Dove il Coop: A Creation Story

On the morning of first day, the coop creator said, "Let there be chickens in our backyard." His wife said, "No way, Jose."

On the afternoon of the first day, the coop creator's wife said, "Let there be chickens in our backyard?" The coop creator smirked, and said, "You have such good ideas."

On the second day, the coop creator and his wife gathered. He gathered wood from three sketchy Craig's List postings flung far across the metro. The coop creator's wife scoured the worldwide web in search of coop design plans, pointers, and pictures.

Thusly prepared, on the third day, the coop creator and his wife designed the coop.

• 3.5' X 7' floor plan takes full advantage of a 4' X 8' sheet of plywood for the roof.
• 1' square nesting boxes are set 1' off the ground and 3/4 of the way outside of the coop. A hinged door makes the eggs easily accessible without entering the chicken run.
• 1 giant door at one end should make feeding the chickens and cleaning out the coop easy.
• ventilation holes drilled on the North and South walls will allow for ventilation without over-exposure
• a window reinforced with several layers of chicken wire will allow for a breeze, but can close for security
• the floor is layered with heavy gage wire and the whole thing is up on cinder blocks to thwart predators

On the fourth day (you realize "day" is a metaphor for each phase, and this whole thing has taken us since January to accomplish!), the coop creator built the coop.




On the morning of the fifth day, the coop creator said, "Let there be four chickens in our backyard." The coop creator's wife said, "That is too many. Let there be three."

On the afternoon of the fifth day, the coop creator's wife said, "let there be five chickens." The coop creator smiled, and found a farm in Wisconsin with beautiful chickens for sale.

On the sixth day, the coop creator and his daughter brought home two Rhode Island Reds, two White Rocks, and one Black Sexlink.

Today, on the seventh day, the coop creator says, "Look at the coop I've created. We'll call it Dove il Coop. It is good... sure it could always use more finishing touches and tinkering... but..."

Today we rest with our chickens.