Valerie's Chicken Coop
This is the view from the Northwest corner
This is the view from the Northwest corner
This is the view from the Northeast corner
Here is the view from the South side
And here's the view from the North side
And just so we don't forget who's house this is .....
Here's where we go to get all those lovely eggs..
And here are some of the occupants,
We searched a lot of websites looking for plans for a small chicken house, but this is the one we ended up using. http://www.buildeazy.com/chicken_coop_8.html We made a few modifications. We extended the beam for the roof out another 8 feet in the front, to give them a covered area. We added a run, made of 2"x4" welded wire, buried a foot deep in the ground, with a row of chicken wire all around the bottom to keep the chickens from sticking their heads through the wire. The top of the run is covered with lengths of chicken wire "sewn" together with wire, and supported in the middle by wires crossed into an X across the run. In time, this will probably stretch so much that we'll need to support it with some kind of pole. The hen house and the covered area in front are roofed with sheets of tin. The window was put in reversed, so it can be opened or shut from the outside. The eaves on the South side (facing outside the run) are covered with wood inside the house, but were left open on the North side (inside the run), and covered with chicken wire to keep nasties out but allow air flow. Our temperatures here are warm most of the year, so the window stays open most of the time, too. We have chicken wire stapled over the entire window on the inside, to keep varmints from pushing through the screen and getting in. We're hoping it will be sufficient. The hen house is 6' x 6', with a 6' shelf for the roost, and a board across the front to keep the shavings from spilling out. We keep the 'people' door open during most days, too, to allow for more ventilation and light.
The shelf has not been the greatest idea for a roost; it gets pretty messy each night. We're thinking about switching it over to just a 2'x4', so there won't be so much surface area. Also, in the future, I'd like to section off the area under the roost, about 2' out from the wall, and fill this with sand, instead of shavings. Then we would just scoop out the droppings each day and put them in the compost pile.
