The chicks are here! The chicks are here! As I was leaving Farm and Fleet this morning with a peeping cardboard box, a woman went to enter the store as I was exiting. She saw my wistful smile and then motioned to the box saying, "Ahhh, the sound of happiness."

She could not have been more right!

This has been quite the adventure getting ready for these little birds. You can do as much research as you want, but nothing beats learning like actually doing the thing. They are beyond adorable and I am so happy to finally be a proud flock owner.

To prepare for the chicks I spent less than $50, chicks included. Here is the price break down:

We are on our way to a finished chicken coop thanks to some serious planning and one huge Menards trip. Paul and I like to joke that Friday night is date night at Menards, the place of serious romance. 

All joking aside, going in to Menards with a plan is what saved our heads on renovating and updating this chicken coop ourselves. I started by mapping out how I wanted the chicken coop to look on the inside by using SketchUp Make. The plan went through a lot of changes as I did more research. But below you can see how everything shook out.

PSST! If you've got some intense building codes where you live, we also built our own mobile chicken tractors! That way you can protect your hens and give them all the benefits of bing free-range on pasture with none of the risks. You can read all about the mobile chicken tractors here.

Scroll down to grab the plans on how to construct a nesting box from one piece of plywood!