I got the cornish cross chicks 24 weeks ago... they were about 4 weeks old when I got them... the last remaining roo is fully grown... he is huge! 3x bigger than all the hens that someone dumped in my playhouse last week.
The chicken wire on the back window is just temporary, it has shutters attached to the outside that I close and latch at night. There is a solid door on the house, it opens to the inside so it can't really be seen in that picture. I'm in the process of trying to figure out how to build a full screen door to use during the day instead of the old babygate that we found in the playhouse and use the solid door at night (like we've been doing). But I'm not sure they will be getting enough ventilation.
I like the idea of a sliding door with ramp leading into the pen (I found a few tutorial videos online). For ventilation, I was thinking of cutting 3 horizontal strips above the door and then across from it, above the window and covering it with 1/2" hardware cloth. But at the moment we are using recycled materials that we have found around the house and don't have any hardware cloth on hand... but I'm going to pick some up as soon as I can.
The floor is made of plywood, I'm not sure how thick it is, but this is an older handmade playhouse, very sturdy. I don't know anything about woodworking or building things so I'm not sure how to explain this, so I hope you understand what I'm talking about... when they built the playhouse it looks like they built the frame of it and covered the outside of the frame with some kind of wood sheeting (not plywood and not particle board or MDF... I don't know what this stuff it called) then on the inside they nailed the same wood sheeting up... I don't know if there is insulation inside the walls though, but I doubt it. I want to atach the run to the house, but I can't imagine how to do it... also, I can't break the bank on this so if there is a way to do it as low cost or free as possible, I'm all about it.
Yes, those are food tubs out front, I didn't realize the mice and rats could chew through the plastic (little monsters)... those tubs are just what we had on hand... I'll have to see what I can find at the feed store as soon as we can go.
Thank you so much for your suggestions, they are much appreciated... I need all I can get.
Awesome! I'm glad you have shutters and doors. Yep vents above the doors would be good and having some on the back side would be good as well. make sure its enough ventilation.. our minds tell us to seal holes for warmth, but with chickens they have to have it so the byproduct of their waste doesn't fill the coop with toxic fumes and a few other reasons. during the winter you need to make sure though that all gaps below those vents and especially around your roosts are sealed up to prevent drafts.
I couldn't tell you what the siding is, it looks to me like OSB, but I could very well be wrong, you could take the inside boards down and insulate, but its not really needed as long as it is not drafty. those shutters may leave room for drafts , especially with them so close to your roosts, so once you get hardware cloth you can throw some clear plastic over that window and it will still allow light in without the draft during winter and take the clear plastic off during the warm months and you won't have to be concerned with closing that shutter unless it gives you peace of mind.
Mice and rats will chew through even thin metal to get to food, so never under estimate them as they honestly are the thorn in my side with my coop now and its one of the reasons I'm building a completely new set up to (hopefully) prevent mice and rats.
if you can swing the money go to the store or order online some Linoleum tiles for the floor of your coop. you can normally find them very cheap and pattern never matters because it will be covered. this will help you for deep cleans and it will protect that wood from rotting as shavings will compost causing moisture to be absorbed by the wood and weaken your floor.
to be dead honest you have a great starter coop and one that you could make fantastic with a little elbow grease and of course the currency we all slave for
As far as your rooster, i'll be honest, building is more my thing I'm still fairly new to chickens and matching and what not so i'll have to let the experts help you there.
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