Recent content by MrRaccoon

  1. MrRaccoon

    Is my hen crowing?

    Well shoot! 😅 The good news is that we live in an unincorporated part of our county with no restrictions on chickens/roosters. So we might keep him. We'll ask around our neighbors though and see if he bothers anyone. I didn't know that was a thing. I knew about the sex coloring difference...
  2. MrRaccoon

    Is my hen crowing?

    We've got 6 backyard chickens, about 13 weeks old. Just now I heard some crowing coming from our coop. I thought we had all hens, but someone is sounding off out there. I've heard than hens can crow too, but I thought that it was pretty rare. I want to double check and make sure that a...
  3. MrRaccoon

    First time coop. Critique my plans.

    Well, I wouldn't call it finished yet. The exterior still needs to be painted (just partially primed now), and I need to add the pop door and nesting box exterior access. Oh, and a ridge-cap for the roof. However it is habitable and hopefully reasonably secure against raccoons, rats, and even...
  4. MrRaccoon

    First time coop. Critique my plans.

    Do you mean not having feed/water in the coop? I figured that is where feed should be, since it is the most secure part of a chicken living situation.
  5. MrRaccoon

    First time coop. Critique my plans.

    I ended up using a different kind of steel roofing that has less places for rats to get in. For the channels above the eaves where a rat could slip in I added rolled up hardware-cloth, held in place with some deck screws: Along the ridge I was a bit more lazy and just have one or two screws...
  6. MrRaccoon

    First time coop. Critique my plans.

    Thanks everyone for all this great info! I've got paint, boards, and plywood to start construction as soon as I can. I had an unexpected delay. An extended family of rabbits (domestic breed gone feral) had been making a warren under our house's foundation, and had a couple litters. I think we...
  7. MrRaccoon

    First time coop. Critique my plans.

    What is more ideal for a non-walk-in coop? Would I do a couple small doors flush with the wall (one per nesting box)?
  8. MrRaccoon

    First time coop. Critique my plans.

    I was thinking that if we did corrugated metal then we wouldn't have plywood underneath it (just some 2x4 joists instead). So there would be gaps between the peaks of the corrugation and the coop walls.
  9. MrRaccoon

    First time coop. Critique my plans.

    One more thing I've been wondering: I have read many times that I must have a draft-free coop, but that it must be well ventilated. What is the difference between keeping out wind/drafts, and allowing ventilation. Is it mostly that the ventilation is up high, above the chickens' heads...
  10. MrRaccoon

    First time coop. Critique my plans.

    Thanks for the reply 21hens. I was thinking about making two 4'x8' doors which are mesh wire in a wood frame. That doesn't sound too hard to open to me, but you raise a really good point about snow. We get so little of it around here that I always forget to account for it. (3 inches is a big...
  11. MrRaccoon

    First time coop. Critique my plans.

    Thanks so much for the awesome reply Sally! Perhaps I could add a foot tall strip of ventilation along the front of the coop, under the overhang. That would be 1'x8', so enough for my needs. Should I have flaps to cover over parts of that if the chicken count is lower, or is having a few extra...
  12. MrRaccoon

    First time coop. Critique my plans.

    Hi all :frow I am (soon to be) a first time chicken owner, and before we get any chicks, we are going to get a coop and run in place. We are planning on starting with chickens, and are hoping to add ducks (maybe next year). I am not sure what flock size we are going to want yet. At the moment...
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