Top of the pecking order? Bill and Hillary in the White House

CATHERINE BELSO, 40, lives in Newmarket with her partner David, 41, a financial director, and their children Gabriel, three and Kitty, two. She says:

MY FLOCK of 40 chickens don’t just have one coop, they share an entire village of four, located by the paddock in our large garden.

There’s Hensylvania Cottage, a black timber coop with cerise pink faux flowers on the roof, the sage green Haven Cottage, Swan’s Nest Cottage and my all time favourite — sugar pink Fluffy Butt Cottage.

I built them all myself during the various lockdowns after buying four huge Jersey Giant chickens to add to my existing collection of 30 pure breed Pekin Bantam chickens last spring.

My dad died just before the first lockdown, and my partner and I were then both made redundant, so I desperately wanted a distraction.

I’ve always been creative so I painted it green, stencilled pink roses on the front and made a sign saying ‘The First Ladies’ Cottage’.

The whole of the back opens up for easy cleaning, and the ‘window’ holes have mesh behind them to allow good ventilation.

Jersey Giants like to roost up high so I installed tree branches inside on three levels to allow their feet to curl naturally, and so that they can huddle up together under the eaves.

I loved the process and the result so much that I decided to make more, hence my village and I’ve since built them a better coop called The White House — after all, three of them are called Bill, Hillary and Monica.

The coops have batteryoperated Chicken Guard doors to keep them safe, and sit within a large run measuring around 4m by 5m, because avian flu restrictions require them to be penned in.

So many people started asking me about the coops after I posted pictures on social media that I’ve now turned it into a little business. (cottagecoops.co.uk)