^^^ X2
I've seen different styles and pitfalls, but the heavy cattle panel design might work really well for you. Yep on soft and soggy. I'm from Mi. you can look into raising up the run area with gravel and sand for drainage as well.Maybe I can look into building the run with half of it to have a roof and the other half not that way they have the option of shade or sun. I know I've also seen clear roofing, so I may look into that. I also just don't want my run to turn into a muddy mess in the spring and fall either. Usually our yard currently (not where we will be living then) is super soft and soggy in the spring and fall. A lot in the spring is due to the snow melting so I'm wondering if covering half would help with that.
I do also want to look into the hoop design. This is what I love about looking into this now is I have nothing but time
I plan to build a coop big enough for a lot of birds but I'll probably start out with like 4-6.
Hi there. I was offline, on my way home from an event in Cheyenne, and found 21hen's PM when I fired up my computer.I am very new to chickens, I am doing research now as my husband and I are getting land this winter and we plan on getting chickens in the spring
I went through the whole Coop Design thread (yes all 47 pages....) and I noticed a huge variety of coops and runs! One thing I've always thought even before I did any real research is that I wanted a coop I could comfortably stand in to make it easier on my back to clean and if I need to go in for any reason.
Well I noticed a lot of coops are smaller and more compact, often with part of the run under. Is there a real benefit to the compact and off the ground style? One other thing I am slightly worried about is how cold it gets in the winter and I don't plan on doing heat lamps or anything but I feel the raised coop would make the inside of the coop even colder than if it were on the ground?
This is really awesome! Do they have any access to the shed near it or is this the whole thing? Then it looked like it was wrapped, do you wrap the whole thing except a vent area in the winters? I really like this ideaHi there. I was offline, on my way home from an event in Cheyenne, and found 21hen's PM when I fired up my computer.
We have a shed style coop and a hoop run which we absolutely love! In winter we cover the hoop with plastic (think greenhouse) and it stayed warmer in there than in the coop. It withstood winds in excess of 60 mph, sideways snow, and the snowload, so we are very content. It's tall enough to walk into easily - a real plus with my physical limitations - and easily expandable. We did that this summer by simply removing the end piece, adding two more fence posts and another cattle panel, then putting the end piece back on. Cattle panels are cheap and easy to build with and done the way we did them they are quite stable.
Our complete build can be found if you click on "My Coop" under my avatar, and you can peruse to your heart's content. I would also be happy to answer any questions you have, as will most folks on BYC. Here are a couple of pictures our our setup so you can decide if paying our build a visit is something you'd be interested in.
In the photos above, we are adding another cattle panel to the existing run. The cattle panels are covered in chicken wire to deter overhead predators and wild birds, and the bottom 2 feet is covered with hardware cloth, folded outward at the bottom to protect against digging.
Snow load on the run. All we had to do was go inside and hit the underside with a pushbroom, and most of the snow slid off.
The inside of the run, covered with plastic. It was nice enough in there that I brooded a few batches of chicks, using a heating pad and a straw cave, even though temps were in the teens and twenties and we had a blizzard (or two!). You can see the brooder pen with chicks in it there to the left.
Putting the finishing touches on the plastic covering.
The run in summer. The white vinyl lattice serves no real purpose except to make the setup look nicer from the street, since we live in town.
We love this setup. It's nice to look at and super easy to work with - and in. I hope this helps. Good luck! Oh, and just wanted to add that I always admire folks who want to get the building and preparation done BEFORE they get chicks. Um, I wasn't that smart!
I am going to go stalk your coop now
Everything is directly on the ground. There is no floor in the coop aside from the dirt, and no floor in the run either. We use deep litter in both. Because we had an apricot tree Ken didn't want to take out, the run is offset slightly from the coop and there is a "tunnel" that they go through to get from coop to run and back again. Their pop door is open 24/7, 365 days of the year. In the 5th and 6th pictures from the top you can see the tunnel. It's actually a 3 sided box. It's enclosed on the top, on the side nearest the people door, and on the front. The fourth side is open and up against the coop where the pop door is, the bottom is open and the end into the run is open. It's right there by Ken in the 5th photo and if you click on the last photo to make it bigger you can see a few chickens in it.This is really awesome! Do they have any access to the shed near it or is this the whole thing? Then it looked like it was wrapped, do you wrap the whole thing except a vent area in the winters? I really like this idea
As far as cost did you find this route more expensive than others when you were researching into your build? I'm looking for something functional and at least semi economical.
Oh it does and I love all the photos of your coop! Learned so much and that looks so much more functional than what I was considering. In the winter did you put an actual tarp on top or was it just like painters tarps around the whole thing except the vents?
