Built our first coop, how'd we do?

[purelypoultry]

Looks great. And with the weather you have there, the chickens will certaily appreciate the air circulation!

 

[drumstick diva]

Lovely coop but, you must be newbies. I mean you want to lessen the number instead of increase. I guess you don't know chicken math. It'll get you!! Trust me. It was nice giving hubby this experience to build that now he is primed for making one three times as large.

 

[Muscovies]

Nice Coop

 

[wonderpup]

Quote:
Hehehe I do know about chicken math

I'm thinking it's probably a lot of rat and ferret math and poodle math and kitty math... can we tell I am an animal lover lol. Though we don't have rats and ferrets anymore.

I'm already secretly thinking about future chickens but we have to be realistic about space and I've got to get our duck set up fully and get her a friend first. I got 6 chicks in case anything happened and we lost a couple, I had only planned for four. Anyway all 6 survived, which I am happy about. Who knows, provided nobody turns out to be a roo, we could keep them all. I think we might have one roo though.

 

[Beekercat]

Very nice looking coop!

I was convinced my Australorp was a "he" for a long, long time. She's one of our best layers now and I love her.

And I'm glad someone explained chicken math. Last April, we started with 4, now have 11, and there are soon to be over 20. Who knew they'd be so addicting?

 

[wonderpup]

Quote:
We never intended to use the floor for dropping to drop through. It was just the choice of material that my husband decided he could easily work with and what was inexpensive and we hoped would keep any critters out. We covered the floor with Hay so the chickens don't have to walk on the wire. So far that's working out well and the hay is staying dry and is going to be relatively easy to clean. It'll all go in the compost bin for future use.

 

[annie3001]

its nice. but more of a rabbit hutch style for that many chickens. are you planning on a run attached to it? i dont see room for nesting boxes? its a good start. i would go a bit bigger, if you have someone that can build that good,,, heck go for a bigger coop that will be more comfortable for that many.
if you are planning on keeping only 4 like you said, it might do. you will need a tarp, they are pretty cheap. the hardwire cloth is a great choice, predator safe.
be careful when free ranging out there, are you home, or they are on their own? i free range only when i am home. predators will visit your neighborhood, if not already, just prepare yourself.
i dont care for the wire flooring, thats just me, a bit hard on their feet. do what works for you, just my opionion.
good luck!

nice bunch of cluckers youve got there.

btw: you do have atleast one roo in the photos there. is there a reason you dont want a rooster? if you are free ranging, he could/will protect the rest of the flock if theres danger around.

 

[Bossroo]

Adding straw onto double wired floor... bad idea! You will be speaking a new foul language while removing the poopy mess by next week . You will soon learn not to replace straw there. Then you will be removing the small mesh floor wire by the following week. To save yourself the gief.... remove the small mesh wire sooner than later and place it at the triangular roof / side space that needs to be covered to keep racoons, possums, rats, etc out.

 

[wonderpup]

Quote:
Bummer, you think so? I can't keep him b/c I can't bother the neighbors. I myself wouldn't care one way or the other but the crowing can't happen. Our lot is about half an acre so the neighbors are not far away. We DO have a rooster that lives behind us but that land is all zoned differently so he's allowed. I can hear him from time to time, though not to often. Anyway the zoning changes at our back property line

The duck we took in has already annoyed the neighbor by quacking in the mornings a time or two. What age should I be able to start finding saddle feathers and such? I'll keep him as long as possible I suppose. If he'd be quiet he could stay (and maybe I could experience baby chicks hatchcing... uh oh is THAT chicken math lol) but roosters aren't quiet by nature. So off to the inlaws he'll go, we'll sneak him into their coop, they are expecting us to bring them two of our chickens anyhow so maybe they won't notice he's a roo

We bought 18 chicks all at once and gave them 12 so the ones they have are the same age as ours.

They free range when we are home. We did leave them out over the weekend for a bit while we were out it was because I couldn't catch them and needed to be somewhere. So now I've learned and won't let them out in the mornings when I know I;m going to have to leave soon. I work from home so they can be out most of the day on most days so no plans for a run right now. I am thinking I'd like my husband to build external nest boxes. There is a second floor and we had thought about putting a couple there but it would be easier for me to get the eggs if they were external and had a little door or hinged roof like I've seen. I know that murphy's law they will probably lay as far away from the door as possible and I'll have a devil of a time reaching the eggs. My husband put the food and water to far back last night and I have to get a stick to pull them close enough for me to reach them.

 

[Newbie in Screamer Al]

Looks really cute. He did a good job. You will want to expand in the future I bet. It will hook ya. All the best......... And keep us in the loop when you expand.LOL