Our chickens finally have a coop. They are approximately three months old. We have three Rhode Island Reds and one Ameraucana. The coop did not take long to assemble. The biggest problem was that I am a graduate student, so I had zero time to put it together during the school year.

But now all my classes are finally done, and I finished grading papers. So I started working on the chicken coop Friday, June 15th… and I worked on it Friday, Saturday, and finished it Monday (today). Apparently grad school sapped my strength… because the motorcycle shipping crate seemed much heavier than I expected. Sitting around and studying 6 to 12 hours a day is probably not great for my muscles. Anyway… the coop is finished.

The crate was a deal from craigslist. The cost for the wooden motorcycle shipping crate was $75 (U.S.), the paint (which was on discount) and other supplies were less than $20 (U.S.). The coop measures four feet by eight feet… and has an 8 foot wooden beam inside for the chickens to roost on. So, a very large coop for under $100.

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The last couple weeks my wife and I have started finding our chickens in strange places. They have been roosting on top of the rabbit cages… or roosting in the trees above our heads. Hopefully we can get them accustomed to getting into the coop. Yes, I am still new at this… but it is still hard for me to reconcile the fact that I found my chickens in the trees. Really, in the trees? What strange places have you found your chickens?