Throughout the 13 years my husband and I have lived on our acreage, we’ve periodically raised chickens. I’ve always enjoyed seeing the birds amble around the yard. I also appreciate that they gobble up bugs, as our tick population has been lower during the years we’ve had free-range chickens. As a bonus, we’ve also had fresh eggs.
Unfortunately, the negatives can outweigh the positives. First, chicken tastes, well, like chicken. Coops need constant fortification. Ours was successful for a time, until racoons and possums broke through. Our remaining chickens adapted and chose other places around the acreage to roost at night, including our bike shed, the garage rafters, the cattle shed. Sadly, these roosts offered little protection from predators, and our chickens reentered the food chain. We took a break from chicken-keeping.
I’ve also dabbled in gardening over the years but have progressively become more serious. South Dakota Public Broadcasting allows me the opportunity to interview people working to grow food in varying capacities, including members of the Oglala Tribe as they work toward food sovereignty. I’ve been trying to pick up tactics to work smarter, not harder, in weed management. Last year I spaced rows so that I could mow between them if the weeds got out-of-hand (they did). I’m not using the mower approach this year, except to keep the grass immediately surrounding the garden in check. I’m trying to be more aggressive about mulching this season too.
I also watch a variety of home improvement and DIY television shows. On a recent episode, the female lead was tired of grasshoppers descending on her garden each year. Her husband built a fancy chicken coop, with a chicken tunnel that ran the perimeter of her garden. The idea was that a poultry barrier might snag at least SOME of the offending bugs before they took over the produce. Hmmm…. Now there’s an idea, since I did experience an issue with squash bugs the last two years. PLUS the chickens should knock down the offending weeds in their run.
Chickens will cohabitate with the vegetables in my garden this year. So, I started on my quest to source plans and materials. I’ve since joined social media chicken groups and have a board on Pinterest. Coop plans can be adapted to fit the owner’s particular needs. Plans to house birds include retrofitted outbuildings, upcycled creations, or new structures. Chicken coops can even be mobile and used to pasture-raise birds while still offering protection from predators. Chicken tractors also allow owners to rotational-graze their flock.
Stephanie Peterson maintains a flock of birds for her business Fruit of the Coop. Pasture-raising hens is possible on her acreage just outside of Brandon. Peterson has built a number of coops over the years. She advises to consider the number of birds that you will have and allow two- to four-square feet per head. You may also attach a run to the structure, which gives the animals a little more space. Ten square feet per bird is the suggested figure when drafting plans for the construction.

Gari Gratzfeld of rural Vermillion built a chicken tractor using reclaimed highline poles he cut using his sawmill. Gratzfeld’s flock includes three calico princess chickens and five smaller hatchlings that come out on nice days. The chicks are too small to run with the bigger hens, so a temporary divider was included in the build. For Gratzfeld, bug control was the main appeal for owning chickens, but fresh eggs are a bonus. When hatching chicks, Gratzfeld has a brooder set up in an outbuilding.
Upcycling is another appealing idea for me. On social media I’ve spotted coops parents have made from Little Tykes playhouses that their children have outgrown. To build a coop adjacent to my garden, I wanted to build something with some character. Last fall I turned to social media marketplace pages and inquired about available structures. A family with one to offload contacted me and said that I could have it for free if I would just get it out of their yard. Hooray!
I worked on the project a bit over the winter. I added paint, but mostly the structure sat as I pondered what to do. Then COVID19 swept the country and I was home to work for the foreseeable future. I started planning this project months ago and it has been very welcome as a family project during the quarantine.
A free structure does not mean that you won’t have to invest resources into the project. I purchased rolls of poultry wire and hardware cloth. I’ve had to redo a few elements as my construction skills are seriously lacking. I did use anchors with screws and L brackets to attach the house walls to each other. However, the plastic anchors pulled out of the walls during the first windstorm. The house fell apart like it was made of cards. Fortunately, it was not yet housing chickens. My husband constructed wooden braces inside the house to add extra support and rigidness. He also built an amazing nesting box that fits into one of the large windows of the house. The hens are much happier with that than they would have been with whatever I was going to come up with.
I also wanted a chicken tractor, which is a mobile coop that can hold chickens as they move around the garden or yard. I hoped to be able to use it to gobble up weed seed that found its way to the garden over the fall and winter. We made use of some scrap wood and my handy hubby again helped with construction, making sturdier than I could. The tin over the shelter-end was also material we already had. I liked the idea of making use of things that we already had.
We didn’t get the tractor done in time for this spring’s use. In an effort to entertain my children, now at home instead of at school, I involved them in building the chicken tractor.Recess breaks were spent painting this addition. Plus, it was a great place for my son’s five 4-H birds to live.
Friends, this is an example of what not to do.
I absolutely should have covered the tractor with hardware cloth instead of chicken wire. Chicken wire helps keep chickens out of areas of the garden that you don’t want them pecking. We had issues with a predator or something riling up the birds. They pushed out of the pen and busted staples out. We’ve not seen the chickens since. I was gutted for my son. Chickens bring with them a learning curve. Predators will test your defenses and the birds will too.
Stephanie Peterson raises chickens near Brandon, SD. She has witnessed racoons pulling the chicken wire apart to get to the birds inside. This is probably too large of an expanse to depend on chicken wire alone to defend. Some chicken owners will add a strip of trim on top of the screen along the bottom to further secure the panel and keep it from popping off.

I added a layer of hardware cloth over the chicken wire and screwed them in place underneath the frame with washers to hold the wire. I also included a solar light on one end to hopefully deter any curious creatures of the night. Construction will likely continue as we modify the structure to meet our needs. We still need to add wheels to complement the chain handles.
We did get replacement birds for my son. We went to the farm that produced the original birds and picked out three. This gentleman keeps his chickens in pens full time because he’s close to the James River, where racoons, mink, possums –really every predator that lives in South Dakota – can be a problem. It was helpful for my son to learn and understand that all poultrymen need to monitor their coops and continue to modify the structures.
I started with four chickens in my coop and a new Great Pyrenees puppy that tested its strength. My dog stood on the yard extending directly from the coop and squished it. One of the hens also tested her boundaries and exposed weak spots. We now have three hens in my little house and chicken tunnel through the garden. My husband again helped modify my design and folded cattle panels to add strength to the yard and run.
The chickens are happy. My son’s hen will move in when she gets a bit bigger. I really enjoy watching the chickens dart back and forth along their enclosed path. Once they’ve aged, chicken droppings become a decent amendment for soil. I have more than 40 feet of run, so the droppings are well spread out. I planned my garden so produce grown adjacent to the run shouldn’t be tarnished by the birds. Walking paths for me help provide a buffer between the birds and more fragile crops. Access to the birds is also appealing. I can drop treats for them through the wire as I weed and work through the patch.
The gals seem to prefer to hang out under the palette trellis where snap peas and zucchini will hang. Shade and breeze are available there. My hens keep a portion of the garden free of weeds, though I wish they’d pick up the pace and trim back some nuisance vegetation.
I will continue to amend this coop and run. We will also have to fortify an outbuilding when winter arrives. Little Tykes makes a fun playhouse, but there isn’t much for insulation.
My family and I really enjoy watching chickens wander the yard. I’m glad that they’re part of our acreage again. As our flock grows, I won’t be scrolling through Pinterest for coop plans as often. Instead, I’ll start seeking out recipes that make use of eggs.

