Hello Everybody
My quick little story about my design is that I wanted to build something that I can use for when my chicks arrive, and something I can keep them in until they are around 2 months old. This is when we will put them with the rest of my flock and my Mamaw's flock.
Last July my wife and I bought 13 naked necks, and well I only had a brooder that they fit in for about the first couple weeks. Then after that we took them over to my Mamaw's. She has a second coop that we use to let the chicks grow until they are big enough to go free range with the rest of the herd. Well unfortunately I received a call telling me that all my naked necks disappeared except for 4. There were no dead chickens anywhere, no blood, no feathers nothing. So we're wondering if somebody stole them or what. SOMETHING HAD TO HAVE HAPPEN. But anyways, it was a real bummer. So I told my wife that I was gonna build something that we were both happy with and that we could use for a long time. So I decided to build us the "cheep" motel. It took about 1 week to build, and that was only working on it for an hour or two each day. Also it costs almost $100 which was WAY WAY WAY more then I was wanting to spend, but then my head kept running with different ideas so oh well it was worth it. AND BTW I am by no means a carpenter so not everything is perfectly straight or perfectly square. I built it in the corner of my garage so I don't haft to worry about predators getting in there and getting my chicks.
Hope you all like my design. I kinda just put it all together in my head and this was the outcome.
Here is the "cheep" motel
This is where once the chicks hatch I will be placing them. I will be putting crushed corn cobs for bedding in the next few days. I also used a vinyl liner for the bottom to make cleaning up easy.
This is where they will be roosting once they get old enough. Again I put vinyl on the bottom. I also screwed in 3 dowel rods that I believe they will like.
i
I attached the top section to some hinges so all I need to do is pull up on it for when I need to clean the floor.
the total roosting are is 2' x 2' good size I think for the 7 chicks I will have until I move them to my bigger flock.
This is the section that opens up for easy cleaning of the coop, and so I can put the chicks in and out and be able to change their feed and water. The whole "cheep" motel is covered in poultry wire.
I attached it on hinges again so all I needed to do was pull up on it, and I just used a 1 x 2 to keep it up so it doesn't put too much strain on the hinges.
Here is the ramp that I built from a 1 x 4. It is 3 feet long and I think its not too big of an angle for them so they should be able to walk right up it when they are big enough. Also I attached small dowel rods to the ramp to give them some leverage up the ramp.
This is what I will be calling the play yard. Its 3'x 4' plenty of space for some baby chicks. You might of noticed that I put 1 x 6's on all the floor edges so they wont be flinging their bedding everywhere.
Here is a better view of the inside of the roosting area. I hope they like it.
This is the front of the roosting area, but don't worry the cover will be closed so they can't escape.
Here are the new residents
they will be hatching in 10 days. These five chicks will be the first to explore the "cheep" motel. I have candled them and they are all looking great.
So that's my design. In all it took a week to build, but I only worked on it a few hours each day. It cost around $100. It's 8' long and 2' wide and the play yard is 4' wide. I am actually really happy with how it came out. I honestly don't think I would change anything.
Hope you all like the "cheep" motel, vacancies will be filling up fast so start booking your reservations.
Thanks for looking and God Bless
My quick little story about my design is that I wanted to build something that I can use for when my chicks arrive, and something I can keep them in until they are around 2 months old. This is when we will put them with the rest of my flock and my Mamaw's flock.
Last July my wife and I bought 13 naked necks, and well I only had a brooder that they fit in for about the first couple weeks. Then after that we took them over to my Mamaw's. She has a second coop that we use to let the chicks grow until they are big enough to go free range with the rest of the herd. Well unfortunately I received a call telling me that all my naked necks disappeared except for 4. There were no dead chickens anywhere, no blood, no feathers nothing. So we're wondering if somebody stole them or what. SOMETHING HAD TO HAVE HAPPEN. But anyways, it was a real bummer. So I told my wife that I was gonna build something that we were both happy with and that we could use for a long time. So I decided to build us the "cheep" motel. It took about 1 week to build, and that was only working on it for an hour or two each day. Also it costs almost $100 which was WAY WAY WAY more then I was wanting to spend, but then my head kept running with different ideas so oh well it was worth it. AND BTW I am by no means a carpenter so not everything is perfectly straight or perfectly square. I built it in the corner of my garage so I don't haft to worry about predators getting in there and getting my chicks.
Hope you all like my design. I kinda just put it all together in my head and this was the outcome.
Here is the "cheep" motel
This is where once the chicks hatch I will be placing them. I will be putting crushed corn cobs for bedding in the next few days. I also used a vinyl liner for the bottom to make cleaning up easy.
This is where they will be roosting once they get old enough. Again I put vinyl on the bottom. I also screwed in 3 dowel rods that I believe they will like.
iI attached the top section to some hinges so all I need to do is pull up on it for when I need to clean the floor.
the total roosting are is 2' x 2' good size I think for the 7 chicks I will have until I move them to my bigger flock.
This is the section that opens up for easy cleaning of the coop, and so I can put the chicks in and out and be able to change their feed and water. The whole "cheep" motel is covered in poultry wire.
I attached it on hinges again so all I needed to do was pull up on it, and I just used a 1 x 2 to keep it up so it doesn't put too much strain on the hinges.
Here is the ramp that I built from a 1 x 4. It is 3 feet long and I think its not too big of an angle for them so they should be able to walk right up it when they are big enough. Also I attached small dowel rods to the ramp to give them some leverage up the ramp.
This is what I will be calling the play yard. Its 3'x 4' plenty of space for some baby chicks. You might of noticed that I put 1 x 6's on all the floor edges so they wont be flinging their bedding everywhere.
Here is a better view of the inside of the roosting area. I hope they like it.
This is the front of the roosting area, but don't worry the cover will be closed so they can't escape.
Here are the new residents
they will be hatching in 10 days. These five chicks will be the first to explore the "cheep" motel. I have candled them and they are all looking great.So that's my design. In all it took a week to build, but I only worked on it a few hours each day. It cost around $100. It's 8' long and 2' wide and the play yard is 4' wide. I am actually really happy with how it came out. I honestly don't think I would change anything.
Hope you all like the "cheep" motel, vacancies will be filling up fast so start booking your reservations.
Thanks for looking and God Bless
