- May 23, 2014
- 12
- 1
- 77
In March we got 5 chicks from a local farm/garden store, three Buff Orpingtons and 2 Rhode Island Reds. One turned out to be a boy, so he is being re-homed (leaving us 2 of each breed). While the chicks were growing in a brooder setup in the garage, I designed a built a small run and coop. I should have taken some pictures during the construction and assembly, but didn't think about it while working. We live near San Antonio, Texas, so heat and ventilation are generally a bigger concern than cold. We also have a fully fenced yard in a residential area, so for predators our most likely possible issues are hawks or opossums.
I have a mild disease where I over complicate everything, but I have learned to live with it.
I don't think anyone in their right mind would do it the way I did, but it works for me.
The run is 8'x8', with a raised coop taking up a 4'x4' corner section (raised so the chickens can go under it). There is a nesting box bump-out that can be opened from outside the run. I designed it in SketchUp, and made it so that it could be broken down to ~8'x8' panels at the largest.
Each side was constructed as a separate unit, and then bolted together. Two of the coop walls are integrated into the run sides, and the inner two wall are separate panels. The roof can be unbolted and separated in to two panels (each slope). All of the sides/panels are made of 2x4s, with all of the joints being lap joints that were glued and screwed. Put together, it weighs a a ton, and I has to get a bunch of helpers to move it into position. It sits on 8"x8"x4" concrete blocks. The height of the sides was designed to use two strips of 3' wide chicken wire. Full 3' width on the top, on the bottom it has enough to chicken wire to go to the ground and then run horizontally under pavers.
I recently had to replace a fence on one side of our yard, and saved the old pickets (cutting off the tops and bottoms since the middle was in the best shape). Probably a waste of effort, but I planed the old pickets down to 1/2" and got pretty nice boards that were used board & batten style for the outside of the coop. Our yard is about 35 yard deep, with shed at the back. I designed the run and coop to site behind the shed to be less prominent.
Above the nesting box bump-out is a window that swings up for ventilation (lined with hardware cloth). Inside the run, the coop has a full width door on one side for human access, with 12" bottom door that can be opened to cleanout the deep litter when needed. I go some linoleum remnants cheaply at Home Depot that I used to line the bottom of the coop (under the litter for easy cleaning). There is another large window in this door that can swing open for ventilation (again with hardware cloth). The upper portion of the coop enclosure is chicken wire under the roof, for plenty of constant ventilation. The pop door for the coop is within the run and enters above the deep litter level, with a ladder for the entrance. The pop door itself is automated (more on that bit later). We currently have sand in the run.
The pop door is made of a cutting board that slides up and down. I automated it, so that it opens at 15 minutes after sunrise and closes 25 minutes after sunset. I have some Tapo home automation and cameras, which I like, so I used two P400M outdoor smart plugs automated the coop. Two outlets are used for lighting within the run and coop which can be controlled separately. The other two outlets are used for the pop door, with a linear actuator and a DPDT relay (relay and 12V power supply for the actuator are stored inside a ammo can).
If people are interested in the setup, I can explain it more, but I'll explain how I use it. I control the plugs from the Tapo app, but you could also used Home Assistant, Alexa, or Google Home if you prefer. I use the Tapo app to set automation that are linked to sunset and sunrise (so the timing adjust automatically throughout the year). At 15 minutes after sunrise, the pop door opens, giving the hens access to the run (with food and water). We usually then come out between 7am and 8am and open the run door since we let them free range in our backyard during the day.
We have a string of LED garden lights in the run, and a string of small twinkle lights inside the coop. At 10 minutes before sunset, the run and coop lights automatically come on. At 5 minutes after sunset the run light go off but the coop lights stay on. 25 minutes after sunset, the pop door closes, and 30 minutes after sunset the coop lights turn off. I set up this light schedules in hopes that the chickens would go into the run an coop naturally in the evening. After moving the chickens from their brooder to the coop/run, they have always come in and put themselves to bed on their own. As it starts to get dark, the lights in the run and coop come on and they come into the run from the yard on their own. Generally by the time the run lights go out, they have already moved into the coop, but I think if they hadn't, they would move into the coop since it is the only lit area. All we have to do is come out and close the run door around sunset and say goodnight to them. It has worked wonderfully and we have never had to round them up or chase them. For now at least they are very friendly, and come running to us when we are in the backyard anyway (expecting treats).
I not yet really happy with our food and water situation, but have some thoughts there. The linear actuator I use to open and close the pop door is much stronger than needed (supposedly it can lift 220 lbs). I have some thought to use it to open/close a feeder at the same time it opens or closes the pop door. We'll see if I get around to that.
I have a mild disease where I over complicate everything, but I have learned to live with it.
I don't think anyone in their right mind would do it the way I did, but it works for me.The run is 8'x8', with a raised coop taking up a 4'x4' corner section (raised so the chickens can go under it). There is a nesting box bump-out that can be opened from outside the run. I designed it in SketchUp, and made it so that it could be broken down to ~8'x8' panels at the largest.
Each side was constructed as a separate unit, and then bolted together. Two of the coop walls are integrated into the run sides, and the inner two wall are separate panels. The roof can be unbolted and separated in to two panels (each slope). All of the sides/panels are made of 2x4s, with all of the joints being lap joints that were glued and screwed. Put together, it weighs a a ton, and I has to get a bunch of helpers to move it into position. It sits on 8"x8"x4" concrete blocks. The height of the sides was designed to use two strips of 3' wide chicken wire. Full 3' width on the top, on the bottom it has enough to chicken wire to go to the ground and then run horizontally under pavers.
I recently had to replace a fence on one side of our yard, and saved the old pickets (cutting off the tops and bottoms since the middle was in the best shape). Probably a waste of effort, but I planed the old pickets down to 1/2" and got pretty nice boards that were used board & batten style for the outside of the coop. Our yard is about 35 yard deep, with shed at the back. I designed the run and coop to site behind the shed to be less prominent.
Above the nesting box bump-out is a window that swings up for ventilation (lined with hardware cloth). Inside the run, the coop has a full width door on one side for human access, with 12" bottom door that can be opened to cleanout the deep litter when needed. I go some linoleum remnants cheaply at Home Depot that I used to line the bottom of the coop (under the litter for easy cleaning). There is another large window in this door that can swing open for ventilation (again with hardware cloth). The upper portion of the coop enclosure is chicken wire under the roof, for plenty of constant ventilation. The pop door for the coop is within the run and enters above the deep litter level, with a ladder for the entrance. The pop door itself is automated (more on that bit later). We currently have sand in the run.
The pop door is made of a cutting board that slides up and down. I automated it, so that it opens at 15 minutes after sunrise and closes 25 minutes after sunset. I have some Tapo home automation and cameras, which I like, so I used two P400M outdoor smart plugs automated the coop. Two outlets are used for lighting within the run and coop which can be controlled separately. The other two outlets are used for the pop door, with a linear actuator and a DPDT relay (relay and 12V power supply for the actuator are stored inside a ammo can).
If people are interested in the setup, I can explain it more, but I'll explain how I use it. I control the plugs from the Tapo app, but you could also used Home Assistant, Alexa, or Google Home if you prefer. I use the Tapo app to set automation that are linked to sunset and sunrise (so the timing adjust automatically throughout the year). At 15 minutes after sunrise, the pop door opens, giving the hens access to the run (with food and water). We usually then come out between 7am and 8am and open the run door since we let them free range in our backyard during the day.
We have a string of LED garden lights in the run, and a string of small twinkle lights inside the coop. At 10 minutes before sunset, the run and coop lights automatically come on. At 5 minutes after sunset the run light go off but the coop lights stay on. 25 minutes after sunset, the pop door closes, and 30 minutes after sunset the coop lights turn off. I set up this light schedules in hopes that the chickens would go into the run an coop naturally in the evening. After moving the chickens from their brooder to the coop/run, they have always come in and put themselves to bed on their own. As it starts to get dark, the lights in the run and coop come on and they come into the run from the yard on their own. Generally by the time the run lights go out, they have already moved into the coop, but I think if they hadn't, they would move into the coop since it is the only lit area. All we have to do is come out and close the run door around sunset and say goodnight to them. It has worked wonderfully and we have never had to round them up or chase them. For now at least they are very friendly, and come running to us when we are in the backyard anyway (expecting treats).
I not yet really happy with our food and water situation, but have some thoughts there. The linear actuator I use to open and close the pop door is much stronger than needed (supposedly it can lift 220 lbs). I have some thought to use it to open/close a feeder at the same time it opens or closes the pop door. We'll see if I get around to that.
