Chicken Coop 101

I recently spent the day on Whidbey Island, WA. One of the touristy places on the island that I stopped at was the Lavender Wind Farms. At this farm they had everything you could think of to purchase with a twist; it contained lavender in one form or another. They even had lavender ice cream. However, it wasn't the lavender plants that intrigued me, but rather a chicken coop. From a short distance, I saw signs posted all around the area around the chicken and curiosity got the best of me, and I felt compelled to go and read these signs (I couldn't suppress the readoloic in me). These signs were infused with education and a hint of matter-of-factness that merited a blog posting.

Here are the pictures in their storytelling order. The captions under each picture are the paragraph from each sign. I think this could be classified as "Chicken Coop 101."

Our coop is built on skids so we can move it when we want to have  the chickens in a different part of the yard. We had them run around freely but they dug up our gardens and we did not like that.

Do hens need roosters to lay eggs? No! They will lay eggs with or without a rooster. But if you want baby chicks, a rooster has to be there.

They like to roost on branches or twigs off the ground at night. So we built this chicken ladder for them to sleep on. they love it. And it tips forward for cleaning.

Chickens like their own door. Just their own size. We like to be able to lock it so RACCOONS can't open them. That's why we have carabiners as latches, they're hard to open.

Chickens lay eggs to make baby chicks. So they want a safe place to put their eggs, like these boxes. They are just the right size for the hens. Too bad we collect the eggs every day.