Sketch Up allowed me to virtually separate and attach the coop to the run so I could make sure that I had some room for uneven ground.

Since we live in Minnesota, I needed the run to be designed in such a way that I could neatly cover it with plastic for the winter. The run stays comfortable with passive solar heat. I do have a ventilation fan to keep the humidity down. The hens appear to handle the cold above 0F, at which point I add a warming lamp. The hens have supplemental lighting fall through spring. My original design plan was to detach the coop and put it in the garage in really cold weather (in Minnesota, really cold is -20F or more). This has proven not to be necessary with a good 250 watt bulb.

This is my run/coop combo. The coop separates entirely from the run for safe storage of the birds while the run is moved around the yard. The coop can roost six birds with two nesting boxes. The coop has rubber tires and can be moved by one person, the run sits on skids and requires a lawn tractor to be moved.

Here is a rear view of the frame design I used.

Sketch Up allowed me to virtually separate and attach the coop to the run so I could make sure that I had some room for uneven ground.

Here is the coop with both the lower and higher run designs.

In this design, I raised the height of the run so as to allow the access door to sit higher against the coop.

This design set the run lower and used clear fiberglass windows to let in natural light in the run. In this design I turned the roof 90 degrees so I could incorporate the windows over the laying boxes. This design also changed the "storage area" below into a droppings catch area.

Sketch Up allowed me to virtually separate and attach the coop to the run so I could make sure that I had some room for uneven ground.

mnchickenfamily
Jan 18, 2016

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