Chickens will rule the roost this season when they move into a half-size replica of an Eaton's catalogue house built for Sunnybrook Farm Museum.
All the museum's farm animals will return for the season by May 16, but 12 chicks will get to call the 20th century Eaton's house model their home.
Their brand new chicken coop, built by second-year carpentry students at Red Deer Polytechnic, was delivered a week ago and was currently being insulated to make it a comfortable place to beat the summer heat.
RDP students usually build sheds by request for the carpentry class. But Sunnybrook wanted to add the interesting history of the Eaton's homes to the museum, and also needed to replace its old chicken coop.
"We thought we could combine two things, and tell the story of the Eaton's house," said museum executive director Ian Warwick.
"We're really excited to be able to tell the story about the history of the Eaton's homes and how valuable they were for Western Canada to make life easier. Eaton's homes were shipped out west and people had to put them together themselves. It's like the original IKEA."
And for the chickens, it's quite the palace, he laughed.
"It's got a little porch, and we want to build a little railing around it, and put a couple of tiny chairs so kids can sit on the front porch so parents can take their pictures," Warwick said.
The museum provided original plans for Eaton's houses to carpentry instructor Larz Hirschkorn who shared them with his students who were eager to take on the project.
Work started on the replica, which is slightly smaller than half a full-sized house, on April 14, with some breaks for students to study for exams.
"It's not an identical scaled down model. I added a little bump out on the side to add another level of detail to the project for the students to get some more experience," Hirschkorn said.
He said the 12 students enjoyed the challenge and the opportunity to learn some new skills.
"I warned them it's going to be a head scratcher, but it will be really cool when it's done. They were all gung-ho."
He said the project has received a lot of attention, but so far no requests to duplicate it.
"They're some spoiled chickens," Hirschkorn chuckled.
Sunnybrook Farm Museum's site and its buildings are open for the season from May 1 to the last Friday before Labour Day. The annual Spring on the Farm event, with a pancake breakfast and family-friendly activities, is set for May 31.
For more information visit sunnybrookmuseum.ca.
