Coop Descriptions
Green Street Girls, Oakhurst
The coop
The brand-new ‘Green Street Girls’ coop is home to 21 hens. All were born in early May, so the eight area families that comprise the neighborhood cooperative haven’t yet harvested any eggs. But they did design and build a beautiful and efficient coop with plenty of fenced area and edible landscaping. The coop features quick-access doors to nests, a three-story roosting area, an internal ramp to a completely screen-enclosed feeding area, rainwater collection, and more. The Green Street Girls’ new home in the woods also provides a little rustic charm, with its tin roof and country barn décor.
The chickens
Currently home to 21 hens, the Green Street Girls are a mix of Buff Orpingtons, Barred Rocks, Speckled Sussex and Black Australorps.
The Team
This is a first for the neighborhood team, but the idea of a coop originates with Robert Leonard, who owns the land where the coop sits along with his four beehives. He eventually got his gardening partner Leslie Stuart interested, and the two researched urban coops and attended classes at the Oakhurst Community Garden, where Robert provided instruction on coop building. By the spring of 2012, Robert and Chuck Baxter had designed the coop, and Leslie researched and secured the chicks. The neighborhood coop cooperative currently includes these families: Robert Leonard, Leslie & Rob Stuart, Chuck Baxter & Nan Norton, Anne & Scott Moore & Kayt Wolfe, Hector & Mary Beth Gonzalez, Maria & Joel Riggs, Kevin & Deb Polston, and Susie Essig & Kevin Seefried.
So far, raising the chicks was fairly easy. Three separate families divided the chicks and raised them in their homes. Building the coop was hard work but will be worthwhile when the Girls start laying eggs. But the best benefit has already arrived, in that the participating families have all enjoyed getting to know each other better on a fun project. "It has really brought us together as neighbors and friends. We are outside of our homes more and talking and building a community," says Leslie Stuart.
Run by the Wylde Center's "Team Chicken"
The coop
Ours is a volunteer-built coop, designed and built by a group of volunteers, mostly parents of young children, the coop at the Oakhurst Community Garden in September 2005. Many were driven by a desire to connect their kids to their natural environment. The coop is quite large at 8 ft x 5 ft x 6 ft, up off the ground and has a slanted roof. It has a human door, a chicken door and two small sliding windows with screens.
We have an external nesting box that was built in 2011, that allows the five nesting boxes to be checked (and viewed by school groups) from the outside. The hen house has a fenced in lot that's about 350 square feet. We added a new adjacent apiary (bee yard) in March 2011 with three bee hives. The chickens love it. Birds and bees live together! The chickens are central to the fun that visitors have when visiting the Garden. The bees garner a lot of attention too!
A family member had wanted us to build her a coop, but later "chickened" out on the idea. By then, it was too late. We ran with the idea ourselves and, before we had even looked for chickens, we already had a coop and run ready and waiting.
The chickens
12 chickens: Buff Orpingtons (yellow ones), Rhode Island Red (red ones), Silver-laced Wyandotte (black and white beautiful), Polish Hen (tuft of feathers on head), Barred Rock (small black and white)…we call her Sneezy because she sneezed a lot, we treated her and she survived. She's EXTREMELY social now and will let folks pet her and will run out to greet you. Americaunas (black hens(, Australorpes (black and brown).
Bees
The bees are especially active a couple times a year in the spring, when they're reproducing, and when their honey is being harvested. We put signs up and close the door so the chickens don't wander in the apiary. Most times, its a great birds and the bees" relationship. Previously, the bee hives were located near the compost at the back of the garden and they were taken over by bugs and weevils. Several of the hives died. The dead hives were put in the chicken yard and were picked clean by the girls. The hives were rebuilt and then the girls went to work on pest control to keep the bees healthy. We have three thriving hives now, thanks to this symbiotic relationship.
Team chicken
Team Chicken is a long running cooperative effort. Ten families care for the girls and divide up shifts and share the cost of feed and straw. Folks come twice a day to let the chickens out, feed them, close them up at night and collect eggs in exchange. Weekend coop-cleanings are also shared amongst the group. Families that have participated in the co-op love the eggs, the chickens, and watching their kids romp in the garden. The quiet mornings and evenings are wonderful too.Eggs
We get 3-8 eggs a day. I think the record was 17 one day. On milder days, (not too hot or cold) we may get around 12 eggs. Our chickens lay mostly in the afternoon. Chickens make a loud cluck when they lay an egg, and they tend to lay in the same nest. One waits right next to a chicken that’s laying, and then slides in when the other is finished. It's almost like you can imagine they have their legs crossed, just holding that egg in til the other chicken will move! Chickens tend to lay less often when it's really cold or really hot. They don't lay when they're molting (usually once a year). Most hens will lay regularly for 2-3 years. Some of our chickens are older and lay less.
Feed
We go through about a 50 pound bag of organic layer feed a month. Our chickens are different though. They're the star of birthday parties at the garden and school field trips. Kids delight in feeding the chickens, so ours eat more than usual. They also are the benefactors of local restaurants and neighbors feeding them compost and kitchen waste. They also get soldier larvae (a major chicken treat that the girls cluck wildly for) often from the worm boxes that are on the property. They are truly free range, organically fed girls.
Maintenance
Once a week. We remove only the top layer of hay and poop and put it in the Garden's compost pile. The chicken poop makes the most awesome compost. Check out the canna lily in the front of the chicken yard. That was a normal potted plant and it's as big as a tree now with several trunk-like growths. We have to hack it back with a machete every year. Amazing how well things grow with a little chicken poop added! The canna lily is a place where the chickens like to shade themselves and dig holes to cool off. They spend a lot of time pooping under it as well, and voila...a huge plant.
Joey, Colleen, Skyla & Lily Zeigler, Decatur
The coop
Our coop is chicken tractor (portable coop) we built ourselves. It is made from over 80% re-purposed materials. We included indoor and covered outdoor roosting bars because we wanted our chickens to have place to roost hot or cold. Also, we have integrated nesting boxes with an exterior hatch for egg collection.
One key design feature of our tractor is the open bottom. There is only one place within the tractor that a chicken can poop on the structure, but we solved this with a slide out panel that you simply remove and wipe or spray off. Other than that, all chicken poop goes into our garden and yard.
The chickens
We have six girls: a French Black Copper Maran crossed with a Black Cochin, two Bantham Mille Fleurs, two Phoenix/Turkins crossed with golden crested Polish and a Salmon Faverolle. This is our first year keeping chickens. We thought it would add a fun element to our urban farm/garden. Also, our youngest daughter absolutely loves any and all animals! The biggest surprise has been how much time we spend just hanging out with our girls.
Mulberry Fields Community Garden and
Green Space, Candler Park
The coop
Our chicken project is part of funky, fun, arty intown farm. It is large: 5000 square foot fenced yard on the edge of an acre of community garden and green space. The area is shared by goats. The hens can free range but are protected at night. The hens have a new (mid-century modern) goat-proof feed house and two nesting box areas. In the evening they take shelter on the roosting bars under the roof in the three-sided wooden goat house. It is low maintenance: easy to clean, easy to access manure. Organic chickens like to take dirt baths and get along with the goats.
The chickens
As an organic gardener, keeping chickens makes sense. We are interested in growing and producing fresh food, chickens are easy to keep and the manure is super powered fertilizer for the garden. Chickens are endlessly entertaining, educational and fun. Fresh eggs look and taste so different from mass produced eggs, and we like the routine of caring for our chickens (and goats) …up early, out into the garden the early morning, meeting and greeting the hungry flock. Watching the social hierarchy and the games chickens play is so fascinating. There have been chickens at Mulberry Park for around 20 years, currently including Aracuanas/Americanas, a Buff Orpington, Barred Rock, Plymouth Rock (white, very entertaining girl) and two Marans.
The team
Raising chickens as a group of five families has been a lesson in cooperative living, balancing shared and differing ideas of chicken care and management. We keep learning more as new challenges present themselves… Our very first chickens lived in a small coop. Then we had free range chickens that lived in the trees at night…then an enclosed pen at night. Now they co-habit with the goats. We have to keep learning as problems present. We have tried different approaches to broody hens, ones that want to fly away, injuries and introducing new hens into the flock…no end to discussion and innovation!
Susan Edgett, Bob Hudgens
The coop
Our coop, made of materials we already had, is constructed out of an old tubular metal frame that was laying about the yard from a previous application. It is roofed with a fiber reinforced clear tarp. The walls are constructed from chicken wire and bird netting. It has been in place about four years with little or no maintenance. There is a chicken wire fence that surrounds the coop and the chicken run area. We are attempting to grow blackberries and raspberries along the outside of the chicken wire fence. The hens peacefully coexist with three hives of honey bees. Our coop is not an architectural wonder, nor is it cute, but it is a functional space for the birds.
The chickens
We have had the chickens for about four years; approximately 20 hens and one very happy rooster. They include Ameraucanas, Cuckoo Marans, Bantam Silkies, and a Copper Maran. We chose our chicken breeds based on egg color and historical reference, not on production capacity.
We started keeping chickens because we wanted to participate in producing some of our own food. Additionally, my father used to talk about having chickens that laid colored eggs, and I was intrigued by the idea of colored eggs. Now every day is Easter at our house. We keep the silkies because Bob raised a flock of them when he was a boy.
Chickens are easy, low maintenance and guilt free compared to the other animals we have (dogs and cats). We would feel comfortable leaving the chickens for a few days without someone looking in on them. Our dogs make us feel guilty every time we exit the driveway!
Intown ACE Hardware, Virginia Highland
The coop
Our coop was designed as an urban-type habitat; a permanent structure built to fit a particular corner of our garden center's greenhouse. Almost triangular in shape, it is built to accommodate up to six chickens with amenities such as a dust bath, insulated nests, PVC roofing, and ample common space area. We are just now (August 2012) in the final phase.
Robert Del Bueno & Keely Harris, Reynoldstown
The coop
Nestled between a fence and an old train container in this funky Reynoldstown yard by the train depot, the coop consists of a fully enclosed and roofed run measuring roughly 32″ wide by 12′ long. The hen house is roughly 30″ x 48″ and the nest box area is roughly 30″ x 40″.
Much of the hen house and next box construction utilizes miscellaneous scrap wood left over from prior projects.
Composting
The unique feature of this coop is that the hen house and nest box area are elevated about 4′ off the ground over our compost bins. This allows for droppings and bedding to be directly added to the compost bins below.
The chickens
Currently the coop houses three young hens (hatched March, 2012), but has the capacity to comfortably house quite a few more.
Dorsey, Marie and Veronique McBride,
and Claire Drouault, East Atlanta
The coop
Large coop attached to child’s playhouse, housing seven chickens.
The chickens
Chickens are so personable and actually can be cuddly at times. Their personalities amaze us, and they are very intelligent.
We have been keeping chickens for six years, after losing a bet to our daughter – she had to spend the night away from home at Grandpa’s house. She wanted a chicken or a dog. We already had enough dogs, so she did it and we went to Pendagrass flea market with Grandpa to get her a chicken.
We currently have seven chickens: Serama Rooster (Suzie – hatched in 1st grade classroom), Japanese blue silkie (Sage), two Americaunas (Silvia (blue eggs) and Valerie (green eggs), Cochin (Sammy), Buff Orpington (Bonita), Serilkie (Sunset - hatched on site).
Erica Jong and Josh Crook, East Atlanta
The coop
Our coop was built in 2010 using the old wood flooring from our kitchen renovation, cedar wood for the exterior run, and painted with leftover exterior primer. The coop is lined with scrap vinyl underlayment for easy cleaning. The coop is built 2ft above ground to provide shade during the summer months and their run is enclosed with chicken wire that is a foot below the ground and extends about a foot and a half out to prevent digging predators. Now that our chickens are bigger, we will build an extended run for their safety later this summer.
The chickens
Good friends of ours started keeping chickens and inspired our school to get eggs to hatch in the classrooms. Our children were interested and excited about having chickens in our backyard so we took two chicks home after one school year.
We have continued to add chicks to our family after each school year and now have a total of five: Matilda is a booted Bantam, Indya and Boo are Americaunas, Misty is our little Serama, and Nori is our other Cochin.
Chickens are incredibly social creatures and we all love how they run up to us either to be held or just to 'chat'.
Craig and Kristin Leydig Bryant, East Atlanta
The coop
Our henhouse is a small house on stilts made from a kit. It is painted lime green (the actual name of the paint is "lettuce alone," which seemed appropriate for chickens). The henhouse opens to a small run. But most days our chickens roam in our yard hunting bugs. It's pretty and artsy (although the art is always a work in progress!). It shows how to keep a micro-flock happily.
The chickens
I have three Production Red chickens, all of whom were rescued by the CHURP organization in Canton. They were on their way to the slaughterhouse. They have really blossomed in their time outside of the close quarters of the factory farm. Their names are Alex GuarnEggshelli, Lynn Rosetto-Cackler, and Mollie KatzHen, after my favorite chefs. This is our first year keeping chickens. I love caring for animals, and I wanted fresh eggs. The biggest surprise has been how friendly they are, and how relaxing it is to watch them scratch around the yard.
Garden*Hood, Grant Park
The coop
The Garden*Hood coop reflects the aesthetic approach to our entire site: sleek, slightly edgy, and sophisticated. The coop is built of wood and pressed metal sheeting and has a distinctly urban feel that is also warm and welcoming.
The coop is roughly 12' by 12' in size with a clear Plexiglass roof to let in plenty of light. There are nesting boxes on the wall and a roost in the back corner where everyone snuggles up at night. A window set into the wall of the roosting area is hung with a burlap curtain to give the ladies privacy in their roost.
This summer we are making some modifications to our coop that include removing part of the back wall and replacing it with screening to increase air circulation and building a run out into part of our front garden bed so the chickens can stretch their legs and scratch for grubs and weeds in the "wild."
The coop is at the north end of our property along Woodward Avenue and draws a lot of attention from passers-by and diners at Stone Soup Kitchen. We don't sell chickens or chicken feed (we refer folks to the Intown Healthy Hound for all their chicken supply needs), nor do we sell the eggs. We simply believe very strongly that keeping chickens can - and should - be an integral part of urban living, and we aim to advocate through example.
There are families who come in weekly to visit our chickens, and we teach the kids how to pull weeds for the hens to eat and let them feed the hens blueberries and greens and other treats we keep on hand. It's fun and education for our customers and it's also really important for the chickens to have plenty of social interaction and exercise. Keeping chickens here at the garden center has turned out to be a wonderful experience for all of us!
Jennifer Ellis, Grant Park
The coop
After buying my fixer-upper in Grant Park, it took over a year before I finally got my previously abandoned back yard into condition to start a garden/micro-farm. I was very much design oriented/focused and wanted my garden and coop to be cohesive and well-integrated into each other and my home itself. I wanted my coop to look like a permanent structure. I am also on a solo income, so budget was of concern. The first step in transitioning my yard to a micro-farm was the chicken coop, to allow me to start composting and amending my garden soil for 7-8 months before my first spring planting this year (Spring 2012). I hired a local barn builder in August 2011 to make my little coop (cheaper than buying online!!!). I built by hand my own raised cedar garden beds, providing nearly 150 sq. ft. of organic veggie garden space. I have since added a run to my coop, all the while keeping the balance and aesthetic of my yard/garden in mind. Besides the chicken coop, I executed all garden and coop projects on my own to maximize my budget. I'm fairly handy, but I'm also a single, 30+ woman... I am lucky to have volunteer friends help in the garden and with chicken chores from time-to-time.
The chickens
I started keeping chickens to provide organic fertilizer for my garden, companionship, and fresh eggs! I have eight: a silver laced Wyandotte, two buff orpingtons, two easter eggers, a white silkie, a black frizzle, and a Plymouth Rock. It took me a full year after buying my first home to finally get back yard (which was overgrown and trashed) in condition to garden/micro-farm. I have had the chickens one year, but grew up with chickens. The biggest surprise has been the ease of care of coexisting in the yard - with the exception of spring, when all my seedlings are popping up!
The dog
Oh, one other fun fact is that I trained a six year old bird dog (Weimaraner) to coexist in the yard with the chicken. The chickens and the dog now drink from the same water bowl together.
The owner
I represent the professional, single, young female farmer for the coop tour! I have an interior design degree (which I don't use professionally) and grew up gardening my entire life. My father was a landscape designer (and former hippie), as well as an extremely earth/nature conscious gardener and chicken-keeper (still is!). I got my "roots" from him.
David & Susan Goode
The coop
Our coop is designed for a small flock of four. With a house that was built from the materials of an old hot tub surround, our hens are truly getting the spa treatment in exchange for their delicious eggs.
A family member had wanted us to build her a coop, but later "chickened" out on the idea. By then, it was too late. We ran with the idea ourselves and, before we had even looked for chickens, we already had a coop and run ready and waiting.
The chickens
We have been keeping chickens for three years. At this time we have just two, a project Lavender Orpington and a Blue-Black Splash Orpington. We hope to find two new birds in the fall.
What has surprised you most about keeping chickens?
It is so easy!