A lovely little stairway to the coop area from the house. Shot from above.
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March 2009
03/23/2009
03/18/2009
Chicken Coop Project: Level 3!
A third terrace has been added to the landscaping being created for the coop. I'm really happy with the way it's turning out. And a cute little stair.
03/07/2009
The Great Chicken Coop Project
We live in the Hollywood Hills so our yard is essentially vertical. To realize the dream of a sustainable, useful property we decided to terrace the yard for a a mini farm/orchard: chickens and a vegetable garden. Citrus and avocado trees to come soon. Not only would it be a good use of land giving us home grown eggs and veggies, it would be fun and hopefully beautiful. I was especially keen on getting to know some chickens as pets who I have been told, are amazingly entertaining with their own individual personalities. I owe our friends, Meeno and Ilse at Skyfarm, a huge debt for inspiring me to finally make the jump.
To get the job done we hired Larsen Landscaping who did an incredible job on our friend, Jason's, property. Bruce Larsen came over, assessed our property and addressed any safety concerns about land stability. We decided on an above ground terracing that would do the least amount of damage to our stable hill. A real concern in Los Angeles where landslides are common.
In the meantime, I had researched chicken coops at a million sites (especially liking My Pet Chicken) and while the Omlet Eglu was my first choice, budget dictated a more traditional, rustic wood coop. I didn't even consider the idea of doing my own coop -- not architecturally inclined at all! So Larsen will also be assembling my new coop when the landscaping is finished. This is not just a functional proposal -- I want it to be beautiful and blend into the wild nature of the hillside. And it had to be safe. Coyotes, raccoons, hawks... that's a lot of danger for some helpless chickens. So predator proofing is a priority.
I will be documenting our progress as we go, posting pix and taking suggestions. Feel free to offer any advice you may have about keeping urban chickens. And so it begins...
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