Chick-Mahal...Gearing up

[Eggscaping]

NewBoots is reluctant to post about this because there have been so many wonderfully creative, handy people who have showed up on this list who, with some busted-up pallets and a handful of screws and a rock, have made gorgeous chicken habitats. (Habitat: Run and Coop - my interpretation) But honestly, I'm 73 and she's not much younger and though some folks age well, things like arthritis and sketchy backs etc, etc, have simply limited our ability to do the construction we could do in our 40s and 50s and even just, say, 10 years ago. So we have brought in a local small construction company - the owner/manager of which happens to be an ex farmer who has raised chickens, rabbits, and lots of other critters, and he gave us a bid for our chicken habitat.
It looks wonderful! But it's going to be mucho expensive...such that I'm going to call it the "Chick-Mahal". He plans to start building it at the end of March, with the completion done by some time in April. It's going to be pretty big, and also have one end of it (the end with the coop) oversized so that there's an area to store feed in galvanized garbage cans, and some bales of hay and so on.
So, as they say, "Watch this space for further updates!" (Waiting until April is going to be REALLY hard!!!

 

[N F C]

How exciting you'll get the coop you've been wanting (and of course, the birds too)! Looking forward to seeing your coop.

 

[Eggscaping]

Thank you. It is exciting, yes!! And HOPEFULLY it will deter predators.

 

[aart]

It looks wonderful!

Plans/drawings to post....or are ya gonna make us wait?!?

 

[Eggscaping]

The total length of coop is 10 x 8. The total length of the run is 16 x 8. All hardware cloth where it's not covered up with wood. The storage area in the coop will be 2 x 8, with the rest as actual 'coop', separated from the storage area by chicken wire. There will be an area in the ' storage area' for a brooding area, or for introducing new birds with the 'see but don't touch' method. The run will be a sloped roof made of roofing material, and all covered. Three of the sides of the run will be wood (we have SO much rain, and it comes in from all directions). The side facing the house will be open, with hardware cloth and corrugated fiberglass. We will use the deep litter method. There will be electricity, for now just an industrial strength extension cord going to one of the outside GFI outlets on our house. Maybe later, when we have paid off the habitat, we'll get an electrician to do an actual wire-up.
That's the best I can give you for now, Boots sat down for an hour-long planning session with our builder, and they went over all this stuff. Since she gets to 'do' the chickens and I get to 'do' rabbits, I stay in the background and just nod and smile. Or, like the head penguin in the cartoon series "Madagascar" says, "Just smile and wave, boys...smile and wave!"

 

[N F C]

The total length of coop is 10 x 8. The total length of the run is 16 x 8. All hardware cloth where it's not covered up with wood. The storage area in the coop will be 2 x 8, with the rest as actual 'coop', separated from the storage area by chicken wire. There will be an area in the ' storage area' for a brooding area, or for introducing new birds with the 'see but don't touch' method. The run will be a sloped roof made of roofing material, and all covered. Three of the sides of the run will be wood (we have SO much rain, and it comes in from all directions. The side facing the house will be open, with hardware cloth and corrugated fiberglass. We will use the deep litter method. There will be electricity, for now just an industrial strength extension cord going to one of the outside GFI outlets on our house. Maybe later, when we have paid off the habitat, we'll get an electrician to do an actual wire-up.
That's the best I can give you for now, Boots sat down for an hour-long planning session with our builder, and they went over all this stuff. Since she gets to 'do' the chickens and I get to 'do' rabbits, I stay in the background and just nod and smile. Or, like the head penguin in the cartoon series "Madagascar" says, "Just smile and wave, boy...smile and wave!"

It sounds terrific!

 

[aart]

@NewBoots cough up the drawings!

 

[Eggscaping]

I tried...but it says the file is too large to upload - both jpg and gif.

 

[Fluffyflufffluff]

NewBoots is reluctant to post about this because there have been so many wonderfully creative, handy people who have showed up on this list who, with some busted-up pallets and a handful of screws and a rock, have made gorgeous chicken habitats. (Habitat: Run and Coop - my interpretation) But honestly, I'm 73 and she's not much younger and though some folks age well, things like arthritis and sketchy backs etc, etc, have simply limited our ability to do the construction we could do in our 40s and 50s and even just, say, 10 years ago. So we have brought in a local small construction company - the owner/manager of which happens to be an ex farmer who has raised chickens, rabbits, and lots of other critters, and he gave us a bid for our chicken habitat.
It looks wonderful! But it's going to be mucho expensive...such that I'm going to call it the "Chick-Mahal". He plans to start building it at the end of March, with the completion done by some time in April. It's going to be pretty big, and also have one end of it (the end with the coop) oversized so that there's an area to store feed in galvanized garbage cans, and some bales of hay and so on.
So, as they say, "Watch this space for further updates!" (Waiting until April is going to be REALLY hard!!!

I extremely envy you... I hope I can raise those kinds of pets, maybe next year when my backyard is already cleared from debris.

 

[Peppercorngal]

I tried...but it says the file is too large to upload - both jpg and gif.

You can shrink the file by using a simple "Paint" program that most computers have. Try that! We all want to see!