I got the idea to get chickens and just went and bought them...with no coop at the house! The chicks initially stayed in the spare bedroom in a rubbermaid tub, but as they got bigger they got pretty stinky so DH quickly hired a friend to build a basic 12 x 14 shed out of 4 8 ft pieces of plywood. Put a tin roof on and thought we were done. Sadly, after being in the coop for a week a critter of some type killed them all within 2 days. Apparently it wasn't very predator proof so we made some modifications. My father (a retired builder who is bored stiff!! AND a perfectionist!) came over and has put in a wood floor, sealed ANY and ALL cracks or openings, put in an automatic feeder that will hold alot of food, automatic waterers and an electric door that is on a timer. It opens in the mornings and closes at night. I painted the plywood door to look like an old saloon wooden door. I painted characters around the 3 sides as the "townsfolk" of "Badleyville" (our last name is Badley) and the name of the coop is "servin Time Saloon", double play on the words, servin time for drinks/dinner (chicken!), and "servin time" as a sort of prison since it is a coop they can't get out of! Hence the prison bars in different places on the coop!
I will try and add pics but the site is telling me I don't have permission to insert attachments. I'm not very computer saavy!!
**10/28/13 I now have pics added under "Coop Design"
