Inside the Phillips's Pinterest-Worthy Chicken Coop

The four and one half acres of property the Phillips family calls home is a beautiful playground for husband-and-wife duo Chuck and Jenny to bring their ideas to reality—and for their 11 children to be a part of all the fun. The couple are seasoned DIYers and love renovating and creating spaces with care and ingenuity. With their new home and property in southeast Springfield allowing for more outdoor space, the couple have taken on lots of outdoor projects to add to their resumes.

The family moved to the property three years ago, and were attracted to the acreage and Turner’s Creek that runs through the property. “This house is actually smaller than our last one,” says Jenny. “We have a lot of bunkbeds.” What the home lacks in square footage it makes up for with outdoor space to roam and a place to raise their beloved chickens.

Today, the Phillips family shares its property with some 40 chicks, chickens and roosters, a number that keeps growing. “As a big family, we eat a lot of eggs,” says Jenny. “We also sell eggs to friends and family.” Raising chickens just made sense to the Phillips family, and they’ve been perfecting the most beautiful chicken coop that began with a free find: a shed that was up for grabs on Facebook Marketplace. Chuck strengthened the shed’s frame, and the family added windows and an arched doorway. They made sure to raise the coop off the ground to keep rodents away and for protection against predators. The chickens enjoy the extra space to roam as well. Jenny used cedar pickets for siding and tiles on the roof. Adding the tiles was a two-person job, so their sons Ivan, 16, and Paul, 19, helped out. “This is how we spend our time together,” says Jenny. “We’re a big family, so we don’t do trips—we do projects.”

Gathering the eggs is an exciting time for the Phillips kids, who all want to collect the eggs throughout the day. “We finally had to designate one kid a night to go collect them,” says Jenny. They gather the eggs after 5 p.m., when the chickens are finished laying, to avoid disturbing them too much throughout the day. Right now the chickens are referred to as a barnyard mix, meaning there are several breeds. Pepper is the family’s best layer, with big, darkly colored eggs. Cream Puff is a family favorite chicken. “She’s the most useless,” says Jenny. “She doesn’t lay any eggs, but she’s always at our feet and loves people.” The Phillips family plans to create a separate flock of only Copper Marans, known for their beautiful dark brown eggs. They also have started their own beehives, which are just as beautiful as their chicken coop. “I’m just a city girl, trying to be country,” says Jenny.