Bellevue coop and pen for 6 hens - FINISHED

[sdeneen2001]

I have 2 daughters adopted from Ethiopia, so our chicken house will be called Doro (Chicken) Bet (House) - original, eh?

My first step was designing a coop with the local preditors in mind - this is Nikki, a lab mix with a "history" of confusing pet chickens with wild pheasants

The next step is to get some help...

No, not you Zoey...

My dad who has engineering experience who helped me "re-" design the coop

3 hours later, we had a couple walls up

 

[True Grit]

Awesome! I love the dirty face pic of Zoey.

 

[sdeneen2001]

I got a few things done between rain showers during the week. Then Dad came back over the next Saturday and we got some framework done. We have the roofing and more supplies now. I haven't been doing as much recycling as I would like, so I've gone WAY over budget. Fortunately, I'm not one who thinks "it is an investment and I'll make it up in eggs and egg sales". No, I try to be honest, it is a fun place for me to hang out with my pet chooks.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I'm having it at my house. Hmm, wonder what my dad and my big strong brother who built his own house will do while the pizza is cooking. Oh, hey look. I have all of the supplies to put on the roof...

 

[sdeneen2001]

Well, we got the rest of the roof boards up and a little more on the coop, but not as much as I'd hoped to get done...

 

[sdeneen2001]

Ok. I got the roof done - and pulled a muscle stepping off the ladder wrong. I friend came over and helped a little on Friday. Then dear old dad came over and helped me get some more done. Is he an awesome guy or what? Today is his 74th birthday, he doesn't even like chickens and how does he spend his day? Helping his daughter build a coop!

At least we got it done before the latest downpour. I'm hoping to get the wiring and door put in so that I can get my girls moved in. They are very crowded and unhappy in their box. They managed to get the wire off of the top a couple days ago and one was running around the garage.

 

[sdeneen2001]

Bit by bit between rainshowers, I've finally gotten it complete enough to move the girls in.
This is the coop from the front, it will eventually be painted blue with white trim:

This is the close up showing the split door (for easy treat delivery without risking chicken/dog contact) and the external egg boxes and the access hatch below them for food/water filling. With the concrete patio, I have mud-free access (provided that they lay IN the next boxes).

Here is the coop from the inside of the pen with the doors closed:

Here it is with the doors open:

Looking in toward the left - there will eventually be a 2'x4' window here for ventilation and light, you can see the outline of holes where it is precut, waiting for the window to be available:

Looking in toward the right - this is the higher roost where I've been putting them at night. It has upside down medal shelves for collecting "garden fertilizer":

Here is the space under the coop where the food/water are and additional "hang out" space for the girls. Gentleness (SSussex) is eating from the feeder:

Here is a shot of their new view from the coop. I've been busy building the coop and the dandelions have taken advantage of the head start! Peace (DE) and Kindness (GSL) are at the bottom of the ladder.

I put Joy (DE) up on the top of the ladder to show the entrance, she was quite upset that I was making her go to bed early! Note the look on Nikki's face in the upper corner. She thought I was building a really cool dog house and then I fenced it in and filled it with chickens! Horror!

Here are the girls - in the pile are Faithfulness (SSussex) Kindness (Golden SL) and Peace (Delaware), standing are Goodness (GSL), Love (EE) and Joy (DE). Today they laid in the sun, jumped around stretching their wings, learned to eat grass and had a wonderful time until I made them go to bed. They haven't quite figured that out yet.

 

[karlamaria]

Very nice indeed ! Wish we here in Montana did not have to go to great lengths to insulate, it would be so much more simple . Love your design!

 

[sdeneen2001]

yeah, it rarely gets much below freezing here and I'll have a heat lamp in for my spoiled girls if it does!

 

[4Hchickenproject]

Absolutely fabulous coop! I believe I've looked at 10,000+ coop designs

, and all are beautiful (well.... *most* are, anyway), but until now I've not seen THE COOP for me. THIS IS IT. I LOVE IT.

Now.... to convince dh to build it for me!

 

[sdeneen2001]

Yay! it is finally done. I installed the window today and then put on the white trim. Yes, I have a $100 Millgard window in my coop, but I'm not totally whacky. It was in my daughters bedroom, but wasn't to code due to size and location, so we put in a real window in her room and I recycled the old one into the coop. I installed it inside out so that I can open the window from the outside to keep things cool during the summer.

The first picture is from the front, my goal was to be able to take care of things without changing into my coop shoes. So eggs (provided they are laid in the nest box), food and water can all be accessed from the patio. There is an access door under the left nest box.

The second picture is from the yard and shows the ramp, the food and water and protected area under the coop (with bag of shavings). The doors to the coop were recycled from my grandfather's old house. The door into the pen was from Freecycle and I cut it in half so that I can open the top half to toss in treats.

The final picture is inside the coop. Nesting boxes on the right are drawers from an entertainment center, shelves are also from the entertainment center. Poop catchers are from an old metal shelf turned upside down for easy removal.