Cooped Up Couple

Pandemic leads to midlife “crisis,” causing a severe case of chicken math!

Panemic leads to midlife “crisis” causing a severe case of chicken math!

Iam a city girl who never grew up with chickens. The thought of cleaning up chicken poo wasn’t pleasant to me. However, I have to admit that the chickens our good friends have down the road had intrigued me for some time. They made taking care of them look so easy!

When the pandemic hit, it seemed as though my husband and I went through a midlife crisis! The elearning was driving us all insane! We needed something to do that provided some joy, taught responsibility to our children and kept them from being bored. Chickens should do the trick, right?

It just so happens that my husband, Blaine, is extremely gifted with woodworking, and I love to decorate! He had already remodeled our backyard shed to be a “she shed,” complete with cedar walls and vinyl flooring, and turned our backyard into an oasis, including a koi pond! No joke, it’s amazing! I introduced him to my hair-brained idea

by coming home with five baby chicks. Isn’t that how all “chicken ladies” do it? To my surprise (and after his initial shock), he had no problem building a chicken coop for them and knew just where to put it!

Our side yard was empty and provided a blank canvas for my husband and me to dream.

The area was made for a chicken coop!

While I wanted a small coop for the five birds, Blaine had bigger plans!

(He was way ahead of me on the chicken math thing!) A month and a half later, he finished building our amazing 8-by-6-foot chicken coop and 8-by-10-foot run for our little chickens.

He built it by hand, out of pine, corten (or weathering) steel and galvanized metal. With insulation donated by a friend, it’s ready for our cold Indiana winters. We currently have one rooster and seven hens and plan on adding a few more to the flock next year.

We keep Cochins and Silkies. They immediately made themselves at home and have been living happily in their palace ever since.

This coop has been a great addition to our backyard and has brought lots of laughter and smiles to our four children. Now if only the gals would start laying eggs, but that’s another story. For now, they are freeloaders through and through!

Made of a board-and-batten design, pine, corten steel and galvanized metal, this coop can house approximately 20 bantam birds. The fence around the coop completes the project nicely.

The door, beautifully built and designed by Blaine Godbey, is made of pine and coated with Danish oil and polyurethane. Opening this door is like opening a vault!

Chickens love their privacy. These 12-by-12-inch nesting boxes are complete with handmade curtains and are decked out with grass and herbs. These boxes will provide them with the perfect space to lay eggs … eventually. (Some additional straw inside will be added later.)

The coop has five windows for ventilation. Handmade valances coordinate with the canvas curtains. The added roosting bar makes the coop nice and cozy for the night. Longer 2-by-4 roosts will be added later.

Looking through the chicken door, complete with matching canvas curtains, Charlotte was just caught checking her look in the mirror. You look gorgeous, Charlotte! Don’t change a thing!

This is Charlotte, one of the Godbeys’ initial five chickens and the only hen out of the first group that they purchased. She has a great personality and makes herself right at home in the coop and run. The custom swing made of an old chair provides a hot spot for basking in the sun!

On Mendi Godbey’s list of “musthave” chickens was a frizzle! This is her frizzled Black Cochin hen, Penelope. She is a favorite to all, full of sass and oh so cute and curly!

After advertising the need for chairs, a sweet friend gave the Godbeys four! As you can see, the chickens love perching and socializing here.

The galvanized metal is a favorite design point. It really makes the coop feel classy and elegant. The chandelier was found last minute on a rummage sale site and completes the ceiling beautifully. Yes, the Godbeys have caught their birds perching on it, in case you were wondering.

The corten steel on the top of the boxes and on the door to the run was given to the Godbeys by dear friends and adds a special touch to this side of the coop. The red chicken handle adds a “pop” of color to these beautiful boxes.