Dreaming of Chickens

While tucking Curlylocks (4yodd) into bed last night we were doing some homestead dreaming. We're less than 2 months away from finishing our home on 10ac, and we're all getting excited about homestead plans. So, she told me that she wants lots of chicken. I told her of course we'll have chickens, and what colors of chickens was she thinking of having? Her immediate answer was "pink"! While explaining to her that there aren't really "pink" chickens, but there are some that are sort of light reddish-brown, all I could think of was the dyed chicks that are all the rage in the city at Easter. Who would think of doing that to a chicken??? Or a rabbit, 'cause I've seen those too!?!

Well, then she began listing off all of the actual colors of chickens she wanted and I learned just how much she pays attention when we're at my folks, or at the feed store, or looking through chicken books. She had them all. "All black, whitish yellow, brown-y red, tiny spotted, stripey, and the ones with the puff-balls on their heads." A pretty complete list if you ask me!

Now the adventure begins to plan for a chicken coop. Anyone have good pointers on chicken coops, or know of good coop designs? We can make do for the spring/summer, but come fall, we'll need something substantial for them to live in as we'd like to keep getting eggs as long as possible before winter. Any tips?