Where to begin? We are nearing the completion of our first year with chickens. And yes, the chickens came before the coop -- which meant my husband had his work cut our for him in order to get a coop ready for move in before the girls outgrew their brooder and were looking for nesting boxes. We spent many nights taking ideas from the BYC website on coop design. I am happy we settled on a large design with 'room to grow', as we have gone from 5 chickens to 7 and are already planning our new additions for the spring of 2013.
The First Day
Chicks get to supervise
The steep roof grade supported a six foot loft for more storage.
Over the course of 3 months our temperature rose to well over 100 degrees.
We were able to find some great deals on a window and door and decided that we would go for black and gold paint. Purdue Boilermaker fans live here!
Interior walls went up.
IT STARTED WITH THESE TWO!
The First Day
Chicks get to supervise
We decided on a 10 x 12 floor plan. Half would be for the chickens and half would be a work space. An overhead loft was planned as well.
The walls went up and we planned to add insulation for the unpredictable midwest winters. We were also able to run electricity to give us lighting, heat, and the all important automatic coop door.
The steep roof grade supported a six foot loft for more storage.
Over the course of 3 months our temperature rose to well over 100 degrees.
We were able to find some great deals on a window and door and decided that we would go for black and gold paint. Purdue Boilermaker fans live here!
We were able to use shingles that were left over from our home and we were given some fencing that would become the outdoor pen for the girls.
The coop was looking so good we added three new babies to the brooder! This is White Lightning, Mulan, and Cocoa. They arrived safely from My Pet Chicken.
Interior walls went up.
This is the door between the storage area and the coop. The nesting boxes (with golf balls in place for encouragement) were placed along the wall.
Our final touch was the addition of a security officer. Richard the rooster! Here he is being inspected by our hen in charge - "Kernel".
The girls love their new home. They are providing us with a steady supply of eggs. We have also learned the importance of an extra small coop for isolation purposes (before introducing new chicks, as a hospital ward for ill birds, and time out for trouble makers).
Thanks for checking out our story!
