I became a chicken mama on Mother's Day 2010 (5/9/10). I got 3 Red Sex Links and 3 Rhode Island Reds. We decided to transform an old outbuilding we had into a home for our chickens. After looking at lots of photos of chicken coops, we got the inspiration of our basic coop plan from New Henstein Castle.
UPDATE 6/27: 2 out of 3 RIR were roosters, so we gave those away and got 2 silkies in their place, one is blue and one is lavender splash.
The coop dimensions are 4'x5'. Their outside area is 7'x12' (including underneath their coop). The floor of the coop has pine shavings, we are using the deep litter method. The floor of the run has coarse sand. We use DE in and out.
(Some of the pics are early pics, when it wasn't quite finished)
The ramp is removable (hooks onto the people door). I will probably add some white trim to pretty up the coop a bit. When I do, I'll update this photo.
I put vinyl flooring (36c each at home depot! yay!) in for easy cleaning. We'll use lots of pine shavings over it. Nesting box opens from outside the coop.
Looking in from the door to the left... and to the right. I painted inside and out with exterior paint for better washability.
Roosting ladder up to T shaped roosting bars. We decided to add a plexiglass "skylight" for some light. Only the best for our chickens, lol
"What's outside the window?".............................."Hey Mom, I see you out there! Let us out!"
It has a removable barrier that holds the shavings in so they don't fall out when I open the people door. It slides in and out for easier cleaning (raking/shoveling out of the door).
This was an existing building we had that we were not using. We may expand by putting a door in the back wall so they can also use the room behind it. We used chicken wire, so we put wood on the bottom, hoping it would prevent raccoons etc from even seeing them. The chickens are also locked in at night. The outbuilding had 3 sections. There is a section to the right and another behind. We are thinking of adding a chicken addition to give them the section behind this one.
(The garbage cans are to store their food etc because we don't have a closet for it and want to keep it safe from animals).
I added a 1.5" x 1.5" pole in the run so they could look out the window. It doesn't have a ladder, but they fly up there.
6/27: These are my 2 silkies! Left: Bluebell (blue silkie), right: Iris (lavender splash).
(All of my chickens have flower names: Daisy, Buttercup, Lily, Violet... and now, Bluebell and Iris)
