Hear Ye!

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Ruby Slider!!!

Ruby Slider (#1663) has received a certificate of achievement in Make it Easy for earning an Expert Level Carp-hen-try Merit Badge!

“I wanted to build a small chicken coop, but had no idea about designs. So after checking online, I came across the cutest small coop that also looked easy to clean/maintain. Armed with a photo, I began to duplicate it with my own modification. I repurposed some wood for a mini-deck to build on. The floor on the coop is waist high to me. I added a trap door in the floor for cleaning easily. The front wall is actually wire grid, small square holes, thick, and hard to bend (it was also repurposed, so I don’t know what the name of the product actually is). I added two small windows on each side right below the roof line, screened with the same product as the door. I wanted nest boxes that I could remove and scrub. I started with large plastic veggie bins, but later changed to small stackable bins. I inverted the top bin and wired to the bottom one and secured them with hooks to the back wall of the coop. That made them sturdy and easy to remove. The girls love them. I also added a roosting ladder. To the left, I made a small access door with a ramp. If the weather is bad, the front wall/door can remain closed and they can still come and go as they please. The coop has a tin roof with a 12” overhang. Hanging food and water sources and a heat lamp when needed were added. For additional safety, I lined the outer fence with additional tin.

I’ve remodeled and repaired just about everything, but starting from scratch was a new one for me. I’m very proud of how it turned out. Many thanks to whoever posted the pictures of his or her coop!! Thanks for the inspiration.”