The Sunnybrook Farm Museum in Red Deer has a brand-new addition to its collection.
It’s a historical Eaton’s home constructed by Red Deer Polytechnic’s (RDP) second-year carpentry class and was custom-built just for the chickens.
Ian Warwick, the executive director of Sunnybrook Farm Museum, says they were looking to replace their current coop.
“The old chicken coop was from the turn of the century and it's a historic artifact. It was just sitting on blocks, and it was on dirt, and it was always hard to clean and maintain and dust the inside.”
Needing something more updated and functional, Warwick added the farm to the list of building requests with RDP, which has a program where carpentry students learn by doing and create small structures for the community.
Previously, the farm had been offered a real Eaton’s home from someone who owned one just west of the Sylvan Lake area, but they couldn’t afford to have it transported and brought in.
So, Warwick thought it would be a fun idea to combine the two projects — still get an Eaton’s home, and a new chicken coop.
Early this spring, the farm got confirmation that they were getting their project built by RDP.
“We got an online catalog from the 1920s, sent them some floor plans and blueprints to half-scale a house and they loved the idea. They just thought that was the coolest thing ever, they were building a historic home,” says Warwick.
The new coop was delivered last week, and new residents will soon move in.
The Farms, Furbabies & Friends Preschool, which uses the downstairs rooms at the farm, has candled, selected and hatched its own chickens from local breeders who have heritage chickens.
These growing heritage chickens will now be moved into the new heritage coop in the coming weeks as the museum prepares to welcome farm animals back for the season.
“We just can't wait to sort of have a little railing and a couple of small chairs for little kids to sit on the porch and look at the chickens inside,” says Warwick, “So really, we're really pleased with the project and yeah, it's going to be here forever and be an exciting thing to see,”
The new coop is currently being insulated and prepared for the chickens.
The Sunnybrook Farm Museum has been around since 1988 and is now open seven days a week until Labour Day.