When we moved to bucolic Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 6 years ago, one of the first things we did was name our property the “Almosta Farm.” It was a bit of our humor showing through there since we had five dogs (three French bulldogs and two pugs) but no other animals — only a dream.

Early last spring, we decided as a family to dive into the world of chickens. Luckily, our elderly neighbors were looking to pare down on some things, one being a 10-by-12-foot old storage shed that hadn’t been of use to them for many years. It was structurally sound, and we had to have it moved, but we thought we could make it our Almosta Farm hen house with a bit of hard work and modifications.