ChickityChina
Songster
Here is the design of our coop (which is in progress currently). As our six chicks are nearing three weeks old, I would like to be able to move them out of the garage and into their new home. They have plenty of space right now, but I know they'd be much happier outdoors. They love running around in the grass when I let them out. So over the next couple of weeks, hopefully - weather permitting and DH's class schedule permitting - we will be able to get this done!
I like to fully plan things out before jumping in, so I drew up this design so that DH and I would be on the same page as things get tweaked and modified during the building process (which I am sure they still will be to some extent). Keep in mind, the basic coop dimensions are listed but the proportions of the drawing may be a little skewed. MSPaint is only good for so much.
The nest boxes will be on the outside for easy access, and locked so the easy access applies only to us and not to critters. The big doors on the back will provide access for easy full cleaning out and for scooping the poop out of the PDZ on the poop/litter board (the poop board will be set up like a kitty litter tray containing a couple of inches of sweet PDZ powder and scooped clean daily with a pooper scooper). The floor of the coop, 1 foot up the coop walls, and the roof will be coated in BlackJack 57. The vents at the top and sides will be covered with hardware cloth and left open. The legs of the coop will be enclosed with hardware mesh as well, and this area will be accessible from the run so they can dust bathe underneath the coop if they so choose.
The run will be 8.5' x 10' and 6' in height. It will be fully enclosed with the frame lined by hardware mesh and sitting on a base of half-buried cinder blocks. There will also be a bit of a wire skirt coming out from the cinder blocks so that nothing tries to burrow underneath. I think this will be predator-proof enough that I will be able to keep our pop-door open. The coop will sit on the outside of the run with the front face attached to the run frame. We will be covering the top of at least part of the run for shade and rain cover. The coop and run are going to be sitting right up against a line of thick spruce trees so they will have some wind/sun protection from that as well.
Since we are still in the process of building, things may be adjusted as we go, but this is the plan. And it feels good to have one!
I like to fully plan things out before jumping in, so I drew up this design so that DH and I would be on the same page as things get tweaked and modified during the building process (which I am sure they still will be to some extent). Keep in mind, the basic coop dimensions are listed but the proportions of the drawing may be a little skewed. MSPaint is only good for so much.
The nest boxes will be on the outside for easy access, and locked so the easy access applies only to us and not to critters. The big doors on the back will provide access for easy full cleaning out and for scooping the poop out of the PDZ on the poop/litter board (the poop board will be set up like a kitty litter tray containing a couple of inches of sweet PDZ powder and scooped clean daily with a pooper scooper). The floor of the coop, 1 foot up the coop walls, and the roof will be coated in BlackJack 57. The vents at the top and sides will be covered with hardware cloth and left open. The legs of the coop will be enclosed with hardware mesh as well, and this area will be accessible from the run so they can dust bathe underneath the coop if they so choose.
The run will be 8.5' x 10' and 6' in height. It will be fully enclosed with the frame lined by hardware mesh and sitting on a base of half-buried cinder blocks. There will also be a bit of a wire skirt coming out from the cinder blocks so that nothing tries to burrow underneath. I think this will be predator-proof enough that I will be able to keep our pop-door open. The coop will sit on the outside of the run with the front face attached to the run frame. We will be covering the top of at least part of the run for shade and rain cover. The coop and run are going to be sitting right up against a line of thick spruce trees so they will have some wind/sun protection from that as well.
Since we are still in the process of building, things may be adjusted as we go, but this is the plan. And it feels good to have one!