Standish Egg Farm
My family and I love fresh eggs and we have a large garden that needs a lot of fertilizer so we decided to raise a few chickens. We didnt have much to start with but luckily my cousin had an old coop he was'nt using so he let me take it off his hands. The coop needed some work but there isn't a lot of extra cash to go towards rebuilding, so I scrounged as much as possible from local construction sites. These pictures show the coop after the roof was replaced and the rotten siding was replaced
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The coop originally had 6 nestboxes inside and I felt that would be to many. The decision was made to add 3 hanging off the back with a trapdoor for easy egg access. The dimensions of the inside are 3x5 and I am planning to build a 8x16 covered run, hopefully this will be enough room for 8 hens.

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Here are the nestboxes open and closed

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Both the coop and nest boxes are 2x4 construction and insulated.All openings are covered with hardware cloth. These next pictures show the interior of the coop, The original perch was just 1 2x4 so I removed it and it was replaced by a ladder type. It has 3 27" perchs staggered 10" apart

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I added a front door with a window. Both eaves are open to serve as ventilation in addition to the door window. All openings are covered with securely fastened hardware cloth. I plan on adding adjustable flaps to all openings to protect the coop from winter drafts.

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Here it is freshly painted with a new lockable pophole door to keep out hungry raccoons

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To provide additional secure space for the chickens, I am planning a 8x16 covered run. The framing on the run was recycled from an old deck. The bottom half will be covered with hardware cloth and the upper will have poultry netting. All seams and stapling points will be secured with furring strips and screws. there will be a people sized door for easier cleaning access.

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These pictures show the progress on the run. The only issue that came up was how to connect the coop to the run. Because of the overhang on the coop it was difficult to securely attach them together. We decided to build a chicken tunnel from scrap lumber and hardware cloth, hopefully it will keep out unwanted critters. The following pictures show the run and tunnel.


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This is the tunnel from inside the run

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Here is the side view from the front of the run

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When completed the run will have a corrugated roof and a secure 'people door' for easy cleaning and to keep the mud under control.

Here is the run finally completed. The bottom half is covered with hardware cloth buried 18" underground to deter digging predators. The top is standard poultry netting , all seams and staple points are reinforced with wooden strips and galvanized screws

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The roof on the run is made from a coorugated roofing. The biggest cost that was incurred during construction was the hardware cloth and roofing for the run. All other materials were scrounged up here and there, It took a little longer to build this way but was worth it

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I have 4 RIRs living in it right now and 4 Barred Rocks that will be with them shortly.