My Enumclaw Backyard Chickens

For a long time, I have wanted to raise chickens. I live in downtown Enumclaw, on a city lot of about 1/3 acre. I learned that it IS legal to have chickens in the city limits, as long as they are fully enclosed and do not have an odor that can bother neighbors. Then a friend offered me some free chickens, and I knew the time was right. That was just a few weeks ago, so I’m still learning. If you have experience and would like to add your comments, please do!

When I knew the chickens were coming, I started researching how to build a chicken coop. I loved the "hen spa," but couldn’t handle its price tag. I eventually found the book Chicken Tractor by Andy Lee and Pat Foreman, which gave me lots of information. A chicken tractor is any kind portable pen—like the hen spa—which is moved frequently to allow the chickens to eat whatever they find on the ground as well as what they are given in their feeder. The authors discuss the benefits of a portable coop (easier cleaning because there’s no floor and taking advantage of the chicken manure to fertilize the garden). They give detailed directions--although there are some errors and inconsistencies in my edition of the book--on how to build your own tractor. Especially helpful are the tips such as hanging the food and water from the roof so you don’t have pick up anything when it’s time to move. The book also gives guidelines such as 3-4 square feet for each laying hen and 9 inches of perch space per hen. Googling “chicken tractor” on the internet brought many more ideas, including a website with photos of almost 200 variations on the idea of a portable chicken coop.

The Chicken Tractor authors estimate a cost of $75 for their coop (without nest boxes). However, our family was able to round up enough 2’x4’s, chicken wire, and plywood (although it is patched together in places) so that all we had to buy was hardware. A friend gave us the fiberglass roofing material. Our total cost was under $20. It’s good to remember that you don’t want a lot of heavy-duty lumber because the coop needs to be light enough to move!

What we finally ended up with looks like this: Module #1 is 8’ x 3’ and is 2’ high. It has 2 beams across the middle for hanging food and water. It has a door in one end which I close to move the coop. It has 2 sections of roof which open to allow access to food and water, and to the door. The roofs are hooked closed when not raised. Module #2 is 4’ x 3’ and 3’ high. I made it taller than module #1 so that the chickens can move UP to roost at night. The interior design is a close copy of the hen spa, with 3 nest boxes and 2 perches. This

module also has a roof which lifts and a door in one end which pulls up to allow access into module #1. There are plywood walls around the top half, for shelter from our Enumclaw winds. I attached 2x2 boards on the outside as handles, because the plywood made it hard to hold on for moving.

During the day, the chickens have free access to the whole coop—a total of 36 square feet of ground for 7 birds. When they are on the lawn, we move them every day. The grass from previous days does look yellow for awhile, but then comes back nice and green. At first I had problems with the chickens digging holes in the lawn, but that got better when I put grit in their food. Chickens need small rocks to help their digestion, and they weren’t getting enough from my lawn. My morning routine of checking for eggs, cleaning the nest boxes, checking food and water, and moving the coop takes me about 10 minutes total.

Moving the coop was interesting at first. The chickens sort of panicked, and one even got her leg caught under the side the first time. (I felt so bad!--though she wasn’t seriously hurt and probably got over it faster than I did.) After a few days, though, the hens had it figured out. Now they just move along slowly with their house and seem to look forward to finding goodies in their new patch of grass.

Right now, my garden is still growing food, but I plan to have my chickens help me with the garden in the winter. My chicken tractor was made to fit on top of my raised beds. When the vegetables are done, I will put the chickens in the garden to eat up the compost and to till and fertilize the soil. The Chicken Tractor book also discusses how to start new raised beds by leaving the chickens in one place for a month or more and just layering in straw or other bedding. Add a thin layer of topsoil when the chickens are done, and you have a fertile garden bed. I have also considered using some temporary fencing to put them in parts of the yard where the tractor can’t go—like in my raspberry patch. I can move module #2 (with the roosts and nest boxes) right up next to the fenced-in area, and they can scratch the bugs and weeds out of any part of the yard.

The chickens enjoy their yard diet, but I need to buy food as well. I purchased Layer Poultry Feed, which has the calcium which chickens need when they are producing eggs. Since my chickens are just starting to lay, I bought oyster shells as an additional calcium source. As previously mentioned, I also purchased grit. It looks like my 50 lb bag of feed ($12) will last my chickens about 4 weeks. I do give them daily treats of garden trimmings or kitchen compost as well. (They know good stuff is coming and always run to greet me when I go out to the coop!)

Chickens are curious and friendly. My kids have named all of them and like to hold them. I enjoy watching and listening to them, and hope they’ll be part of my life for a long time.

Click here to order Chicken Tractor: The Permaculture Guide to Happy Hens and Healthy Soil from Amazon.com