Coop Is Done

[hotsand]

Thanks Teila....your chooks look so sweet. Mine are plain ol' Isa Browns, but my sister tells me that they are very friendly and lay well...maybe as I get to owning chooks I may expand. How do your chooks cope with the heat and humidity of Queensland....although we have much higher temps in the west.....I shall need to get some heavy shelter for them by next summer. Apologies to Stitchxx for running with this conversation x

 

[doodles83]

Yes it was you. I need a coop and I wanted it yesterday. I'm not going to get my girls until I already have a coop so I am wanting to just buy one but am afraid to get one online because I don't know what i'm really getting until it shows up at my door. Did you get yours online?

 

[Teila]

G'Day Doodle83, I live in Australia also. I bought my coop at a local Hardware store. I agree with Hotsand, if we can buy these here in Australia you will have a lot more chance of buying one in the US and probably a much bigger range than we have here.
By the way, welcome to all the New Eggs .. maybe we should start a 'New Egg' Forum

 

[doodles83]

That is part of my issue. I have seen thousands of coops and I'm not sure if they are good ones or not. We can have very hot summers and really cold winters here so I need one that is well built but not going to cost me a ton of money to get it to my house. The average charge for shipping is around $300.00. That's half the price of the coop!

 

[Teila]

Thanks Teila....your chooks look so sweet. Mine are plain ol' Isa Browns, but my sister tells me that they are very friendly and lay well...maybe as I get to owning chooks I may expand. How do your chooks cope with the heat and humidity of Queensland....although we have much higher temps in the west.....I shall need to get some heavy shelter for them by next summer. Apologies to Stitchxx for running with this conversation x

All chookies are gorgeous!
My girls are only 4 months old, born February 1, so they probably haven't been through the 'bad' heat. Having said that, yeah, I don't think Brisbane weather will be an issue for them; we only have the humidity to deal with for a short while and it is nothing like up North. Having lived over the West for a few years, I know you guys have to deal with a drier, hotter heat. I'm hoping that being under the really shaded Mango Tree and the extra shade I have provided for them will be enough to keep them cool; their coop position should also give them a nice through-breeze, no solid fences to block the air flow.
and yeah, sorry Stitchxx

 

[Teila]

That is part of my issue. I have seen thousands of coops and I'm not sure if they are good ones or not. We can have very hot summers and really cold winters here so I need one that is well built but not going to cost me a ton of money to get it to my house. The average charge for shipping is around $300.00. That's half the price of the coop!

Hey doodles83, I am no expert but I am happy to help if I can. I wouldn't describe the coop I bought as well-built and I'm guessing a lot of the coops you would buy online probably would not be well built. We don't have a great deal of determined predators to deal with here in Aussie suburbia so my coop is basically to keep my girls in, not to keep any predators out .. I think it would fail in that regard.
Again, we don't have a huge weather swing to deal with, it doesn't get that cold here and while it can be humid, it's not for a great deal of time and is probably not an issue.
So, in my humble opinion, if I had to deal with weather extremes and predators, I would not have the coop I have now and would probably look at building something myself.
Just my thoughts

 

[doodles83]

Thanks for the info. I think you just made up my mind. I'm just going to go and get stuff to try and build one. We live out in the country and have a ton of wild animals and snakes around us. Outdoor cats don't even live very long around here. I don't want to spend the money for everything and them get eaten.

 

[Teila]

Thanks for the info. I think you just made up my mind. I'm just going to go and get stuff to try and build one. We live out in the country and have a ton of wild animals and snakes around us. Outdoor cats don't even live very long around here. I don't want to spend the money for everything and them get eaten.

There is a forum on 'Coop & Run - Design, Construction and Maintenance' which probably has heaps and heaps of useful information and a lot of it could be relevant to your area and specific needs regarding weather and predators.
It may cost you more to build something to suit your environment but I agree that the last thing you want to happen is to lose your chickens and if you have to spend a little more money and time to ensure that doesn't happen, it will be worth it.
Good luck with it all .. I hope it goes well for you and you have many many happy chicken times

 

[Teila]

hotsand .. if I can, without appearing pushy .. I would like to recommend two Forums to you, one is 'Australians - Where Are You All????' and the other is 'Australia - Six states .. and that funny little island'. There are lots and lots of friendly people on BYC from all over the world with lots of helpful info and advice but these two are Aussie based, social and are helpful with questions relative to our environment, weather, predators etc.

 

[hotsand]

lol.....I don't consider that pushy at all....that's what I joined up for....HELP!! Thanks a bundle. I went outside for the last hour or so and we have fixed up a temporary extra run by using an old framework and some fishpond netting....it will do for now. The chooks don't seem overly impressed about it though. Haven't come out yet, even though I did put the food out for them. Never mind...I'm sure we will get the hang of things together