Yabadabadoo
Songster
Hi all! We are building an “interim” brooder/coop and run for our 5-7 week old chicks. They are currently in a 5’x2’ livestock feeding trough on the porch (so acclimating to outside), but they will soon outgrow their current digs.
We live on .8 acre in the Phoenix, AZ area on a treed, grassy lot (see picture, which shows about 1/3 of our backyard space). We previously had a rehomed flock of four hens who free ranged in our yard and only cooped over night. We have citrus, pecans, apples, peaches, and plums, plus lots of areas to explore/hide out.
I picked up a few of these massive tile displays, and as we looked at building a bigger coop that will house 15-20 birds, we decided to build a bigger “interim coop” (or outside brooder, using one of these as the base. I am showing the start point to explain the strange shape and as a diy tip for anyone else of helpful.
I have nine chicks aged 4.5-6.5 weeks now that I plan to move into this dwelling and I expect them to be there for ~6 weeks (up to age 13 weeks tops) while we construct the bigger coop. We then thought we could use this as an “extra” coop in case a few of our girls want to be separate from the others or as an isolation pen of anyone has issues. This structure will have an independent caged run that is 4’x3’x3’.
We can fit 1-2 nesting boxes in here for future use and can hard install some perches. (Suggestions???)
My prior flock was small and super easy, so really I am just looking for some feedback re this structure for my intended use, then how I can optimize it for future.
All in, it cost us less than $300 to build and was great practice for us (new to building structures). The pics also have measurements, but the lid is two sections (1/3 and 2/3), both can be screened. Come summer we may leave the 1/3 end lid open at night (but again, with steel screening) to improve ventilation. It is still high 40s/low 50s at night now so we will probably keep closed while nights are cool. Also the facing hinges open so a little less than half of the front can be exposed. The entire structure sits on pallets. There is a screened window at one end and door on the other.
The pic of my hubby os for size reference...he is 6’3”.
Super appreciate any thoughts/observations! (And yes, the play house in the pic of my yard is the coop for our prior flock of four.)
We live on .8 acre in the Phoenix, AZ area on a treed, grassy lot (see picture, which shows about 1/3 of our backyard space). We previously had a rehomed flock of four hens who free ranged in our yard and only cooped over night. We have citrus, pecans, apples, peaches, and plums, plus lots of areas to explore/hide out.
I picked up a few of these massive tile displays, and as we looked at building a bigger coop that will house 15-20 birds, we decided to build a bigger “interim coop” (or outside brooder, using one of these as the base. I am showing the start point to explain the strange shape and as a diy tip for anyone else of helpful.
I have nine chicks aged 4.5-6.5 weeks now that I plan to move into this dwelling and I expect them to be there for ~6 weeks (up to age 13 weeks tops) while we construct the bigger coop. We then thought we could use this as an “extra” coop in case a few of our girls want to be separate from the others or as an isolation pen of anyone has issues. This structure will have an independent caged run that is 4’x3’x3’.
We can fit 1-2 nesting boxes in here for future use and can hard install some perches. (Suggestions???)
My prior flock was small and super easy, so really I am just looking for some feedback re this structure for my intended use, then how I can optimize it for future.
All in, it cost us less than $300 to build and was great practice for us (new to building structures). The pics also have measurements, but the lid is two sections (1/3 and 2/3), both can be screened. Come summer we may leave the 1/3 end lid open at night (but again, with steel screening) to improve ventilation. It is still high 40s/low 50s at night now so we will probably keep closed while nights are cool. Also the facing hinges open so a little less than half of the front can be exposed. The entire structure sits on pallets. There is a screened window at one end and door on the other.
The pic of my hubby os for size reference...he is 6’3”.
Super appreciate any thoughts/observations! (And yes, the play house in the pic of my yard is the coop for our prior flock of four.)
