My Favorite Chicken Keeping Products

It has been a while since I posted a chicken update. If you’re new here, let me introduce you to the Lucilles – our first chickens. We loved them so much we got two more… followed by another pair this holiday season (it’s called chicken math). All of our chickens are silkies. Honestly, I bought them because of their looks, not based on egg production. They lay, just smaller eggs and not as many. But with the price of eggs right now, it’s nice to have chickens in the backyard. With just four hens, we had enough eggs for ourselves, but never enough to give away. Adding a couple more girls will just up the egg production a bit.

Meet Moira! She’s a paint silkie, about 3 months old here. Her sister Alexis is a laced satin silkie. I got them both from a local breeder in Orange County, they are the sweetest girls ever.

I upgraded our old coop. It was the perfect size for four chickens, but needed to be a little bigger for six. The new coop is by Aivituvin. I purchased the coop and run here on Amazon. What I love about this coop is you can configure it in multiple ways. It’s the perfect size for our yard and with the option to buy multiple runs, that was really nice. It’s nice and durable too.

At the end of the run, I installed an automatic coop door. It’s battery powered (the original batteries were installed in November) and it’s still going strong in February. The batteries are supposed to last six months or more. It has a light sensor which causes it to open and close at dawn and dusk. The end of this run leads to a netted enclosure filled with succulents, plants and stones called chicken garden. With the threat of so many hawks lately, the girls only have free range when I’m in the backyard or doing chores outside. When we leave town, they are confined to the coop, run and garden. The automatic door gives me peace of mind that the girls are securely locked up if our helper is running late when we leave town.

I screwed the door into the existing wood on the coop door and then used wire cutters to open the hole. Automatic coop doors really range in prices. I bought a cheap $35 door and am super happy with it. No complaints so far. You can view all of the chicken coop door options here on Amazon > 

The girls have been snacking on the Happy Hens treat, they love it. I am using the Happy Hens treat basket to hold it in place. It is also great for holding mixed vegetables and fruit scraps as well. It gives them something to do when they have to be locked up in their smaller space.

No chicken coop is complete without a bit of signage. I was given this adorable Fluffy Butt Hut sign from my neighbors. Other options are available to shop here >

I’m also experimenting with growing fodder and a variety of grasses for them. More on that later! I’ll be sure to keep the chicken updates coming this year. You can shop my Chicken List on Amazon for even more chicken finds.

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