garage coop

[clarktx]

Hello,

I am new to this forum, and I want to know about garage coops.

Background: my grandfather lived in a subdivision, even back in the 50s. He had a setup where he had a small door cut in the wall of his garage. He had a outside run along the wall of the garage. At night, he would usher the chickens through the hole in the wall and they would spend the night in a wooden box in the garage. This was in Pennsylvania.

Today, I have a two car detached garage in Texas. I live in a deed restricted subdivision. I already have talked to the critical neighbor, who is closest and also with the local police. He was very supportive. I should really make friends with the people behind me as well.

I recently came into posession of 5 Australorps, which I chose because certain online resources said they were "quiet" and laid 5 eggs a week, as well as other desirable features. I'm not wedded to the breed.

My lot isnt that big, but I have a great possible setup because next to my detached garage I have an existing fenced in run that is about 175 sq ft, plenty of room to let the girls stretch their legs. This run is on the "far side of the garage" on the lot line.

Back to the point, I would like to build a box in my garage to house the girls at night and during inclement weather. I intend to use the deep litter method to keep the smell under control. It sounds like it works very well at that.

However, when I searched on "garage coop" and even on "garage" I didn't see anything directly pertaining to this idea. I'm not a stranger to forums and I try to find what I want before I post any questions. I know its been done because my grandfather did it, but, it doesn't seem very common.

Does anyone have any advice or experience with this? I am going to build my garage coop this week, out of some spare industrial shelving racks, chicken wire, and plywood.

 

[arlee453]

There are some folks on here with that exact setup. Sorry I can't remember any of them off the top of my head though!

I'd just partition off a section of the garage like you say - use deep litter method and it should well.

Post pics and/or make youself a page so we can see the progress!!

 

[Anny]

I am just finishing up building my 4x6 set up in a corner of my garage.

You can see pictures on my "home page" juts click on my profile then "see personal page"

Also Seachick has a garage coop which you can find in the Med. Size coops under Coop design.

 

[clarktx]

Thanks for the posting and sharing.

I actually started work on my garage coop already, although it isn't nearly as nice as most of the ones I see elsewhere on the website.

Its good to see some other ideas. I like the tuna can screwed to the wall for the oyster shells, and grit. I need to review some of the other ideas more.

Today I was able to get the majority done, thanks to TS Edouard, and the girls are spending their first night in it. We only have 3 birds, and I don't really want to have more than 4, because its frowned upon where we are. I figure the more birds we have, the less likely they will be here in a year.

Other good news, I secured permission and other positive feelings from the neighbor behind me. With the side neighbor and the rear neighbor acting copasetic, I felt I could move forward. I don't think I'll mention it to the neighbor who is diagonally behind us, although they will be as little as 10 feet from the run, albeit through 2 fences.

Surprisingly, both neighbors were very pro-chicken. I had feared that either of them would have freaked out, and I would have dropped the project.

I hope to finish the basic coop tomorrow. I suspect I'll keep modifying it for a couple of weeks, tweaking it to make it better.

 

[clarktx]

Oh and I got my first egg today! Woot.

The guy who sold the birds to me was exceedingly cool, and if you are looking for black australorps in north Houston I would recommend him. I also drank some of the milk he had gotten from his jersey cows just that morning. Super congenial guy.

Anyway I have one hen which is already laying, two that will lay in 2 months, and 2 chicks (3 weeks old).

My wife was really ecstatic about the egg. We'd been buying the spendy organic eggs at Sams Club because she said the "normal" eggs were "stinky". She claimed this egg was the best yet.

She grew up on a fully functional farm, so she has longstanding opinions on these topics.

As I work on this project, sometimes I feel like I'm doing what I've always wanted to do, and sometimes I feel like there is something a bit crazy in my head. That last part is because of the deed restrictions, I really hate doing things I've implictly agreed not to do. I feel like when you move into a deed restricted subdivision you should abide by their rules because you chose to live there.

So this rebel streak is really strange for me. The conflicting feelings bug me.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

I would do this in a second if I could get hubby to go along with it! We need a banty coop and making it in the garage would be SO much easier! LOL Good luck with yours and please do post pics

 

[Anny]

Quote:
I thought my other half was going to cry when he had to cut the hole in the garage for the pop door. haha

 

[Firefyter-Emt]

Don't forget to "slide" some of those eggs to the neighbors you talked to. That will go a LONG ways to keeping them happy for sure!

 

[clarktx]

In the winter I am sure I will be happy with the garage coop, but in the houston summer its not so great. The remote sensor showed me it hit 102.2 a few minutes ago, so I put up a couple of fans and its already down to 102.0 and falling.

I don't have the run constructed yet... so its really the best I can do for now. In fact, I already moved the girls in and I don't even have any proper perches.

The basic construction is an old warehouse rack. I have many of these. There will be a door on the back wall of the garage which will lead to a run, on the other side of the wall. I haven't had time to work on that yet.

I am not done, still working on doors and perches. But feel free to point out any problems.