Our First Coop
We chose this corner of the yard because its the coolest. it can get upwards of 100 degrees in the summer here in Albuquerque. There was a lot of debate about the ivy. It provides a lot of shade, and year round color, but is mildly toxic. Our chicken farmer friends assured us the chickens won't try to eat it. Also, the maintenence issue - ivy growing through run, general debris collecting up there.... We decided to build around it.
Our coop and run have to be critter proof because we have a mama raccoon in our neighborhood. We used two layers of fencing and buried it into the ground. the posts are anchored with cement.
This is the coop. We found it on craigslist and got to be good friends with the people who built it. It was built for a home where the coop needed to be inconspicuous. being chicken newbies and unable to do the physical labor, we asked our new friends to build the run. They were into it!
We built a base to elevate the coop.
This is how the frame looks around the ivy. We stuffed crumpled up chicken wire into the little empty spaces.
The top side door opens up and is easy access for cleaning out the roost. The bottom door opens to a nest box. This coop houses 6 hens.
We chose this corner of the yard because its the coolest. it can get upwards of 100 degrees in the summer here in Albuquerque. There was a lot of debate about the ivy. It provides a lot of shade, and year round color, but is mildly toxic. Our chicken farmer friends assured us the chickens won't try to eat it. Also, the maintenence issue - ivy growing through run, general debris collecting up there.... We decided to build around it.
Our coop and run have to be critter proof because we have a mama raccoon in our neighborhood. We used two layers of fencing and buried it into the ground. the posts are anchored with cement.
This is the coop. We found it on craigslist and got to be good friends with the people who built it. It was built for a home where the coop needed to be inconspicuous. being chicken newbies and unable to do the physical labor, we asked our new friends to build the run. They were into it!
We built a base to elevate the coop.
This is how the frame looks around the ivy. We stuffed crumpled up chicken wire into the little empty spaces.
The top side door opens up and is easy access for cleaning out the roost. The bottom door opens to a nest box. This coop houses 6 hens.