Send your chickens’ home to new heights with these design and décor ideas.

By Lisa Steele

Nearly a decade since exploding in popularity — we have to go back to the middle of the 20th century to fi nd similar levels of interest — backyard chicken keeping seems to be here to stay. This is more than a trend or passing phase. More and more people are discovering the joys of raising a small backyard fl ock to supply their family with a seemingly neverending supply of delicious, fresh eggs. Chickens have been elevated from nameless, faceless livestock to cherished backyard pets.

So who’s to say you can’t add a bit of fun, extra elements to your coop and run? While chickens are fairly low-maintenance and don’t require much other than fresh, clean water and good-quality feed, today’s chicken keepers love to spoil their fl ocks. From beautifully decorated coops to spacious runs with all kinds of features to keep chickens from becoming bored, modern chickens enjoy living the high life in return for providing families with a steady stream of eggs far superior to anything that can be bought at the grocery store.

gina cioli/lumina media

Latches on the doors can look attractive while they still perform the function of keeping raccoons out.

Photos: Lisa Steele

In the Coop

While the primary function of a chicken coop is to provide a flock of backyard chickens a place in which to sleep safely away from predators’ clutches and somewhere to lay their eggs, today’s backyard coops rarely resemble the basic, lean structures of yesteryear.

It’s true that a coop doesn’t need to be fancy. However, it does need to be functional. The ideal coop has spacious nesting boxes filled with soft nesting litter, sturdy roosting bars, plenty of ventilation, welded wire on the windows and predatorproof latches on the doors that even the wiliest raccoon can’t unlatch.

Are your birds perhaps a little cramped? An upgrade may be in order. Consider swapping out old décor, enlarging spaces or tightening up predator security measures as a means to trick out your coop.