Chickendales
Here is Chickendales. It is home to our 3 barred rocks (Cinderella, Jasmine, Tweety), 2 Golden Comets (Peep and Omelet), and our RIR (Minnie). They only get to free range when I am out there with them. Even though we have a 6' fence around our backyard to keep out some predators... the Hawks ignore it!
As you can see, our garden is growing up the fence. I planted things right by their coop so they would have fresh plants and stuff to grab at will as it grew through their coop. They LOVED that!
Inside area is 8x8. It has 4 nesting boxes (but they only use the one to the right). They have almost 8 foot roost above their nesting boxes (and of course, they fight over the spot by the window). This works great! Very easy to clean. There is a solar light in there so I can check on my girls before I go to bed. There is a waterer and a feeder with grit and oyster shell in it. They also have 2 windows with pink curtains and a thermometer. They also have a storm door with a window I can open to let cool air in during the summer. There is also a plywood "shelf" at the top. I store extra feeders/waterers and trash bags up there.
This is the screened in porch area. It is 6x8 and completely covered. I has a screened door. It also has a blind over one side (you can see it in the complete shot above) to block out the hot sun in the summer. There is a waterer on a shelf (to keep bedding out of it) and a feeder in this area. There is also seed treat feeders in there which they enjoy.
This is their 12 x 10 outdoor run. It is covered with wire to keep predators out. There are 2 waterers in the run. It's hot in Georgia! They also have an apple tree in there for shade. There are roosts and things to play on in here as well. The little green coop at the end was their baby coop and now is the coop where my little ones are staying until they are big enough to join the big girls!
My girls love to take dirt baths under the apple tree!
This coop and run cost more than we expected. It ran around $500.
Things I would have done differently:
Thanks for looking
Dawn
Here is Chickendales. It is home to our 3 barred rocks (Cinderella, Jasmine, Tweety), 2 Golden Comets (Peep and Omelet), and our RIR (Minnie). They only get to free range when I am out there with them. Even though we have a 6' fence around our backyard to keep out some predators... the Hawks ignore it!
As you can see, our garden is growing up the fence. I planted things right by their coop so they would have fresh plants and stuff to grab at will as it grew through their coop. They LOVED that!
Inside area is 8x8. It has 4 nesting boxes (but they only use the one to the right). They have almost 8 foot roost above their nesting boxes (and of course, they fight over the spot by the window). This works great! Very easy to clean. There is a solar light in there so I can check on my girls before I go to bed. There is a waterer and a feeder with grit and oyster shell in it. They also have 2 windows with pink curtains and a thermometer. They also have a storm door with a window I can open to let cool air in during the summer. There is also a plywood "shelf" at the top. I store extra feeders/waterers and trash bags up there.
This is the screened in porch area. It is 6x8 and completely covered. I has a screened door. It also has a blind over one side (you can see it in the complete shot above) to block out the hot sun in the summer. There is a waterer on a shelf (to keep bedding out of it) and a feeder in this area. There is also seed treat feeders in there which they enjoy.
This is their 12 x 10 outdoor run. It is covered with wire to keep predators out. There are 2 waterers in the run. It's hot in Georgia! They also have an apple tree in there for shade. There are roosts and things to play on in here as well. The little green coop at the end was their baby coop and now is the coop where my little ones are staying until they are big enough to join the big girls!
My girls love to take dirt baths under the apple tree!
This coop and run cost more than we expected. It ran around $500.
- The windows were from Lowes returns. They were $4.67 each.
- The storm door was also a return. I think it was around $15.00.
- The screen door wasn't a return but it was very cheap.
- The white blind was a damaged return but the chickens don't mind! Very cheap.
- We used hardiplank siding ($25.00 a sheet) x 8 sheets. That was our biggest cost. ($200)
- A lot of the 2x4's and plywood were just stuff we had left over in the garage (and our friends had left over in their garages lol) from other projects, as were most of the screws, nails, staples we needed.
- The dog ear fencing was like $1.50 a plank.
- The roof material was also costly. It was around $20/sheet and we used 8 ($160)
- Add the wire fencing we got as well as the hardware cloth.
- The curtains were from one of my kid's rooms when she was younger. The rod was an opened return from target for $3.54. It's black but the girls don't mind that either!
- The solar light was $25.00. The thermometer I found in our outside refrigerator (had it out there for beer brewing!).
- Paint (will add an additional $30)
- Hardware wire EVERYWHERE! Had a cute little mouse in my coop. I caught it and re-homed it but I sure did want to keep it!!! ADORABLE! The chipmunks really enjoy the fruits and stuff I bring out to my girls as well. It's pretty cute.
- Add weathered 2x4s around the bottom to keep in the sand in my outdoor run. It all washes away right now!
- I SO WANT AN AUTOMATIC DOOR!!!! Big time.
Things I would have done differently:
- Made it bigger of course. It is NEVER big enough. We are in the process of enlarging our run and building another coop/run for my Sultan and Polish. Basically, whatever you think you need.... at least triple it.... Chickens are an addiction!
- Made my sandbox effect in the run (see above under things still need to do!).
- That's pretty much it. I love where my roost is. It is so easy to clean and all the poop stays there! I clean my coop and run out about three times a day (for the neighbors... and well... my girls!) and it's so easy to keep clean. I love the sand floor in the run (when it's not all washed away!).
- Probably wouldn't put as many nesting boxes in. They all fight over just one of them.
Thanks for looking
Dawn
