It took over a year to talk my husband into getting chickens. When I got them he told me to tell me what I wanted for a coop, and he would build it.....little did he know....
After many weeks of reseaching various coops here, and taking ideas that I like from different ones....I finally came up with what I think is the perfect coop for me and my small flock of 5.
I really liked the playhouse coop that is posted here but also wanted to be able to get inside the coop for cleaning and just to get a good look around. I liked the idea of the chickens being able to go under the coop as well since I have a tight space for the coop (one day I will live on some land!). Other features that I had to have were a removeable 'poop tray' and a drain in the floor for easy cleaning. My husband was able to recycle almost all of the materials (hence the stained glass windows and French door, lol). People have been saying that we should go into business making coops- ha ha ha: they have NO idea how many hours went into this Palace! My oldest 2 are now 11.5 weeks and they just moved in today! Yikes!
This shows the interior as of this morning. We already added a second roost along the back wall and will be adding nest boxes on the right wall soon (they will extend out with an outdoor access door for easy egg collecting).
I love my coop's floor because I think it will be very easy to clean (and it will look nice while I'm cleaning it...the rest of the time it will be covered in shavings and no one will know how wonderful it is). I love the drain spout- I'll be able to put a bucket under the coop to hose everything in to after the shavings are shoveled out.
For the floor of the run I laid down gravel first in most of the areas (kept some dirt areas) and then covered the gravel with a thick layer of sand. On this I tossed in weeds and straw for them to forage and play- they had a great time. I'm building a climbing structure out of logs for them to hang out on during the day.
When I started this adventure I would lay in bed at night and daydream about the perfect coop. It took endless hours of research to really come up with a plan that would suit us. THEN came the building- what a project! My husband is the best for all of his hard work for me and the girls. I love how he has come to enjoy the chickens and is proud of the project. The girls moved in today and were very very happy. I was impressed that they went right up to their roost to go to sleep (I didnt have to move them for the first night in months!).
After many weeks of reseaching various coops here, and taking ideas that I like from different ones....I finally came up with what I think is the perfect coop for me and my small flock of 5.
I really liked the playhouse coop that is posted here but also wanted to be able to get inside the coop for cleaning and just to get a good look around. I liked the idea of the chickens being able to go under the coop as well since I have a tight space for the coop (one day I will live on some land!). Other features that I had to have were a removeable 'poop tray' and a drain in the floor for easy cleaning. My husband was able to recycle almost all of the materials (hence the stained glass windows and French door, lol). People have been saying that we should go into business making coops- ha ha ha: they have NO idea how many hours went into this Palace! My oldest 2 are now 11.5 weeks and they just moved in today! Yikes!
I love my coop's floor because I think it will be very easy to clean (and it will look nice while I'm cleaning it...the rest of the time it will be covered in shavings and no one will know how wonderful it is). I love the drain spout- I'll be able to put a bucket under the coop to hose everything in to after the shavings are shoveled out.
For the floor of the run I laid down gravel first in most of the areas (kept some dirt areas) and then covered the gravel with a thick layer of sand. On this I tossed in weeds and straw for them to forage and play- they had a great time. I'm building a climbing structure out of logs for them to hang out on during the day.
When I started this adventure I would lay in bed at night and daydream about the perfect coop. It took endless hours of research to really come up with a plan that would suit us. THEN came the building- what a project! My husband is the best for all of his hard work for me and the girls. I love how he has come to enjoy the chickens and is proud of the project. The girls moved in today and were very very happy. I was impressed that they went right up to their roost to go to sleep (I didnt have to move them for the first night in months!).
