BWB Seattle 2nd Sundays: Chicken Coop Project

Building a chicken coop was our very first Second Sunday’s project. It was everything I expected our first project to be and more. When I contacted the Rainier Beach Urban Farm & Wetlands they were the first organization to say yes we would love your help and we can be ready for April. I had no idea there was such a beautiful oasis of organic goodness just off one of the busiest streets in urban Seattle. Their request seemed simple. They would provide the supplies and the plans they had already used at another location and we would build a chicken coop.  They currently had eight chickens on site and the new coop would house 30.

Like any true Burner project we built a solid structure with the supplies we were provided and of course what each of us had tossed in our tool bags just in case. For me it was a bottle of wood glue that had been rolling around in my van for months. Turns out, we needed it and that bottle saved the day. I have to give credit to our lead builders. I truly don’t know the first thing about design or building a solid structure. I’m the front line face person who rallies the troops. I am fairly certain we bit off a bit more then we could chew on this one and by we I mean I did. Our lead builder’s Zack and Eric, lead a team of Burners who had never worked together before.  hey stuck it out in true Burner grit style and got it done with positive attitudes.

We spent six hours at the farm. We built one giant chicken coop, four above ground compost bins out of pallets and installed some shelves in a tool shed. The people who run the farm were so happy with what we were doing that they made us hot soup from the vegetables growing on the farm.  

-Ozzy