All Cooped Up

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It used to be that you knew the farm or farmer where your eggs came from, but recently the majority of individuals only know what aisle they picked them up from at the grocery store. And, Travis Hedgers explains that is precisely the reason why he built his own chicken coop, so he knows how and where his family’s eggs are raised — by them, in their own backyard.

“I worked for a company that worked with livestock and saw the conditions the animals were in and knew from that moment, I wasn’t purchasing store bought eggs anymore.”

The Hedgers’ four light brown Buff Orpington chickens with their red beaks are more than comfortable in their pyramid style home that Hedgers says was easy to build and cheaper than having someone else build it for him.

“If we were to have bought the coop built it would have cost us around $1,200, and I spent $300 on all the parts and built it myself,” said Hedgers. “It was actually pretty easy.”

The coop itself is a 3x3x3 pyramid style pen with the same size square home attached, raised off the ground about 3 ft. with a large door that opens in the back to a wide open space inside which makes it easily accessible to clean and maintain.

“We also put linoleum on the floor, and kept the inside wide open so I could easily sweep or rake it out,” explained Kate Hedgers, Travis’s wife and the one usually in charge of cleaning the coop. “The linoleum also helps so that the floor doesn’t rot. We have experienced some trial and errors, obviously, but we have learned from our mistakes, and are very happy with the one egg a day each of our chickens are producing and keeping their home clean keeps me and, I am sure, the chickens very happy.”

coop and breed of chickens that works best for your property and your family.

“Our yard has a lot of moss and weeds in the grass so we built the coop with that in mind,” said Hedgers. “It is light, so we can move it around the yard and let the chickens dig up that portion of the yard and we then go back over it with new grass seed. It is great; we let the chickens do all the work, so we can get the yard we desire, without doing any of the work, other than cleaning out their coops, and feeding them.”

And, for them the Buff Orpingtons are the birds that work best for them.



“We have had many different types of chickens in the past, but the Buff Orpingtons are the best with the kids so far, they are very docile birds,” said Kate. “The children always want to ‘help’ with the chickens and feed them, so it is nice to know that they are safe in doing so.”

The guidelines for owning livestock in each city, and out of city limits, differ, so contacting your own city/county office is recommended. Angie Elder, community service officer for animals and nuisances for the City of Chehalis, says that Chehalis does allow livestock as long as guidelines are being followed.

“The coop needs to be set back at least 100 yards from other residential structures, and that the coop itself needs to allow 8 sq. ft. of space for each chicken as well as 8 sq. ft. of space outside the coop per chicken,” said Elder. “It really is about respecting your neighbors, if you keep your coops clean and maintain the area of your yard where the chickens live, than we think it is a great thing.”

And, there is one rule that Elder and your neighbor would agree on —  no roosters allowed, no exception.

“Roosters are against the noise ordinance: not everyone enjoys to awaken by a rooster crowing,” said Elder.

Sara Potter is a freelance journalist living in Centralia, with her husband and two daughters. She loves learning about all types of health and fitness, inside and outdoors.