Coop build one year later...

[Firefyter-Emt]

Well, it has been about a year and I figured I would post an update and a photo. Not much has been changed on the coop itself, I did finish the siding around the run door and I have just finished landscaping around the coop. (Mostly to keep the dirt from splashing!) I have to pick up some gravel to fill a space at the very rear door because the garden shape does not allow me to mow the grass up to the coop. All that is left other than that would be some more white stain on the woodwork.

The only thing that gave me problems was the pop-out door. It would swell in weather and either be hard to close or open. I am thinking about a new door with those spring hinges that I used on the egg door. HOWEVER, after I took the heat lamp out this spring they refused to go into the coop at night. I tossed them for a week or two and then said the heck with it. The coop is built to hold back any pest that comes at it and they have a great roost inside the run. They have taken up sleeping there.

I did add a block of wood that seals against the back door because they would fill the gap with shavings and some would get stuck in the hinge side making the door hard to bolt. The only other mod I made was to close off the small space under the nest boxes as the chickens loved to lay under there. This made me have to open the rear door and almost crawl in to get the eggs. Soon after blocking off this area, they all started to use the nest boxes.

We only lost one of the chickens (natural causes) and was replaced with a Buckeye from another BYC member. It took a week of hazing before they would get along so we had to keep them apart until they would get to know each other.
All is well now and the girls are quite happy (and a bit spoiled)

Here is a photo of what it looks like now with the landscaping finished.

I have to buy a little more sod, what I placed in front of the door was a bit too narrow.

 

[j-me]

Great Coop!! We sorta did the same style.. up off the ground coop with a walk in run.

What is the white pvc pipe in the run next to the coop?

 

[joebryant]

Super! That's a really pretty way to have chickens.

 

[Firefyter-Emt]

Quote:
It's a vent stack for the chickens septic system....

Nawh, that's just the oyster shell "feeder". I do like having it off the ground and the girls have made that section under the coop their own personal "dust spa". I toss some wood ash from the fireplace in there every now and then too. It also came in handy this winter as a great windbreak if they were outside.

 

[kagedgoddess]

wow that is really pretty!

 

[CoyoteMagic]

NICE!!!!!!!!

 

[Baymen Moe]

Very nice! A nice focal point for your property.

 

[ems_chick]

this is one of my favorite coops on the coop design pages

 

[Monk]

Very nice! The spring hinge is a great idea, I'll be putting one on my pop door.

 

[Firefyter-Emt]

Thanks all.. One of the reasons it is a "focal point" is that the coop is in my backyard and seen from my home office window. I wanted it to look nice because of this. It is also off to one side of the house can can be seen from the street, but a good 500+ feet back.

FYI, I plan to use those spring hinges and a cable / pulley set up so it can be opened from the outside. BUT, remember... my coop is secure from the run as well as the coop. I would not rely on the hinges if the run is not secure. I have hardware cloth a foot deep and out two feet under the entire structure. My front door is also on those spring hinges "just in case" some one does not bolt the door. The rear door is lockable for extra security.

Oh, one other thing I think I might of done extra would to build a "drawer" under the coop that could be opened from the outside. It would of been a great place to store the totes of feed.