love the wood chips and I love that they can go right into the compost pile, it
just breaks down so nice and easy. There are some wood chips that the girls can't have, you have to
be very careful about that, they can't be cedar. I believe we're using the aspen chips, so do
your research on which is safe for your girls. But yeah, let us know what are you using,
what bedding do you find to be beneficial for your run and your coop? I'd love to know.
So, for this bird netting that we have as a roof. What we did was, we started out with a
wire grid all over, connecting from post to post, and then once we had a good grid into place,
we laid this netting over it. And then, in some areas like you can see here, my husband secured
the wire to the netting. So, it's all connected as one big piece. The wire gives it some integrity,
like when the wet leaves came through it didn't sag very much; And again, easy to clean, I just
beat it with broom and everything goes flying. So, this has been a very nice, inexpensive way
to keep them safe. Another fun thing we did was build this cool door for our run. I really wanted
it to be kind of a statement when you get here. We call it the ladies room, and the ladies room
needed a proper entrance. We used hardware that we actually had had from previous projects that we
just kept, and then my husband put this together. I love it! It's beautiful. We noticed that we were
tracking in a ton of mud once we got the run and the coop in place, and so a new project began,
and we had to create this pathway that would lead you to the stairs to get up to our house.
We have lined it with our treated lumber, and then filled it with landscape fabric,
and topped that with pea gravel. It no longer is a problem with rain and mud,
which is a huge problem here in the pacific northwest, and now we can rest easy coming in
and out of the coop whenever we need to. It's such a beautiful path, actually, that I got my
hubs to make me a little bench to go next to it. And I just love to sit here and drink my coffee,
talk to the chickens, listen to the geese. I don't know if you can hear them, but again that creek
attracts all kinds of friends and foe. So, we really wanted to create this area
like a park-like setting for our girls to live in. They might not be able to free roam, but at least
I can make the space that they live in as pretty as possible. So, that's what I'm trying to do.
While the chickens weren't that expensive, you know under ten dollars a chick,
this project has been very expensive. Mostly because it's a learn as we go, and then of
course one thing leads to the next thing, leads to the next thing, and on, and on, and on. So,
I'm sure if you're good at reeling yourself in and keeping a budget, you can all keep it
within reason, but I've just been letting it fly since we started this project. And, it's become
a little bit expensive, but it's beautiful! I hope you've enjoyed this little tour of our coop.
Let us know what your chickens are doing. Do you have free rangers,
do you have chickens live in that coop life too, what makes your coop so special? We would love to
know, so share with us in the comments below and you can find me over on Instagram @bigfamilyliving
for everyday family fun, food, farming, gardening action. So, I hope to see you there as well. Happy
gardening!