A couple of months ago I had a very minor, hardly worth mentioning actually, nervous break down.
Over chicken poop.
And plants.
And chickens eating, then pooping out plants.
As much as I loved the romantic notion of chickens wandering around my backyard, I was not so in love with the reality. Because the reality is, no matter how many times you quote Emily Post to them, chickens have horrifying hygiene practices and terrible manners.
Seriously. Poor, poor manners.
When's the last time a friend came over, shoved their face in the dirt, ate all your perennials, pulled their pants down and pooped on your patio? Since most of my friends passed the age of 40 that hardly ever happens at ALL.
So I made the decision this spring to put up some gates in between my side yard where the coop is, and the rest of my backyard. With a little help from my design friend Carol Reed. I wanted something quick and easy to do, it needed to be see through so I could watch the chickens and it had to be high enough so they couldn't jump/fly/scramble over it. It also had to blend in with my farmish coop area and my contemporary backyard area.
Within 2 days, this is what Carol came up with. On the fly. Without ever actually seeing anything in person.
I loved every single one of them, but I based my decision on having the area be as visually open as possible AND ... ahem ... whatever was going to be the easiest to build. Ahem. Because, holy crap, I get sick of building stuff and being in a mess all the time.
Nobody believes me when I say that, but it's true. Mostly.
So, easy and see through were my biggest factors.
1 week after receiving Carol's design suggestions I had built option ...
The gates made out of wood stained the same colour as the coop, with round horizontal metal bars.
And it couldn't have been easier.
Honestly.
Take a look at this, which I accidentally happened across at Home Depot. It's a kit that's meant for building deck railings.
Complete with metal rods ...
And pre-drilled 2x4's. If I lengthened this, shortened that, turned it on its side, added a few pieces of wood here and there ... it would fit perfectly.
I pre-stained all of the wood I was using because it is always easier to paint before rather than after.
I literally inserted the rods, screwed 4 pieces of wood together and hung them up.
Kay, there was a bit more to it than that, but I've decided not to get into it because I have decided there isn't a single other person out there who has the need to build chicken gates.
O.K. maybe there is someone else out there who needs chicken gates, but if you're the buildy type you should be able to figure out how to do it just by looking at these pictures.
I will mention that I used something called double acting barrel hinges. These you might recognize from cafe doors. Saloon doors? The kind of doors that swing both ways. They're the Anne Heche of hinges.
They have about one billion other names, but they all do the same thing. They allow a door to be pushed open or closed from either side of the door.
If you ever plan on installing cafe door hinges you need to have 2 hinges on the top and 1 hinge on the bottom to deal with the weight of the doors. The bigger the door, the bigger the hinge you need. There you go. That's the only building lesson you're going to get today.
These gates took 1 weekend, 2 advisors (Carol Reed and my carpenter neighbour Grant) and 3 tools. A saw, a drill and a hammer. And I'm not even really sure I used a hammer.
The gate don't look level if you look at them at the bottom against the slate, but it's because I laid the slate so it slopes out of the backyard for proper drainage. So it's an optical illusion.
I still need to add a wire brace to run from corner to corner on the doors to keep them from sagging. Which I'll get to. Eventually. One day. I think.
And the added bonus from doing these gates? They work. I now have a contained pooping palace.
And my very own perfectly happy, jailbirds.
Karen- I know you must get so tired of hearing this but... You are BRILLIANT! I love this idea! I actually have a similar problem. I groom dogs out of my home and have a "pooping" area in my side yard. I'm currently unsatisfied with my fence that keeps the dogs in the designated pooping area. This "gate" is perfect!! Thank you for being creative enough for us both!
No problem! Love the name of your business (which I can see in your email address) Shampoodles! ~ karen!
I just found your blog (not sure from where), but you and your chickens have me laughing out loud!
Also, love your gates (and your coop)! Congrats!
Thank you ma'am! Glad you found me. Us. :) If you click under videos on the right you can find lots of videos starring the chickens. ~ karen
Just wandered over to your blog for the first time today. Lotsa fun.
Gorgeous chicken house. My chickens would totally escape from anything under about 14 feet tall. Yours must be well-mannered lasses (pooping habits aside). No problems with predators? I'm on a farm, so I have hawks and foxes and cats and coyotes to worry about. My enclosure is covered and has wire and rocks sunk in the ground about 2 feet to keep critters out. Of course, it's also butt-ugly. . . it would be lovely to have a pretty chicken house. Sigh. Maybe someday.
Hi Kristina! I do have predators around here even though I'm in town. There are hawks and racoons and skunks. Luckily the side yard is too narrow for hawks to have a good shot at it. The coop is also only 10 feet from where I work at my computer every day so I'm constantly out checking on them and listening to them. At night when they put themselves to bed I go out and lock them up. The coop is predator proof (built on slate flooring, so no digging underneath can happen and any open areas are enclosed with small hole hardware cloth. So far so good. :) ~ karen
Lucky chicks!
Very, very cute!!
"They’re the Anne Heche of hinges." hahahahaha!
the gates look fabulous!
somehow I didn't picture how beautiful it would look from the drawing. I might have mistakenly chosen the mesh. I absolutely love it!!!
What color did you stain the coup and gate? I may have to use it on my fence!
Sera - Sadly the colour is the "Karen Special". I went to Benjamin Moore and had them custom tint it. I don't know if their computers are worldwide or just on a store by store basis, but that's what they called it. "Bertelsen Black". I had it done to match my flagstone backyard. ~ karen!
LOVE the gates. LOVE LOVE LOVE. I think I will build those at the end of my driveway, to keep the crazies out. The ones who drive up my driveway and throw themselves in the pool. With a belly flop. Then grin at me with relief. Weirdo friends.
Lynne xx
Hah! - K
Really lovely! How do the chicks like it?
Lyn - They seem very happy with their new arrangement! ~ karen
OMG you've done it again. You built a "mansion" for the chickens and now a "mansion gate" to complete the picture. Awesome job! I have to tell my husband about the rail kits when we're in Home Depot this weekend.
Those look wonderful! So much better than chicken wire. Nice job!
Very nice Karen..I love that they got together and pushed the gate open to escape..Smart little ladies..That must have been hilarious to see!!!
Nancy - Oh I'm almost positive it was a happy accident for them. I came out the other morning to check on them, as I do every morning, and none of them ran to greet me. Which was very strange. I looked around. No chickens. Then I heard a little chicken stampeded run up behind me. They'd been wandering around in the backyard. ~ karen
I LOVE it! Sheesh, we really need to come up with something more for our chickens too. We have a bit of a run, but we need a bit more because they revolt and don't lay eggs when I don't let them out. They've been eating our garden - a no go. We've now tried to seal up the garden a bit more, and they're getting a second chance today, but if my garden is dug up again... Our layout is different (i.e. not on the side yard), but I really like this idea and will now think about how we might incorporate it into our own plan. Thanks for sharing.
Those are fabulous! I'm sure your jailbirds are perfectly happy in their own pen. I bet they hated sharing the yard with you anyways! haha
I LOVE the clever repurposing of the railing kit! I'm so rethinking a lot of things in my chicken coop & pasture this very instant!
You're my hero, Karen.
Well that's a nice thing to say. Thank you. ~ karen
"The kind of doors that swing both ways. They’re the Anne Heche of hinges."
Hey!! I resemble that remark. :P
LOL! Go nuts. :) (which Anne Heche also has a penchant for) ~ karen!
Big ol bucket of awesomesauce! Nice work Karen
Dang! Makes me wish I could have chickens.
They are beautiful! Plus that Anne Heche comment about swinging both ways and the Eggrevated assault chicken talk bubble really made this post fantastic. :)