A chicken rookie's coop project...

[Judy]

I have an area rug over part of one wall and plastic over the people door for winter, but my coop still has a bunch of sq ft of hardware cloth covering openings, and it is airish in there, I simply took the wind off the roost area. Really, you do not need a heat lamp in Georgia. People in Alaska have successful unheated coops. And yes, a 3 sided setup is fine in Ga. When you see them panting and holding their wings away from their bodies this summer, you will be glad to have a lot of breeze in there (air blowing in winter over the roost is a draft but in summer it is a welcome breeze.) Wood shutters are about a necessity in a 4 sided coop here, for the summer breeze.

 

[Cargo]

That coop is certainly not going to fall down anytime soon.

 

[SarahBeth9394]

And the newest member of the overachievers club is M&LO.

It's looking good.

 

[bordergurl]

Quote:
Ditto!

The camera loves him!

The coops not bad looking either

I agree!

Totally!

 

[jenesis536]

Your son is hot. I'd pay him to help build a coop any day.

 

[M&LO]

Quote:
ddawn,
Where are you in "South Georgia"? I'm in Social Circle. I live about 3 miles off of I-20 about 1/2 way
between Atlanta & Augusta. I read about the 3 sided coops being OK but am building a 4 sided one...
I was just planning on a lot of hardware cloth ventilation. I bought four 50' rolls of it 4 foot wide because
there are tons of predators on my property. All of the houses here are at least 100 yards apart and I'm
surrounded by little horse farms so there's a lot of room for the dogs, coyotes, hawks, raccoons, snakes,
foxes and other critters to sneak up on my future chickens. Security of them has been my main concern
and I just want to make sure I'm minimalizing any chance for a sneak attack. My wife mentioned
yesterday that it didn't look like the chickens were going to get a lot of sun because my plans are for
a completely covered run....the run part will be 12' wide X 8' long. I was thinking of just using hardware
cloth on the end 1/2 of the run now so they'd have better sunlight? I still have a lot of questions....the
inside of my coop is 5 feet. How high up should I put the roosts? How much room should be above the
hen's heads? If I put the roosts up high, will they be able to get up there or do I need another one of
those ladder deals like I see for them to get up in the coop? Thanks in advance for everyone's help.

 

[7L Farm]

Heres my roost. Chickens like to roost as high as possible. My chickens just hop from one stair to the next till th

eir at the top.

 

[mulewagon]

Yes, I would use a ladder. They'll need it when they're young, and also if they get hurt, or too big to fly that high. You'll also want to think about the landing area. They won't go down the ladder for any money - they'll fly out and down, ideally landing several feet away. So make sure they have clear space in front of the roost - if you don't have enough space, make the roosts just higher than the nest boxes.

Where you are, you'll basically want the walls to be just a frame to hold the hardware cloth. And you won't need a heat lamp, just plastic around three sides on roost level during the winter. I'm in Alabama, north of you - my chickens are fine in the cold, even this winter. They become distressed during the hot, muggy summers, even at night. They pant and hold their wings out to try to get cooler.

If I were you, I'd paint all the wood, being careful to fill and cover even tiny cracks where the woods joins. That's where the chicken lice and mites lurk, and we have to worry about those in this climate. Also be sure there's no gaps at all - weasels can get in almost anything.

 

[kentucky jay]

your coop looks great so far !!!!!!! im concerned about your back while cleaning the coop !!!!!!!! im 5'11" my coop is 12' tall !!! i aint bending over for 1 or 2 hours while cleaning the coop !!!!! good luck ...i hope you have a replacement for that back ...lol

 

[M&LO]

...and here's another question I have that I can't seem to find
an answer to....How do I make my coop "adequately ventilated"
yet keep it draft free? Do I just not understand the terminology?