A New Trend Emerges: Chicknik Tables

A fair share of crazy chicken lady trends have gone viral through the years—from chickens being dressed up in tutus to baby chicks wearing cupcake liners as a ballerina costume. Chicken harnesses were once all the rage, you know … to help chickens cross the road.

Perhaps the most comical of all were the chicken arm props. A fellow chicken lover joined a pair of doll arms together with some flexible metal wiring and placed them on top of a chicken’s back, just for giggles. The result is quite possibly the most hilarious thing ever. You haven’t seen funny until you witness a chicken waddling around with a set of human-like arms.

I thought I had seen it all before stumbling upon the latest chicken trend: the chicknik table.

Someone must have noted the new squirrel picnic tables and thought, “If squirrels can dine in style, then chickens should too.” They’re not wrong.

Backyard chicken lovers everywhere are quickly hopping on board with this new craze because who doesn’t want to treat their chickens to the finer things in life?

I knew I had to have one of these chicknik tables for my own backyard flock. I discovered mini chicken picnic tables for sale on Amazon and Etsy for around $70. However, I decided to make one myself using scrap pieces of lumber
from around the farm.

This is how I built my own version of this chicken-sized picnic table.

Table Top

First, cut the base of the tabletop. I cut a piece of scrap plywood into a 48-inch-by-11- inch piece with a circular saw.

You then need to cut sides for the tabletop base, creating a tray surface to hold the chicken feed. Attach a 48-inch side piece to the platform with screws. Push down while attaching the pieces to get a tight join, ensuring they line up evenly. Repeat the process on the other side to attach the other 48-inch piece to the long side of the platform.

Attach two 11-inch pieces on the ends, lining up the ends so the top is square.

Legs & Other Pieces

Cut four legs from a two-by-four into 12-inch pieces with 45-degree angles at each end. Use a miter saw as a guide to cut the ends off at a 45-degree angle.

Cut two 46-inch pieces for the benches, and two 24-inch pieces for braces with straight ends from a one-by-three.

Assemble the Table

Turn the top platform on its side so it stands on the 48-inch long side. Line up the corners of a 45-degree angle leg piece on the underside. Attach to the bottom frame with screws. Repeat on the other sides so all four legs are attached.

Attach one of the 24-inch braces on the outside of the table legs, halfway down. Center and attach the second brace to the other side.

To attach the benches, lay one of the 46-inch bench pieces across the two braces at each end of the table with screws on each end. Repeat on other side.

That’s it! It took less than an hour to build from start to finish. Leave it plain, or finish it with paint or stain. Either way, your chickens will love it!

Brandi Faulk and her family are excited to share their homesteading journey with Marlboro and Pee Dee electric members. Their home, built in1895, is a former railway hotel and farmhouse in Chesterfield County. See more photos of their experience on Instagram by searching “faulkfamilyfarm.”