Built a Catawba Coop (pics)

[karlamaria]

looks fine for 2 chickens, but way to small for anything more. cute but not my cup of joe. I like my girls to have lots of room to roam and lots of sleep space. but nicely done

 

[annroberts54]

I have a completed Catawba coop and I have to say it is not large enough for my Wyandotte's. They are a taller, bigger bird and they almost have to huddle when they are in during the day. I can't raise it up off the ground cause I have one of those "if it moves, it's gotta die" type dogs. So in the evening, the dog gets penned up securely and the chickens get to come out and run to stretch. When they come out, they just spread their wings and fly as if to say "Thank goodness, we are out of there".

I also find that it is hard to keep the hot sun off the chickies for the entire day. So I bought 3 ft wide super screen at Lowe's, installed grommets and hang it over the screened in portion of the coop. I use it if it is really hot and flip it back over the top out of the way on nicer days.

I also don't find it has room for bigger feeders. Especially for water, I find the smaller feeders that fit the coop not practical for keeping the water cool and not allowing the chickens to knock it over.

Don't get me wrong. The coop is well designed and the plans were extremely well published. I am just warning that you should think about your breed specific size issues and if this coop will work for you.

I do clean mine out about weekly. Right now I am using burmuda grass clippings from the yard. They are completely organic since we use no sprays of any kind. When we run out of that we will go back to the store bought wood shavings designed especially for the bedding.

I am getting ready to build a bigger coop. I will gift this one to a friend and suggest she start with banties.