It's a big heavy duty cardboard box with a rectangular opening cut out of 1 side to be the top. There is a heat lamp strung onto broom stick draped acroos the top. Pine shavings line the bottom, another broom stick for a mini roost, feeder and waterer. This picture was taken just a few minutes after we moved the chicks in. See all 6 of them huddled in the top, right corner.
We bought 6 chicks from Tractor Supply. They were about 3 days old.
Here they are in the "Chick Days" box going home with us...
1 of the Tetra Tints, she is pure snowy white and our other 1 had a few black flecks. All 6 chicks were happy, clean, and healthy.
The cardboard box brooder worked great for about 2 weeks then they started getting active and the waterer got knocked over...So we moved them straight into a spare bathtub. Lined it with newspaper, sprinkled some shavings and hung the heat lamp on a shower curtain tension rod. Used a baby gate to keep them from flying out of the tub anymore.
Meanwhile, outside the coop was coming along great. We had a lot of materials lying around from a few different projects and that was great.
The above picture is Day 1. Basic framing. The structure measures 5W by 10L by 8H.
I layed a paver floor to the run pretty much just because we had some. They will be covered with a nice layer of dirt and earthy stuff.
Above, the door closes with a gate latch that we can then lock. The run area is covered with hardware cloth, some is 1/2 inch anc some is 1/4 inch. The 1/4 inch was a bit easier to work with.
The coop part is 4 by 5 with bump out nest boxes in the front. The big clean out door is in the back. There are 3 windows also that are just hardware cloth covered cut outs that open and close with shutters on the outside.
The roof is plywood with some metal sheeting screwed onto it, it's not corrugated metal. It was given to us by a friend and we have no clue what it is actually called.
Chicken pop door and ramp down to the run area. The door can be opened from outside using a rope tied to an eye hook and threaded through another 1
The coop floor is lined with a scrap of linoleum and tree branches were installed in front of 2 windows for roosting.
Back inside, the chicks are growing before our very eyes! They're getting bored and messy so we're a bit anxious to get them outside. We're in NY so the weather is just about nice enough for the move. They're about 4 weeks old here. Looks like 1 of our straight run Partridge Plymouth Rocks will be a Rooster.
Moving Day! Pines shavings spread on the floor of the coop and in they go. It took a while to get them to come down the ramp into the run.
Here they are almost 7 weeks old. I still put the heat lamp on in the coop at night since we still have frost advisories going on this week.
Above, I am outside looking into the coop through the window. All 8 (we inherited 2 more) fluffy buns are perched together all cozy on the roost right in front of the window.
And here they are from the inside. I felt bad for waking them up. The entrance to the nest boxes will be right under the roost, it's boarded up till they get a little older.
Here they are doing some free-ranging for the first time. Thanks for checking out our coop
