Building Our Coop - Follow Our Progress!

[dcouette]

Love your coop, colors and run! Starting construction of our coop soon so it sure is nice to be able to view others progress!

 

[mcf3kids]

We were away on vacation for a week so no progress on the coop. We did not insulate the coop - the research I have done seems that it will not be necessary and could add to condensation issues. This is our first coop and first time with chickens so I am hoping that it will work out well over our cold NH winters.

24 chicks arriving in one week so hubby is building the brooder tomorrow and then we will switch back to getting the run complete and painting the interior

 

[mcf3kids]

Its been a while since I've updated pictures and we are close to being completely done our build.

Hardware cloth laid down (rocks will be placed over it - crushed stone) and motion flood light installed just in case a predator tries to visit my babies!

Entrance into the run side - complete with lucky horse shoe!

Two roost bars - the one closest to the wall we are going to raise up 6 " and we will be installing a shelf underneath the lower one to catch the droppings.

This little window will open and close from the outside via a pulley system

Interior view

If a raccoon or predator can open the ring and the lock then that will be one smart animal - chickens will be locked in the coop at night thanks to the automatic door!

Left to do this week - paint the interior, move the roost bar up and install the shelf under, lay gravel around edge and we will be done!

 

[rainierlass]

Gorgeous!!! The only thing I would change would be to flip the roosts to have the wide side up - chickens are not perching birds - they do not hold on with their feet - they will lie down and in your cold NH winters their feet will stay warm and covered up - - since you are moving the roosts anyway this should be an easy fix - -

Again.......what happy hens you will have in that beautiful coop! I love the little added extras!

 

[CupOJoe42]

Awesome job!!! May you be blessed with many years of happy, healthy chickens!!!

P.S. Can I borrow your hubby?

 

[treelimb]

Very nice job, I love it! I have a question concerning the nest boxes. Is the perch too close to the nest? I was told that perches should be no closer than 8 inches to avoid droppings in the nest?

Thanks

treelimb

 

[Hope49]

It's beautiful, and huge! Oh so nice. I only wish we had had that much space to use!

 

[mcf3kids]

The roost bars are actually two 2x4's sandwiched together so they measure 4" on the flat surface but because of the length of the roost my husband says it will be more sturdy to hold more weight. He loves to go above and beyond - lol - when he had the first 2x4 up in that position I was like NOOOO -

you have to flip it - but then he told me he was using two so it is still the 4" so they won't get frost bit feet in the winter

Not sure about the perch and the boxes so I might need some help with that.

We have it set up so they can jump up to the nest box with a little perch to land - hopefully poop and then climb into their box. Anyone else that can chime in and take a look at what we created on the nest box side and let me know if we need to revamp anything I would love to hear

Thanks for all your help guys and your comments

 

[flowergirl60]

That is a georgous coop. Congratulations. I have that same type of latch and have had no problems. Thanks for the update.

 

[mcf3kids]

Flowergirl - glad to hear that latch works well - it seems pretty user friendly but predator resistant. Do you think the little perch on the nest boxes is set up right?

Forgot we also have the stairs to build - getting close

Chicks shipped today from MyPetChicken (24 lovely ladies??)