- Mar 4, 2014
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We "chicken-sat" our friends chickens while they were away and became immediatly hooked. We ordered 5 Bard's and 5 RI Reds last April and they are now 15 weeks old. We live in an extremely cold climate (-20 to -30 is possible at times) so construction of the coop had a lot of serious considerations. We ended up building it off the back of our two car garage using and unused overhead door as one wall. We framed the coop with 2x4's and insulated coop and covered the insulation with flake board. The floors are framed and covered with 2" styro-foam ridgid board and then 3/8 plywood over that. We painted the entire interior with a two part acrylic paint that could actually be pressure washed. We installed two solar fans($30 each) for air exchange and a timer to control lights. I have two infrared lights on a thermostat if it gets too cold.We usually heat the garage to 34 so they'll get heat from that. Now we're just waiting for the eggs. They can leave the coop and go into a covered 8x8 former dog pen and then venture out into a 30 x30 area that has an electric fence and overhead netting. We have foxes , coyotes,eagles, hawks,etc.We've really enjoyed the adventure so far. This site has been terrific for finding info and answering our many questions.We look forward to this site for continuing to learn. Below is our 8x8 coop from inside garage and also "KJ" our spaniel going face to face with a Bard. He's trying to understand why we aren't hunting these birds!! Thanks Bruce and Jane K.
) You have a very nice coop. It looks very secure against predators. Be careful with your dog around your chickens. As most BYC members can tell you, dogs and chickens generally don't mix well. Good luck with your flock.
