From Jank to Actually Cute: Our Duck and Chicken Coop Glow Up
Let me paint you a picture.
A plastic duck house. A constantly gross waterer. A duck run made of old dog pen panels held together with a combination of bolts and random bits of wire, with a hot wire strung around the top to keep the raccoons out. Did it work? It did not.
Last summer, Broc added a lovely — and by lovely I mean ugly — green netting electric fence around the outside for good measure. We were really nailing the aesthetic.
Then last fall, while we were deer hunting, we rigged up some random scraps of lumber and a giant tarp to make a roof. You know, to keep the snow off. What it actually did was create a cave situation where the snow would melt, pool up, and freeze solid. It destroyed the tarp. Obviously.
This spring we tried again — hog panels wired to the top, fresh tarps. Progress.
And then the raccoons waged actual war. Broc's response? Five hand traps, multiple live traps, and I don't even know how many trail cams. At some point you have to look at what you've built and ask yourself some hard questions. We asked those questions. The answer was: tear it down. (in case you’re curious about just how much we waged war back on the raccoons, check out the video below)
The Chicken Situation Wasn't Much Better
To be fair, we had a decent coop for the chickens. The run though? More dog pen panels. Of course. At this point we should buy stock in whatever company makes those things.
It was falling down, rusty, hodge podge held together with hope and zip ties. Not exactly the Idaho homestead aesthetic we were going for.
The Glow Up
We found a company out of Utah that builds and delivers chicken coops, and honestly it was one of the better decisions we've made around here.
For the ducks, they built us a brand new 4x8 coop with a 4x8 run — painted to match our house and shop, with nesting boxes, walk-in access, and actual structural integrity. Revolutionary. I added flowers and edging around it and now instead of wincing every time I look out the front window, I actually smile. It's out by the pond and it looks like it belongs there.
For the chickens, we kept the existing coop but had the same company build a matching run on site when they delivered everything — about 8 feet wide and 12 feet long, keeping the same roofline as the coop. Then I had our local painter come repaint the coop black to match. Flowers there too, obviously. Cohesive. Cute. Done.
The Part That Actually Changed Our Life: Run Chicken Automatic Doors
Here's the thing nobody tells you about farm animals — the door situation will consume you. Open it too late, something gets eaten. Forget to close it, something gets eaten. Go on a trip, stress about whether someone remembered to close it. It's a whole thing.
We put Run Chicken automatic doors on both setups — one on the outside of the duck run and one between the duck run and coop, and the same on the chicken coop and run. The doors open and close automatically based on light, and you can program and adjust everything from an app on your phone. Which means when daylight saving hits and it gets dark an hour earlier, you just adjust it from the couch.
At this point, if it's not automatic it's not happening around here. With two kids, 100+ animals, multiple businesses, and a life that doesn't slow down, we can't afford a daily task that depends on someone remembering. Run Chicken removed that task completely and our animals are safer for it.
Use code RIZE for 15% off at Run Chicken.
The After
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