The Coop Mahal

This chicken village is to much!

 It's been over 100 degrees here for the last week.  I keep a vigilant watch on my flock's  water, and have put up more shade cloth in the last month than I could have ever imagined.  I have 2 fans blowing from the east end of their yard.  I am really considering getting one of those small children's wading pools and putting a few inches of water in it, and see if they would splash around.  I think I am going to plant a shade tree next on the southeast corner (the only place to put one).  I imagined hot Albuquerque weather, but I never imagined how bad I would feel seeing them panting.   There's only one word for what I am experiencing: codependent. :-)

MadeABQ has the coolest chicken tractor, and in several sizes. Kenji who owns FabLab in Albuqueque is the man who does my letter laser cutting. Imagine my surprise when I walked in his shop and saw this!

My fave...amazing design!

I have been planning the final coop with nesting boxes.  Originally I was going to match our house roof line and make a mini me coop.  But now that I have lived with them in this spot, I know it has to be one I can walk in.  I don't want to bend over, or crawl on my hands and knees to clean it.  So it will be 4' x 8' and just over 7' tall.  There will be a door I can open and clean out their droppings.  The internet is full of chicken coops and plans.  Design Swan had a blog about modern coops. I put the link below.  There are some amazing ones.
http://www.designswan.com/archives/creative-modern-chicken-coop-designs.html 

Backyard poultry are common place today as they were in the depression. My Dad told me that many of his neighbors on the North side of Chicago kept chickens  for eggs mainly, but in a pinch for stew.  When I had my farm my Dad would get a lawn chair and sit and watch my chickens.  He loved their interaction.  I would catch him taking a couple of slices of bread and putting them in his pockets, and I knew he was headed out to watch my birds.  This made me happy.  As happy as when my Grandson was here, and loved watching them too.
http://localecologist.blogspot.com/2010/01/chicken-cribs-where-city-chickens-roost.html
http://www.chickencoopmaker.com/
http://www.twinlocustbarnsinc.com/coops.htm

I added a few more links of coop sights.  There are literally thousands of them on Google images. The Amish even have their own coop company.   I call it "farm porn".  I could look at these web links for hours.  $300-$10,000 per coop.  At that price you won't be saving much money on eggs. I keep chickens because I love them like pets. Our dog and cats don't lay eggs.

It will be something like this one with nesting boxes on the side.

We will build the "coop mahal" in sections and assemble the sides, and roof out in the yard.  3 or 6 nesting boxes...that is the question at the moment. I'll take some photos of the drawings.
Thanks for reading.
Each day is a gift. Open now.
xo,
Suz