creteeking my coop and run design

[chickenforlife]

here are some pictures of my chicken coop and run give me feed back on what all is right and what could be better thank you no comment is to harsh. oh and one more thing since i took these pics i have gotten two more chickens. and added a much larger set of nesting sleeping houses.

 

[Araucana16]

You are going to need something more than a cardboard box as a sleeping box, more like a wooden hen house.

And raccoons can easily rip apart that coop, I would suggest putting rocks around the edges of the coop and then, put a closeable hen house where the cardboard box is. That way you can shut them up at night without fear of death.


The current coop is like a free meal for many predators.

 

[aggiemae]

That run is OK for day use but you will need to construct something more sturdy that is predator and weather proof and do so before raccoons and possums notice your current set up.

 

[Araucana16]

I shall specify : aggiemae is right. For day use it's fine, but not all the time.

 

[chickenforlife]

yes that is what i was thinking and so i built the additions to it and the chicken wire is that dear proof garden fence. and it covers all of the area including a foot under ground. the new additions are made of 1 inch thick ply wood with metal angle brackets used in house building. lol oh and thats not cardboard its also 1 inch thick ply wood lol i know it looks like cardboard it was previusly an impromtoo paint table top.

 

[Araucana16]

That sounds a TON better!

Is there a function to shut off access from the main area of the coop at night?

 

[chickenforlife]

yes the hole thing was designed to be there sleeping quarters they only go in it at night. because they roam the back yard with a 5 foot fence that goes on three sides of my yard as well as a 10 foot wall and fence on the back. the back fence behind it is a 50 foot drop off straight down. and like i said the chicken wire is a foot under ground and my area is lime stone about a foot and a half down so not much room underneeth to burrow. im still working on designing a new one for spring but this one has already withstood the worst storm of the year witch is typicly has winds up to 70 mph.

 

[Araucana16]

Oh... well they shouldn't be in that at night, at least not the run. A raccoon can tear that to shreds.

 

[chickenforlife]

the worst around here is this family of beavers that live up the street the cats in the nabor hood take care of the racoons and my dog takes care of the cats and watches over the chickens. beleave it or not lol its a hole eco system of the small being protected by the big. that and the compartments that are attached have kinda like guilieen doors that drop down when i put them up for the night. so in away they do have a door to where they sleep i never thought of it as a close off point

 

[Araucana16]

Okay, good luck then!