The first time we saw our house I knew it was the one! I may have had a slight cry fest in the kitchen… (true story) The market was crazy competitive and I didn’t think there was any chance our offer would be accepted. Luckily it worked out and I’m so grateful for a place to make our own.

The backyard was one of the most appealing things to us. Just slightly under 1/2 an acre, it was the right amount of room for our small family, chickens, dog, and a good size for entertaining friends. We have a community pool down the street, an Orscheln Farm and Home nearby, and the main highway a skip away. We talked about where we would put a chicken run and how much potential the large yard had.

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We decided to build the chicken run in the right corner of the backyard where a trampoline sat from the previous owners. Measuring 8 ft by 12 ft and 6 ft tall, our 6 chickens would have plenty of room to roam happily. It was extremely important to have a walk-in run making cleaning soooooo much easier! I learned this the hard way with our 1st coop.

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Even though we live in the suburbs and have a fenced in yard, we have quite a few predators… hawks, raccoons, fox, coyotes. The first night we found raccoon droppings on top of the coop. I cannot stress this enough to predator proof your coop and run! Hardware cloth is the best way to make sure your chickens are safe. We used 1/2 inch hardware cloth throughout the run, burying it around the perimeter and nailing it on every post. Animals will dig, dig, and dig some more to get inside so don’t opt for cheap chicken wire. I promise it will not hold up against hungry animals.

For time sake, we decided to order a chicken coop on Wayfair. We will most likely build our own in a couple years but for now the chickens seem happy in this one. It’s plenty spacious with 2 roosting bars and 6 egg boxes.

My chicken run must haves:

•Pretty landscaping to draw in pollinators

•Match our house

•Needs personality

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Blessings, Jolie 🌼