Lee Oliphant, Daisy and Sweetpea

Don Sather, Sweetpea, Rosie, and Daisy

My name is Lee Oliphant. My husband Don Sather and I live with six hens and three labradoodles on an acre in the beautiful coastal town of Cambria, along the central coast of California. The temperature is moderate here, averaging in the 60’s and 70’s throughout the year. This mild climate allows the  hens to be outside nearly every day. They’re confined to their indoor coop and outdoor run most of the time as our town is inhabited not only by people, but by preditors such as foxes, raccoons, coyotes, hawks, and occasionally by a mountain lion. We let them out to free run when we are gardening and can supervise them.

The husband, father, and grandfather in the family, was the chief henhouse architect and builder. He also took charge of outdoor technology for our hencam project and shares in the responsibility of caring for our flock. We find our hens to be quite entertaining and took on this hencam project so that we could  share their antics with you. Most evenings we sit in the garden and enjoy the quiet stillness and visit with our hens.

If you are interested in coastal gardening, please visit my site: Central Coast Gardening. I’m a certified Master Gardener and pass on information that I’ve learned through this program. I’ll continue to add garden entries to that site and concentrate on chickens on “Backyard Hencam”. I hope you enjoy our backyard hen project!

We do not live on a farm, nor do we want to turn over our garden to foraging chickens, so we designed a small coop with a partially covered run that nestles in a far corner of our half-acre next to “open space”. It has worked out fairly well. Had I stuck to my original plan for having four hens, instead of six, (see my entry on a “problem chicken”) it would have been even better.

When designing a coop and run for your backyard, consider this. Will your chickens be able to be outside most of the day? In our temperate climate, the hens go inside only to lay eggs or to run from a hawk flying over their pen, so inside space is relatively small. Even in the rain they prefer to be in the outdoor sheltered area of the run rather than indoors. Do you have predators that would threaten your birds, or could they free range (with only a shelter for food, water, and nesting boxes)?

According to most books, large breed hens only need four square feet of space per bird and 12″-18″ of roostingspace. While this is adequate, giving hens a little more space than the minimum requirements, makes for happy layers (you know how girls are). Design your coop for easy cleaning (it is inevitable). Provide a nest box for every four hens (even at that, ours have had to “double up” occasionally during a busy spell). Consider climate, lighting, ventilation and your neighbors, when designing a coop. A little research now will make for happy hens later.