Photos and story by Lorrie Clevenger, Capacity Building Coordinator
Community School PS 211 in the Bronx, NYC, is preparing to receive a flock of chickens for its school garden. Over two days in May, students, teachers, staff, parents and even a few grandparents pitched in to build a chicken coop to house twelve new hens.
Jason Godlewicz, the computer teacher at P.S. 211 and a second year student of Farm School NYC, worked collaboratively with the community to submit an application to Just Food’s City Chicken Program. Each year the program supports the establishment of four new city chicken projects at community and/or school gardens in New York City. The program provides the tools, building materials and all the technical assistance needed to build a chicken coop and learn how to care for their newest community members.
Follow along for a snapshot of this two-day adventure, then find out how you can get involved!
Community School PS 211 students pose with their teacher, Jason Godlewicz, and fellow Farm School NYC student Ai Hirashiki. Community School PS 211 is one of four community/school gardens selected in 2012 for Just Food’s City Chicken Program.
Justin, a Just Food City Chicken volunteer who helps with community coop builds around the city, works with a student to line the base of the chicken run, a fenced-in yard for the chickens to run and scratch freely and securely. The run is lined with chicken wire to help protect the chickens from other urban wildlife like rats and raccoons.
After lining the base of the run with chicken wire, the students help to fill in the run with the removed soil. Later, the wire at the base of the run will be attached to the aboveground part of the run.
Greg Anderson (in foreground wearing a baseball cap), Just Food’s City Farms Program Manager, leads a team of experienced and not-so-experienced coop builders in constructing the wall frames for the chicken coop.
Jason, Greg and two more members of the school staff assemble the wall frames.
Ai and Justin use a circular saw to cut the rafters for the roof of the chicken coop.
Justin and a community member place the rafters and prepare to add the roof.
After a bit of training from Ai on how to safely use the drill, three of the students assemble nesting boxes. With a little hay for bedding, the nesting boxes will provide a nice place for the hens to lay their eggs.
Mounted nesting boxes inside the nearly finished chicken coop.
Jason works with students to complete the chicken run by covering the frame with chicken wire.
At the end of the second day, the coop is about finished. A few minor details remain--that chicken run needs a door!--but the coop is almost ready for its new residents!
Get Involved!
- Support the Chicken Scratch Campaign! Just Food needs your help to support four more communities to build chicken coops in 2012!
- Want chickens for your community or school garden? If you’re in New York City, talk to our friends at Just Food and/or download the Just Food City Chicken Guide.
Join the Conversation:
- Name that hen! Leave a comment to share your name ideas with Community School PS211 teachers and students for their 12 hens.
- Chicken laws? In New York City, we can keep hens but not roosters. What about where you are?
- Do you have chickens? What advice do you have for Community School PS 211? Share it in a comment.
