ALABAMA!!

[chickensval]

One of my coops is just a stall in the horse stables that I put dog wire over the top sides . the stall is fairly large and the stables are all roofed. I put a book shelf in the stall and added pieces of wood going upwards to make nesting boxes. I also put two dog houses in it that one of my hens likes to lay in.
We had to work from scratch since we just moved, the coop at the old house was so cool, it had red & white paint- to make it look like a little barn. When you go in, the walls all have shelves on them for thee girls to lay. The run was really big & it had lots of places for them to perch on. I had 6 hanging happy hen treats & three hanging waterers & feeders. One with layer pellets, one with scratch, and one with grit. Now we have a big wooden homemade one, but it works pretty good. They just drink out of a kiddie pool now. I still have some hen treats but they lost interest in them. I want to paint their new coup, but I think it'd look weird when we move them to a better one and we have one colorful stall. :\

 

[chirpingcricket]

That diagram is not to scale but gives you an idea about what is inside. They all sleep in the covered run section (year round) that is open on three sides. I have solid walls up on the end closest to the enclosed part so they will have "safe" corners to run to if the coons try to reach in and grab them. Notice the wire is the 2x4 dog wire. On three occasions, BIG dogs tried to chew their way into the coop. There were nose sized round spaces where they forced their snout into the spaces and bent the wire into an almost perfect circles and there was lots of slobber and blood on the wire, but they never got in. The only breach I had was when a coon pulled the metal roofing up and slid in underneath. There was a spot where one screw had gone through the metal but missed the wood underneath. DH fixed that and I am confident in it's security, now. I have plans to put 1/2 inch hardware cloth around the bottom so the chicks can't walk through (like they do now!)

Hardware Cloth, a necessary evil...hate working with it, but the coons hate it even more. !

 

[RedneckGurl]

My coop is 8' x 12' with the first 4' inside the door sectioned off with chicken wire for storage. The main coop area is 8 x 8 with about a 10' ceiling height at the center peak (which is open the length of the coop and covered in hardware cloth) and 6' tall walls. I have two large (36 x 26) windows on the south side where the pop door is, two smaller windows (30 x 20) on both sides of the door which faces east, another large window on the north wall and a wide window 6' x 12" on the west wall and all the eaves are open and just covered by hardware cloth. Despite all of that open space in the walls, the coop is still too warm and very stuffy so I'm putting in more ventilation in the north wall, above the nest boxes. You definitely need lots more ventilation than what you currently have. Unfortunately, using a hole saw to drill lots of small holes into the siding is NOT going to give you the ventilation your birds need. I'm going to take a reciprocating saw and cut holes between the 2 x 4 wall studs and cover them with hardware cloth. I don't know what your frame looks like since I can't see inside very well, but that might be an option, especially since it looks like your walls are plywood whereas mine are barn-wood paneling. I will have to frame out the holes horizontally with 2 x 4's to give the siding something to attach to but you should just be able to cut some squares in your plywood. Ditto to the other comments about chicken wire versus hardware cloth and welded wire. Hardware cloth should be over every opening in your coop. It should be your last strong line of defense since that is where your birds will literally be trapped if a predator manages to get into your run.

 

[Tomtommom]

If I learned one thing, it's that you do not want a closed coop in Alabama. One solid wall does a good job as a windbreaker/predator barrier etc. A roof is a must, so is hardware cloth. It just gets too darn hot and they can handle cold very well.

So far, I've been really pleased with my setup

By the way, it's been finished for a few weeks, but we're adding a little on to the outside area. Will take pics when it's done.

 

[Brie6895]

Ok thanks for all the suggestions! It's storming bad now which was my first night going to leave them in the coop. But I am worried about the ventilation and the rain lol why am I such a weirdo! These are chickens! So the rain has given me another excuse to return them to the dog kennel just for the night and in the morning I will take them back outside.
I have told my fiancé that tomorrow he will need to put two more window type ventilation spots on the other 2 sides of the coop I'm guessing a 12" x 12" or 15" x 15" square will be ok? The covering in with half inch hardware cloth!! And this is not a question or I will do it myself
If it ever stops raining I can start painting.

Tom Tom that is very nice too!! So is yours chirp! I wish I could have built one that big! Your birds must love all that room!

 

[Rolltidern]

The rain needs to let up here in south AL, we need to complete our coop!!!

 

[chirpingcricket]

The rain needs to let up here in south AL, we need to complete our coop!!!

Amen, enough rain already!!!!!!
Thanks Brie. To me, pens are alot like chickens, just keep adding on over time....hmmm, I guess chicken math can really get complicated over time....add another feeder, add another waterer, add another bag of feed, add another chicken, add another pen......on and on it goes!

 

[chickadoodles]

Amen, enough rain already!!!!!!

Thanks Brie.

To me, pens are alot like chickens, just keep adding on over time....hmmm, I guess chicken math can really get complicated over time....add another feeder, add another waterer, add another bag of feed, add another chicken, add another pen......on and on it goes!

X2 again!

 

[Orps]

The rain needs to let up here in south AL, we need to complete our coop!!!

I know what you mean. My grass has grown so high in my backyard that when my chickens move through the grass they remind me of the raptors in Jurassic Park. Need to stop raining so I can mow it down and see my chickens again!

 

[RedneckGurl]

Not much better here in north Alabama. I started mowing over the weekend but got interrupted by the rain and haven't been able to finish it yet. If it doesn't dry out soon, my lawnmower isn't going to be able to cut the grass...I'll have to take a scythe to it like a wheat field.