The Chicken Coop

Building a chicken coop has been high on my husband's to-do list ever since we talked about getting a half dozen laying hens to supply our egg needs. But how much of a building does six chickens require? When he started designing it, the size and shape was dictated to some extent by what building supplies he had on hand. Whatever he had to work with, my husband promised to offer comfortable, roomy housing for the layers. He quickly changed his design, as well as his intention, when he found that he had underestimated the number of building trusses he had, trusses once meant for a garage.

I watched his drawing evolve, enlarging steadily, and I finally pulled up enough courage to ask just how many clucking chickens he thought he wanted. I'm waiting for his answer. He started telling me, in his best Foghorn Leghorn voice, how his new design offers rooms for different kinds of chickens as well as other options. His design will accommodate some chickens for meat, some laying hens, a feed room and a special area for brooding young chicks. Outside pens will allow freedom for movement, fresh air and sunshine. I began some aerobic moves, singing Go, You Chicken Fat, Go!  My husband still hasn't answered the question I put to him. He just gets this crazed look in his eyes every time I exercise.

My earlier vision of six laying hens to name, pick up and pet is getting foggier and foggier, blurred in part by an insane vision of 2000 banty roosters chasing each other about in the next pen. If I close my eyes and listen, I can almost hear the crowing competition and I just know my dear Foghorn is out there crowing the loudest of all!