On April 25, 2015 my husband and I packed up our kids and our dog, Brook (she travels with us wherever we go), and drove to pick up our very first one-day-old chicks. Our family had moved into our current house in the winter of 2012, and one of our goals before we even found our current house was to build our own chicken coop and raise some feathery friends in hopes that they would provide us with years of eggs in exchange for letting them happily roam our property. The previous winter had been consumed with researching everything chickens. We researched chicken breeds, chicken care, chicken books, chicken coops, and coop construction. After looking through many books and poring over many DIY chicken coop pages, we finally decided on our final coop and run design. I spent a week or so drawing up our coop plans before getting our supply list ready. Please click on picture to enlarge it. After gathering the materials we needed (well, most of them anyways as we ended up taking many trips to home improvement stores throughout the coop and run construction), we began constructing the frame of the coop. My parents had some extra 2×4’s in their barn (some of the 2×4’s were the boards my great-great-great-grandparents used to build their first house on the farm in 1884) so we were able to construct most of the frame using these boards. *See plans for board lengths. After leveling the ground, we placed four 18″ cement squares (one at each corner) on the soil and put the frame of the floor squarely on these stones. We decided to insulate the floor, so we used ground-rated, 3/4″ plywood on the bottom of the frame, stuffed some left-over insulation between the joists, used 3/4″ plywood on the top and finished it with a laminate remnant (for easy cleaning) before putting up the walls. I’m picturing a milkshake parlor right now, but I don’t think that would be too sanitary in our chicken coop. The framing for the coop and run went up next. The walls were raised on the coop, we attached the roofing boards, and we began to attach the framing of the run to the coop. We wanted the run to be attached to the coop so we could have one long run of roofing which provided continuous shelter for the chickens inside the coop and outside in their run. After leveling the ground where the run was going to sit, we partially buried ground-rated 6″x6″ boards on all three sides of the run. These boards were attached to the coop using 5″ screws at the base. We toe-nailed four screws on each 6″x6″ board at the point it attaches to the coop. We bought even longer screws (8″) to screw the 6″x6″ boards into each other on the two outside corners of the run. Finally, the joists were erected and a roof was added over the run. We screwed down 1/2″ plywood to the roof joists, stapled some tar paper down, and attached corrugated steel panels to the roof. We bought eight 3’X8′ corrugated steel panels and ran them from the east end of the coop all the way down to the west end of the run. We also decided to insulate the walls and ceiling of the coop since our chickens would have to endure our MN winters, so we added plywood to the inside of the coop first. The bottom 12″ of plywood is treated plywood so it won’t rot if it gets wet when we wash the floors. We used 1/2″ plywood on the walls and 1/4″ plywood on the ceiling. We stuffed insulation in-between the joists on the outside of the coop. Then, tongue-and-groove car siding was hung using a nail gun. The nail gun made the installation of the car siding very quick and easy. The most difficult part was fitting the car siding between the exposed roof joists, but with a little elbow grease (and our trusty jig saw), everything came together very nicely! I loved the look of the natural car siding, but we had our hearts set on a red coop with white trim.For our windows, we decided to install simple barn-sash windows. We wanted windows that could swing all the way open to allow for the maximum amount of air circulation. These windows were also much more inexpensive than the traditional windows we looked at. We paid $18 per window. Four windows were installed, two in the front of the coop and two in the back. After the windows went in, we painted the coop a brilliant autumn red. The kids really enjoyed helping me paint the trim on the windows white! We re-purposed a door that was originally in my great-great grandparent’s farm house (built in 1884). The nest box door is insulated so the hens (and eggs) can stay as comfortable as possible in all seasons. Finally, we put a large door on the west side of the run and added support boards between all of the run joists. We decided to make a 4′ door so we could get a wheelbarrow in and out of the run if needed. Also, we put a spring hinge on the door so the door would shut right behind us. Half-inch hardware cloth was stapled to all sides of the run. We also removed a couple of inches of soil from the bottom of the run and attached 1/4″ hardware cloth to all of the 6″x6″ boards and to the base of the coop to keep predators from digging up into the run. We put the soil back on top of the hardware cloth once the cloth was secured. Quarter-inch hardware cloth was also used on the inside of the windows and vents to keep predators out of the coop. A chicken door was attached to the coop using hinges at the bottom of the door, and we added 1″x1″x12″ pieces of wood every 2″ down
On The Farm
Welcome to life on the farm: Where every memory is a treasured tale. Join our family journey as we share heartwarming stories, time-honored recipes, and rich historical narratives passed down through generations. Gather ’round as we invite you to experience the joys, challenges, and abundance of rural living.
The Farm: Moving Back To Their Roots
Have you ever had one of those “everything happens for a reason” moments that gave you the chills? Well, I have a story to share with you that still gives me the chills, and I truly believe that everything that happened in this story, happened for a reason. Now, this is the introductory post to the family farm. This story really sets the stage for future posts, so I’m not going to leave anything out of this important beginning. I hope you enjoy the story! The Beginning In the year 2000, my mother had an inkling to start looking into her family’s genealogy. She simply wanted to know where her ancestors came from and where they settled. Many hours were spent combing the internet, looking through books and articles at various museums and libraries, and ultimately, my parents flew off to Sweden to see the homeland, visit new-found relatives, and of course pick through the records that are so diligently kept in the Swedish archives. Somewhere along Mom’s research trail, she came across an old plat drawing that showed a piece of land that her great, great grandparents, Lars and Katarina West, had homesteaded (December 5, 1884) when they emigrated from Västanå, Sweden. This homestead ended up staying in the family for three generations. Lars and Katarina gave the farm to their daughter, Christine Selena and her husband August Falk on the premise that they would allow Katarina to live the rest of her life with them. Along with taking care of Katarina, August and Christine went on to raise their family on this homestead. This land happened to be about 40 miles from where my parents were currently living in Minnesota. Not long after finding the old plat, Mom was able to find an address that was currently listed as being on the property. Bud answered the phone when my mom called and he and his wife, Elvera, graciously welcomed my family to come up and see the farm. A few weeks later, my mom and several other members of the Falk family went to visit the farm for the first time (2009). When my mom arrived at the farm with the family, they were welcomed by a long, pine tree-lined driveway that lead to a beautiful old farm, which included a giant windmill, a pole barn, an old wooden corn crib, a couple of metal corn cribs, an old white barn, a white granary that was as cute as a button, and a little brown farmhouse. Bud set my mom and the rest of the Falk clan free on the property so they could explore the grounds. I remember my mom telling me two particular things that really had an impact on her the first time she saw the farm: the first was that she found out that the barn had been built by her family in 1917 and was still in great shape; and the second was that many of the West and Falk names (along with the dates) had been etched into the old bricks on the barn inside the separator room (see Figure 1). Many of the names were etched in the early 1900’s. An incredible surprise! Now, there is one thing I remember my mom always saying to me when I was growing up: “I love old barns, and I could see myself living on a farm if I ever find one with an old barn in good shape.” My parents went on to visit the farm two more times in the next few years. After the second visit my mom was fairly certain that if the farm ever went up for sale that she would like to buy it. A couple of weeks after the second visit, my mom asked my dad if he would be willing to move up to the farm if it should go up for sale. I can’t imagine how Dad’s face must have lit up at that moment. My dad has been dreaming of land, barns, and a workshop for years. Let’s just say that they made the call to Bud and his wife, Elvera, right away to tell them about their interest in the farm if Bud and Elvera should want to sell. Fast-forward about five years from the first time my mom visited the farm, and here is where that “everything happens for a reason” moment occurs. Everything Happens For A Reason Both of my parents had recently retired from their careers and had decided to fill much of their time with volunteering in state and national parks, wildlife refuges, and in any other location they could find where nature abounded. This particular year, they were working in a visitor center, completing maintenance projects, and teaching classes about butterflies to elementary-age children at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Alamo, TX. They volunteered there for three months before they planned to slowly make their way back home visiting other parks along the way. Well, they ended up needing to come home early, so they decided to drive home in two days instead of the one-to-two weeks they had previously planned. Mom and Dad arrived home at about three o’clock in the morning on Sunday, March 23, 2014. The next day, Mom and Dad received a phone call from Bud. He was ready to sell the farm. Soon after the phone call, Mom called me and told me about the phone call from Bud. I couldn’t quite tell if she was still tired from her long car ride back from TX, or if she was in disbelief about receiving a call about the farm going up for sale. I’m sure it was a little of both, but Mom told me that she really felt that they were supposed to be back from TX to get that phone call. God works in mysterious ways. Everything happens for a reason. Early the following week, Mom and Dad drove up to the farm to meet with Bud, and to