Das Hühnerhaus

A work in progress. I'll add pictures and info as I go. We're planning to buy 6 girls in January from Myer's hatchery and I think I can finish in time for Spring when they're ready to move in. We're located in Huntsville, Alabama. My wife is German, hence the name. Starting out with a 16'x8' pad to hold a 5'x5' shed, 4'x5' coop, and a 5'x6' run (plus under the coop.) I bought plans off of ebay, but I will mix some of those ideas with some I found here. I particularly like the Wichita coop, so it will be similar, but with a shed and a gable roof..

Started with a form and dug out an inch or two below the 2x6 boards:



Added two tons of crushed limestone, tamped and added wire mesh:



Rented a concrete buggy to transfer the concrete from the street to the backyard. Took about 5-6 trips to move around 2.5 yards. I poured it 5" deep. Some would say a little overkill, but hey, what if we get some Jerseys! Kids were testing the strength the morning after we poured.



Here's a shot back towards the house and pool. Note the J-bolts that were placed in right after we poured the concrete.



View from the main part of our backyard. We have three dogs and we're not sure how they will mix with the chickens so we put up the black fence in the foreground as a layer of our three tiered defense for the chickens.

Good morning and welcome to BYC!

It looks like you are off to a good start. Smart thinking to plan for defense ahead of time. Looking forward to seeing what your finished coop looks like.

What breed of chickens are you getting?

Welcome to BYC. Looks like your chickens are going to have one fine coop!

Thanks for the welcome. We're thinking 2 barred rocks, 2 astralorps and then 2 more of a third breed. We may just go for barred rocks and astralorps. Open to suggestions on the third breed. Or alternatives. We're new to this. A friend of ours has a barred rock and I think it's too cool.

I'm leaning towards two Easter eggers, but unsure of how they will get along with the BRs. Again, open to suggestions!

In our mixed flock we have BR and BA (as well as a few other breeds). Just tonight while we were watching chicken tv, I told my husband what a pretty flock it would be to have BA, BR and some white breed...sort of get that shiny black, a pretty white and a combo with the BR's feathering.

Anyway, whatever you end up with, every breed has it's own beauty and each bird has it's own personality. Choosing your birds is part of the fun of having them.

If you would like to see some info on various breeds, here's a good link:
http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

Have fun!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and link. I hadn't thought about the flock as a whole for coloring. I've also got my eyes on Golden Laced Wyandotte's. They look pretty cool and seem to be about the same characteristics as the BRs.

I sketched up my plans using powerpoint, but I tried to scale the dimensions, at least in the floor plan. Looking for feedback on this initial design. Also, any recommendations for the top of the chicken coop? Leave it open to the rafters? There will be, in addition to the windows, vents on either end of the roof, and maybe a metal roof exhaust (I live in Alabama). The windows will just be chicken wire with shutters, and maybe spots for plexiglass, especially on the west side (T-storms are rough and frequent down here). Again, looking for any and all feedback!!

Nice design!! All that's missing on that design is a sign that says "Willkommen im Huehnerhaus"!

BriardChickens said:

Nice design!! All that's missing on that design is a sign that says "Willkommen im Huehnerhaus"!

Click to expand...

Just incorporated!!

Looking good! The only change I can see right off is the window covering you mention. Go with hardware cloth in place of chicken wire as a determined predator can tear right through chicken wire.

Have you decided on your bird breeds yet?