My kids are back to school here in Michigan, which means it’s time for my Ultra Mega Chicken Post! Meet our gorgeous hens and see how we transformed our old wooden play structure into a one-of-a-kind chicken coop. I went through five hundred photos to find the best pics for this post. Whew!
This time of year always inspires me to reflect on my life, when summer break ends and my children return to school. I spent thirteen years with a child by my side as a stay-at-home mother of three. While they grew, I grew. It was a remarkable chapter in my parenting journey, one I will forever cherish.
Now that all of my children are school age, I pursue passion projects during the school year while they’re at school. I have several in mind for this school year and am eager to get started!
If you need me, I’ll be in the art studio, the garden, or the chicken coop. Or maybe I’ll be snuggled up with a book or daydreaming while I look out the window. In any case, I will be working to fill this chapter of my life with love, and lessons, and meaning.
We turned our old wooden play structure into a chicken coop!
We repurposed nearly every piece of wood from the play structure.
Adding the chicken run to the hen house.
Featuring a nesting box for easy access to eggs!
The baby chicks during their first week of life.
2 and 3 weeks old. You can see their brooder bin in the background, with a screen on top to keep them in/keep our cat Allie out.
4 weeks old. At first we brought the chicks into the chicken coop for short field trips. Then we ultimately let them live in the chicken house with their chick brooder heating plate to keep them warm, until they were old enough for us to remove the heating plate.
6 and 7 weeks old. (Note: we were very careful when the chickens were on our shoulders, keeping our hand up so they could not peck our faces, and washing up after playing with them!)
9 weeks old. They ate the whole cabbage!
10 weeks old. Every night, the hens sleep in their hen house on this roosting bar which I made from an old branch.
14 weeks old. Look at the unique feather patterns on their faces!
17 weeks old. They have stunning feathers - some of them are iridescent!
17 weeks old, enjoying some time in our vegetable garden. We supervise them to make sure they do not leave the fenced garden area, and to make sure no hawks or other predators attack.
Chicken breeds from left to right:
Alfredo - Silver Laced Wyandotte
Lady Gray - Sapphire Sky
Pretzel - Americauna
Nutmeg - Golden Laced Wyandotte
Astro - Australorp
Olive Oil - Olive Egger
As luck would have it, on the day of this post, I checked on the chickens and discovered our VERY FIRST EGG! It's go time!
To learn more about how to raise your own backyard chickens, be sure to check out my children's book,
Bawk Bawk in the Backyard, on Etsy!
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