Our chickens new home!

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Vrobelchicks

Vrobelchicks

In the Brooder
Nov 11, 2015
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Lower Michigan
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We are new to chickens so if something needs added or changed let us know your thoughts thank you.
400
400
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Very nice! You should update your profile so we know where you live. Advice on a coop in Canada is different than advice on a coop in Florida!

What are the side walls of the pen made of? Most anything will keep a chicken in, but what are you trying to keep out? What type of predators do you have?
 
Nice looking setup, the only thing I might add is an electric fence 3 or 4 wires at different hights. From your photos it looks like you could possibly have coyotes in your area or worse a fox or two. I can't tell by your pictures if your run fencing is buried or has a skirt around the bottom. A fox can dig under a fence in no time at all and a coyote or stray dog can chew through chicken wire. I put chicken wire on my 50'x100' run because it was cheap I added the electric fence after the 2nd dog got got in the run (1 went under and 1 went through the chicken wire ) nothing has gone over, under or through sense adding the hot wires. Good luck I really like your setup.
 
Welcome! I would add vents in the peaks on each end of the coop; either openings with hardware cloth, or vents with hardware cloth in place of screening. Also, many predators can get right through that chicken wire and wipe out your flock in a few minutes. Hardware cloth everywhere is best, and 2"x4" woven wire helps a lot too. Do you have wire buried to prevent digging? Also, hardware cloth over those windows so they can be opened most of the time. Think about two 80 lb. dogs visiting, raccoons reaching in, weasels digging, and more. Sorry, but it can all happen. At least we (so far!) don't have bears here, although we might one of these days. Mary
 
Nice run and coop!

Agrees.... definitely need some ventilation. I'd suggest gable vents and open up the eaves, covering outside with hardware cloth well attached to rafters.

Might want to rotate the roosts so wide side of 2x4 is up, keeps their feet warmer and easier to navigate up and down the 'ladder'.

Adult birds might not be able to get their heads inside the trough on bulk feeder.

Don't be afraid to take things apart and rebuild as you go along, hopefully you used screws.
 
Welcome! Awesome outdoor run space! Check out the PulletShut automatic chicken doors. Solar activated and can be run from a 12 volt battery or regular household power. It's a small business so it's a great product at a reasonable price. I have one in my coop and it works great. Sure beats trying to make sure they're secured inside every night, especially with daylight savings changes. The chickens learn the routine quickly and there is a safety feature to prevent lockouts.

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk
 
My suggestion would be to add external next boxes or at least external access to the boxes you have now. I have external nest boxes and it makes egg gathering a clean and simple chore.

Here's a link to my coop build post where you can see the external next boxes:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/784144/the-rubber-room-is-open-for-business

If you add external nest boxes, you'll increase the available floor space in the coop. At a min. I would suggest a flap door on the outside so you can just lift it and collect eggs from the existing nest boxes. Not having to go in the coop every day to collect eggs is a dream.

good luck with your flock.
 

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