Basic hoop chicken coop / run Arizona

[menchelke]

This is brief walk around of my recent coop. It started life as a hoop house green house, but I had the hoops on top of two foot tall walls. High winds caused it to fold over.

I have an acre, and no affordable way atm to fence in my whole acre, and make it coyote and dog proof, not to mention bobcats, and hawks, so we do full enclosed runs around here. The larger the better. I have a 16x12 that houses 4 hens and their Rooster.

So, after getting two unexpected Ayam Cemani Roosters (they had to spend some time with the other flock, and luckily there was no fighting, I had to put the greenhouse back together as a chicken coop. It still is finished (is anything ever?)

But, It's 3 x 52" x 16' cattle panels. All the wood is reclaimed, except the cedar. The cement board is left overs from tile projects, etc. So basics, I am redesigning how I would do this with hindsight experience, and tailor made for chickens.

But I digress:
12x7 ft base. Coop end with the roosts is 3ft wide, and 4 ft tall at the rear, and 5ft tall at the front. I used cement board, 3x5 and cut an angle to make backside 4 ft. That forms the sides, I elevate to get some cross vents from the southern to northern wind we get 24/7.

Roof is more cement board, with some old ply under it, and will eventually get some leftover white ceramic tiles on it to complete the roof of the coop.

Two perches 28 inch off the ground. I will be adding a small ladder up to it and the egg laying box. I will also be expanding the opening of the egg box if needed. It was originally built to be egg box for Silkies, but then the Ayams fell into my lap.

Enclosed the ends, with wood framing, built the door, used auto close hinges, put the shade cloth over the cattle panels, and then chicken wire over the shade cloth.

The end goal, is planting butterfly vines, and honeysuckle vines, to grow over the hoops, and weave in and out of the chicken wire, and create an organic, permanent shade.

You may notice no floor, etc. Where I life, it gets hot enough, that the chicken poop is all dried powder the next day. The coop never smells, the desert ground and the dry air suck all the moisture out of it. We barely get an inch of snow, and so cooling, is primary concern, and shelter from rain and wind. The full run is predator proof against coyote, and bobcat, and hawk.

Anyway, more work to do, as I said, work in progress.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Looks good!
Thanks for sharing

 

[fuzzi]

This is brief walk around of my recent coop. It started life as a hoop house green house, but I had the hoops on top of two foot tall walls. High winds caused it to fold over.

I have an acre, and no affordable way atm to fence in my whole acre, and make it coyote and dog proof, not to mention bobcats, and hawks, so we do full enclosed runs around here. The larger the better. I have a 16x12 that houses 4 hens and their Rooster.

So, after getting two unexpected Ayam Cemani Roosters (they had to spend some time with the other flock, and luckily there was no fighting, I had to put the greenhouse back together as a chicken coop. It still is finished (is anything ever?)

But, It's 3 x 52" x 16' cattle panels. All the wood is reclaimed, except the cedar. The cement board is left overs from tile projects, etc. So basics, I am redesigning how I would do this with hindsight experience, and tailor made for chickens.

But I digress:
12x7 ft base. Coop end with the roosts is 3ft wide, and 4 ft tall at the rear, and 5ft tall at the front. I used cement board, 3x5 and cut an angle to make backside 4 ft. That forms the sides, I elevate to get some cross vents from the southern to northern wind we get 24/7.

Roof is more cement board, with some old ply under it, and will eventually get some leftover white ceramic tiles on it to complete the roof of the coop.

Two perches 28 inch off the ground. I will be adding a small ladder up to it and the egg laying box. I will also be expanding the opening of the egg box if needed. It was originally built to be egg box for Silkies, but then the Ayams fell into my lap.

Enclosed the ends, with wood framing, built the door, used auto close hinges, put the shade cloth over the cattle panels, and then chicken wire over the shade cloth.

The end goal, is planting butterfly vines, and honeysuckle vines, to grow over the hoops, and weave in and out of the chicken wire, and create an organic, permanent shade.

You may notice no floor, etc. Where I life, it gets hot enough, that the chicken poop is all dried powder the next day. The coop never smells, the desert ground and the dry air suck all the moisture out of it. We barely get an inch of snow, and so cooling, is primary concern, and shelter from rain and wind. The full run is predator proof against coyote, and bobcat, and hawk.

Anyway, more work to do, as I said, work in progress.

I like. I have a hoop coop as well, but I live in a hot and humid climate so my shade cloth and tarp don't go all the way to the ground, to allow air flow across the bottom.

One thing that I have read is that the nest boxes can get really hot when they're outside the coop, so a shade cloth or light-colored roof a few inches above the top of the nest boxes might help keep them cooler.

 

[menchelke]

How wide did you make your base?

Thanks. That is a good point about the the sun being on the nest box, this is an east facing nest box, my other next box is on the north face, and doesn't get hit by sun directly.

I'll be adding additional 2nd cover over it if needed. Tomorrow getting 109, I am curious now how warm it is in there coop and in the nest box, time to put the weather sensors out there.

As for my shade cloth, it's ventilated shade cloth for air flow, and the sides of the bottom of the run, have about 3 or 4 inches of gap along the top of the ply, below the 2x12 board that runs down both sides. Gaps closed with chicken me But all in all, I go hang out in there with the chickens in the evenings and it's definitely way more comfortable than just being outside. Hehe.

 

[fuzzi]

How wide did you make your base?

Thanks. That is a good point about the the sun being on the nest box, this is an east facing nest box, my other next box is on the north face, and doesn't get hit by sun directly.

I'll be adding additional 2nd cover over it if needed. Tomorrow getting 109, I am curious now how warm it is in there coop and in the nest box, time to put the weather sensors out there.

As for my shade cloth, it's ventilated shade cloth for air flow, and the sides of the bottom of the run, have about 3 or 4 inches of gap along the top of the ply, below the 2x12 board that runs down both sides. Gaps closed with chicken me But all in all, I go hang out in there with the chickens in the evenings and it's definitely way more comfortable than just being outside. Hehe.

Good idea about checking the temperature in the nest boxes.

My coop is 16' long x 8' wide, 6' tall in the middle. I used four cattle panels, slightly overlapped, then covered with hardware cloth.

If you're interested, the timeline of my build is here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/fuzzis-chicken-journal.1550586/post-26819925

I also like to sit in the coop with my flock, but more often I do so during the day as the mosquitoes can be fierce around dusk.

 

[fuzzi]

From earlier this evening:

 

[menchelke]

Got my temps back. Local weather app on phone claims it's 103, my weather station remote sensor in the shade is reading 107, and inside the egg box was 112F. Honestly, cooler than I thought it would be.


Nice Nice. I actually plan on building a double run coop shortly on different section of the property, and redoo my larger coop, the double would basically just be 2x 4 or 5 hoops going left and going right and the center would be centered up on a combination storage shed/ chicken coop/egg collection. Think of like a 2 bladed propeller, with the shed being the center, to store food, etc, and then runs going left and right, for 2 separate flocks.

I plan to have up to 3 distinct flocks. I have Ayam Cemani now, so if those continue to thrive, I will keep them. Ameraucanas and Silkies.

But that's for the future.

 

[fuzzi]

Got my temps back. Local weather app on phone claims it's 103, my weather station remote sensor in the shade is reading 107, and inside the egg box was 112F. Honestly, cooler than I thought it would be.


Nice Nice. I actually plan on building a double run coop shortly on different section of the property, and redoo my larger coop, the double would basically just be 2x 4 or 5 hoops going left and going right and the center would be centered up on a combination storage shed/ chicken coop/egg collection. Think of like a 2 bladed propeller, with the shed being the center, to store food, etc, and then runs going left and right, for 2 separate flocks.

I plan to have up to 3 distinct flocks. I have Ayam Cemani now, so if those continue to thrive, I will keep them. Ameraucanas and Silkies.

But that's for the future.

You have big plans!

I wanted clean-legged bantams, but went with a local breeder of Speckled Sussex for convenience when online hatcheries couldn't meet my needs. I like the idea of breeding replacements, trying to get as close to standard as I can. My straight run was 7 males, 3 females, so I wanted more hens for eggs. When I couldn't find sexed chicks in that breed I wound up with Dominiques, partly because they became available but also because their eggs are a different color than the Sussex. I'll be able to tell which eggs are purebred Sussex and which are Sussex/Dominique cross, so I can choose which to keep.

Makes sense?

 

[menchelke]

You have big plans!

I wanted clean-legged bantams, but went with a local breeder of Speckled Sussex for convenience when online hatcheries couldn't meet my needs. I like the idea of breeding replacements, trying to get as close to standard as I can. My straight run was 7 males, 3 females, so I wanted more hens for eggs. When I couldn't find sexed chicks in that breed I wound up with Dominiques, partly because they became available but also because their eggs are a different color than the Sussex. I'll be able to tell which eggs are purebred Sussex and which are Sussex/Dominique cross, so I can choose which to keep.

Makes sense?

Nice nice. I dunno much about breeding for improving, or any and all that. But been lurking and reading, and I won't try and breed, other than replacing my flock, unless I know I got a source for the hatchlings, or on an as ordered basis, my brother in law wants to sell chicks here and there at the local outdoor swap meet. I can't stomach the thought of culling healthy chicks just because they are roosters, or because I am trying to breed some specific trait. If they are healthy I want them to find a home.

Silkies are always a hoot and the wife loves em, I love the Ameraucana breed, one of my favorites, and the nice blue eggs are popular.

The Ayam is more ornamental, and the 2 roosters I fell into are both pretty docile and I can catch them pretty easily and they are calm once I am holding them. I can hand feed them. So I ordered a dozen eggs to see how many more I can add. I am hoping out of that dozen, I get at least 4 hens, 3 would be ok too.

Part of my brain is wondering, and I am sure others have tried it or are in the process of doing it, but Fibro silkied easter eggers. I think that would be a neat mixed breed that people would want. I don't know if possible, but that's what research is for.

 

[fuzzi]

Nice nice. I dunno much about breeding for improving, or any and all that. But been lurking and reading, and I won't try and breed, other than replacing my flock, unless I know I got a source for the hatchlings, or on an as ordered basis, my brother in law wants to sell chicks here and there at the local outdoor swap meet. I can't stomach the thought of culling healthy chicks just because they are roosters, or because I am trying to breed some specific trait. If they are healthy I want them to find a home.

Silkies are always a hoot and the wife loves em, I love the Ameraucana breed, one of my favorites, and the nice blue eggs are popular.

The Ayam is more ornamental, and the 2 roosters I fell into are both pretty docile and I can catch them pretty easily and they are calm once I am holding them. I can hand feed them. So I ordered a dozen eggs to see how many more I can add. I am hoping out of that dozen, I get at least 4 hens, 3 would be ok too.

Part of my brain is wondering, and I am sure others have tried it or are in the process of doing it, but Fibro silkied easter eggers. I think that would be a neat mixed breed that people would want. I don't know if possible, but that's what research is for.

Just saw your reply.

I mainly want to replace or increase the flock, I have no aspirations of making money or showing birds. But I do want to breed the best I can, considering that there aren't many Speckled Sussex bantam breeders out there.