Recent content by Caity

This is definitely a good build for a beginner--it was the first project I'd ever built! The plans are really clear and easy to follow, and the creator has a blog that goes with it where you can see everyone's alterations. We kept four hens in ours and never had any problems. If you're in a...

UPDATE 3/2018: Hi all, Some of you asked about the double-roosts and the weather-proofing, so I thought I'd give an update now that we've had the coop for about 6 months and through the winter. So far the coop is working out GREAT. We had a record-breaking cold winter here in North Carolina...

Sorry for the slow response! Yes, the siding for the coop is just plywood and 1x2s.

A roo slipped in with our September pullet order and needs to be re-homed, as our neighborhood doesn't allow them. He's a lovely, friendly fellow, 17(ish) weeks old, Marek's vaccinated, used to children, and showing no signs of aggression. I hate to have to cull him as we've grown really...

For sure. The top of my old coop (and this one) is entirely open for about 6 inches before the roof starts so I don't think it was a ventilation issue. We haven't had any problems since we started wrapping the outside of our old coop, so that's why I'm thinking it might have been colder due to...

We had one hen get a little bit of frostbite on her comb one night in our old coop, and this coop is basically the same as our old one, just twice as wide (so when we divide it in half, it's basically the same inside as our old one). After she was frostbitten we took to wrapping a water heater...

Awesome idea! Ours is wood because we hope to also use the space to store stuff and to use as a winter coop during the few weeks when it gets super-cold here. I love the wall with the small door for in the run though. I haven't put together our run-divider yet, but that's a great idea.

This weekend I swapped out the two roosts for one central one, so hopefully any problems will be avoided.Thanks for all the feedback everyone!

Haha, no, that's me. Right in the middle it's divided in two--the two doors are open and touching handle-to-handle, but they're lined up exactly behind the middle pole so you can't see. I should have taken the picture from an angle.

What do you mean?

Here's a picture of the coop all opened up (except the pop-door on the far left).

Ah, that is a really good point! Since I don't really need the roost space, it looks like I will be ripping it out after all--arg. Oh well, a good excuse to spend another weekend out in the pretty fall weather!

It's actually about 36 inches deep--there's 7" in 2x4s and the 7 inches from the walls is measured to the closest point, which are the 2x4s that make the frame. The walls are another 1.5" away (or maybe 3.5" I can't remember which way the closest studs are aligned). I decided to go with two...

I'm worried about the roosts too! they're only 7 from the wall and 13ish in the middle. I figured I'd try it, and it will be pretty obvious right off whether it works or not and it will be easy to remove one and center it. Thanks for the compliment re: stencil. There's no window on that side...

Thanks! I'm really happy with how it turned out. I hear you on the capacity issue, and I had actually talked about it in the post for my first coop when we built it. He did respond and I think his explanation is reasonable, but we ultimately decided to go with the more generous space...