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Thanks. It was mostly already built, but I've learned from this forum and my experiences so far that it's always a work in progress.

That makes sense. These birds are soooo dramatic. I think I will live with the 6' for now (cutting off the "walk the plank" overhang and see what they do when I open up the nesting boxes and of course remove the tarp for better weather. They haven't quite yet discovered that they can look...

Yeah, I think I'm learning that it's a lot like siblings. I come from a family of six. We, too, also fought like mad over snacks and window seats.

Oh, and I did use a modified version of mamma heating pad for a while.

Hey there, I was working on the coop before I received the chicks. I received them as day old chicks from Meyer the last week of October. Nervous new mom preparations. I ended up keeping them inside for three weeks and put them in the coop in a double dog crate brooder for another three...

NEW CONCERN & UPDATE: Newest issue is the roost on this open air coop and how the birds are all crowding/piling up on the open air end to have a "window seat" at night. We built the roost on the closed wall. Coop is 10 x 10 with 6 exterior nesting boxes on the backside. I experimented with...

Thanks Aart! I should have considered the open door situation. Makes perfect sense. Particularly since I'll be locating the food/supplies (in appropriate containers) along that wall. I'll add that to the list for an apron. For the right side maybe we'll just trench down a good length of...

As an update on our coop we have finished all the hardware cloth installation that included covering the gaps at the top where the wood meets the roof. We also added a double set of latches to the coop door and hinges and latches on the outside nesting boxes. We're about to add a chicken run...

Thanks Scissors65 and Malamute1: Yes - stormy weather aplenty here. Yesterday we were just thinking about attaching tarps to eves that could be rolled down depending on how the rain was hitting. Based on the structure it should be easy enough. And excellent point about velcro strrips on the...

Thanks for such a thoughtful reply. Again, I fear I missed thinking about mosquitoes. I should have. They get me at sundown plenty enough. We literally just finished attaching the hardware cloth fully on the outside of the coop this weekend and now I wish I had thought of sandwiching finer...

Aart - thanks! Finally did this. I see your posts all the time. Ever so helpful.

Yes, this forum is phenomenal. Everyone is just so great. I see so many posts from folks with chickens in distress and there's always many BYC community members right there to help out as much as they can from afar. I've never seen a more supportive online community. BYC humans and their...

oh my!

Hi and Thanks. Gotta say, I never thought about all the digging the chickens might do from the inside either. Important point. I'll need to remember that for the run we'll build. I've seen several recommendations for fan use in Florida, so I expect to look into that next. Since I'm...

Fawnda - We happen to have several spare dog crates on hand, so I'm reading a set up for in the house and outside in the coop. So I'll have both options available to me depending on how well it goes. If it goes well inside (kinda worried about the mess) then I'll probably keep them in longer...

Thanks so much. I don't know why I didn't think of placing some tin around the bottom. I think that's a good idea. When it isn't raining it's no problem, but here in Florida it rains a lot and I've already seen proof of it coming in from the sides. And closing up in bad weather (hurricanes...

Hi - Thanks. Not using chicken wire. The coop had a heavy gauge wire on it already and we're covering all of that with hardware cloth. There are lots of different opinions about many things on this board, but it seems everyone is pretty resolute about hardware cloth. So hardware cloth it is!

So funny. My dogs bark at (flying bird) shadows. Thanks for the feedback!

Really relieved to hear that. I read so many things about how easily stressed chickens can get, I'm relieved to know that it's not 100% the case. I think our neighbor will be good enough with the chickens. His work just involves a lot of noise. Thanks!

We certainly have snakes around here. Husband said they would just be after the eggs. Then I read that some snakes will try to eat a bird even though they can't with the result being a dead undigested chicken when it realizes it. Not something I want to happen. I have a couple of seedling...