This weekend my husband and boys drew-up plans for our portable chicken coop. We looked at lots of photos and videos online, and Arienne kindly shared her experience with us. We plan on building a coop similar to this one in design, except larger. Here is the frame all put together in our garage, with the upper story floor in place showing where the two 1'x1' next boxes will go:
They still need to cut out the ramp/trap door, finish the next boxes, and install the roost. The ground level will be solid on each end, with wire mesh on the sides. This is a portable chicken coop, so we'll move it to a new location in our back yarden each week.
The girls and I ordered our chicks yesterday, too. We looked at Plymouth Rocks, Delawares, Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpingtons, Australorps, Wynadottes, and Ameraucanas, but in the end we decided to get four Red Stars. Since we have no experience with chickens, Red Stars sound like a sure bet for us. We need chickens that are cold hardy, and I like that Red Star hens are on the smaller side, friendly, docile, and are good lavyers. We learned that they have the best feed to egg ratio of any breed, which make them an economical choice for our family. They lay about five eggs a week, so with any luck we'll get around twenty fresh eggs each week with our small flock of four hens. Plus, Red Stars lay all winter long :-)
But, the real deciding factor for us was that My Pet Chicken will have day-old Red Star chicks available and ready to ship next week. We are so excited! Can't wait for our babies to arrive!