chickenlips' coop

[aran]

That is the coolest looking coop ive seen yet. Im done making the 8x10x6' run for my new chickens which are coming this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Still have to make the coop and I am going to do my best to copy this design...its just great looking. How many chickens would this size accomodate?

Im sure everyone has asked this but did your husband take pics along the way as he built this coop? any chance you could post em for us?

congrats on an awesome coop!

 

[chickenlips]

Thank you so much for the wonderful kudos on our coop! Some of you have posted that you're not able to see the pics, so if you'd like to email me directly, I'd be happy to email you back with pics. Unfortunately I do not have construction pics as we built it before getting a digital camera and only had a disposable camera for use. IF I can find those pics, I will try and figure out how to transfer those to the computer. To answer a few questions, the coop is 4' X 8' and about 3 feet off the ground. It is insulated, so no additional heat is needed in the winter for heavy breed chickens, although I did have to use a heated water bucket to replace the regular hanging waterer that would freeze up on the surface. I keep 8 heavy breed hens in the coop and they're very comfortable. When late fall comes, I cover the wire hardcloth floor (which is on an angle iron track for easy removal) with thick cardboard and pine shaving for the deep litter method. I added fresh shavings once a month and since the girls kept everything scratched up on their own, it didn't smell. It finally warmed up enough a month ago for me to clean out the coop, so I shoveled out most of the shaving (which went straight into the garden!), pulled out the floor and very quickly and easily disinfected the whole coop. (easy access just by stooping down and getting inside). I use a mixture of Simple Green (non-toxic) and water and it works great. We made the 3 nesting boxes so that they could be removed from the outside nesting box doors, but one of the post from the fence prevents the left door from opening flat, so we can't get it out that way anymore. They still can be removed from the inside and out the bottom, but I've found that it really isn't necessary to remove them at all. We have one light and an outlet inside the coop, which is great for dark winter day and heating their water bucket. Our fenced chicken yard is 16' X 16' and the top is covered with deer netting to keep hawks out. If I left any thing out that you'd like to know more details on, please ask!