This is our chicken coop! It's 4x8 and we have 8 New Hampshire Red hens and one NHR rooster. We also have two extra roosters which were our "free rare breeds", but we've found a home for one of them.
The outside of the coop is rough cut lumber from a local lumber yard stained. We got the window from a local junk/antique place.
We insulated the inside with R19 insulation and covered it with plywood. The floor has a piece of vinyl that we had from our bathroom renovation.
We had visions of a metal roof, but decided on the rolled roofing which was cheaper.
The pen is just chicken wire currently, but we bought the small gauge hardware wire and plan to use it to reinforce the bottom and fold it outward and bury it under the sod. We can't dig down 12 inches due to the amount of tree roots in the area.
We put together a perch of tree branches in the pen and they seem to enjoy that.
The chicken door opens by pulling on the string and attaches outside with an S hook on a nail. We think it's racoon proof because the racoon shouldn't be able to hold it open and still get inside. It's pretty heavy. The latch on the people door is too high for a racoon to reach.
The thing we should have done and didn't is put a piece of wood in front of the chicken door so the chips wouldn't fall out.
The NHR rooster is the first one out in the morning, every morning.
We tried a ladder style roost first, but this type is more successful. It's a 2x4 along the entire long side suported by a frame. They are all up there every night. This picture was taken with a flash, hence the look of suprise on their little chicken faces.
We still have to build the nest boxes and are still comtemplating the best location.
) went in to it. I just adore it! Definitely a work of art!
Isn't really into the outside life these days....
