Porpoise Hork
Chirping
I built an 8x9 open frame "shed" style coop for my 19 birds. Attached to it is a pre-fab coop I bought when I first got chickens. It's built out of 2x4's, and I have 12x12 pavers around the base to prevent anything digging under it. The entire coop is wrapped with 1/4 hardware cloth including across the roof to keep out unwanted guests. The roof is just a pair of heavy duty tarps that I zip tied on. For the main roosting area I put a raised platform on the far end and is large enough for about 15 birds. The rest roost in the smaller prefab or on cedar branches that I mounted up towards the roof. This has been up for nearly two years now and the tarps are holding up great with no signs of giving out soon. The entire thing took about 4 days to build by myself.
This winter I put a temp probe in the roost area and even with the slide door open it stayed about 7-8 degrees warmer than ambient. And can easily hang additional tarps on the sides and ends to block wind in the winter if needed.
The prefab coop/nestbox is getting torn out this spring and I am going to expand the main coop out. I also plan on expanding the roost area to take up the entire platform.
This winter I put a temp probe in the roost area and even with the slide door open it stayed about 7-8 degrees warmer than ambient. And can easily hang additional tarps on the sides and ends to block wind in the winter if needed.
The prefab coop/nestbox is getting torn out this spring and I am going to expand the main coop out. I also plan on expanding the roost area to take up the entire platform.
