beginner and new member

[paullis]

We purchased a mix of breeds from Ideal Poultry last year and now have laying hens who are still living in the greenhouse. We need to build a hen house but want our chickens to free range on our farm during the day. The guineas sleep in the trees so no problem but we want the greenhouse girls to have a new home. Advice on hen house construction and overall care and maintenance of the flock is appreciated.

 

[wendy]

welcome, howdy

did you get to look at the coop designs already on here? there are alot and you might find what you like there.
there was a thread on keeping a coop clean and care. but i am not sure what it is under. go the the main page and you can probably find it.

or someone may come on this thread and remember exactly where i am talking about, i know i had to learn my way around this site to see how it works

 

[jimnjay]

The easiest thing is to buy a Shed kit from Home Depot. An 8x8 is about $500 right now. You can add a divider if you wish and make two sections and cut a chicken door. I choose to build my own and I would certainly do it differently if I could do it over. They really don't need anything really fancy, tho the fancy ones sure look nice in the yard.

Build bigger than you need now to allow for places for broodies or sick ones. Give them lots of room in the run if you have it. Fencing is cheap and they will love you for it. Mine hardly ever go inside during the day, even in the rain.

 

[okiechick57]

Welcome aboard ,this is a fantastic group of people......... look in coop design and construction.... something there for everyone! Best of luck to you....

 

[wendy]

well $500 is alot. we spent $160 or $167. not including the run that was for the coop. and actually we have left over lumber. my husband built it. i don't know if you can build ( i never have just helped hubby) there are pics on here under coop design and consruction of ours. some people used donated things to build theres (old sheds, etc. i would not spend a ton of money unless you have a ton to spend, lol) just a tip my husband used milk crates (that would be easy and less work) for nesting boxes, they seem to love it too. lay really good. hope you have good luck at it.

 

[BeckyLa]

Yes, by all means check out everything you can find on this site concerning coops and google chicken coops and sheds. Actually, you can take any good shed design and modify it into a coop. But looking at what other people have done will give you a good idea of what modifications you might want. Just be sure to allow 4 sq ft per bird of floor space and extra if you can afford it. It's so handy to have space for all your birds + a space for feed, shelves for "stuff," and even an area for a sick bird or a broody and her babies. This thread from the ezBYC board will also give you lots of ideas:

http://p072.ezboard.com/fbackyardchickensfrm5.showMessage?topicID=2243.topic